'Expanding the Concept of Contemporary Media Art'... Overseas Art Figures Complete Visit Program to Korean Artists' Studios

‘2024 Dive into Korean Art: Media Ground’ Successfully Concluded
Artist Talk on Media Expandability and the Role of Art Held

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Management Support Center announced on the 10th that they successfully concluded the '2024 Dive into Korean Art: Media Ground' event, which invited six key figures in overseas media art to visit studios of domestic media art and convergent art field artists and introduce their works.

Visit to artist Johanhan's studio.
[Photo by Arts Management Support Center]

Now in its third year, the Korean artist inbound promotion program 'Dive into Korean Art' invites art experts from around the world to introduce the artistic worlds of Korean artists and promote their overseas expansion.

This first half of the year’s program, themed ‘Dive into Korean Art: Media Ground,’ focused on the dynamically evolving Korean media art and convergent art fields utilizing various technologies, and was held over three days from May 29 to 31.

On the first and second days of the program, participants visited the studios of eight teams, including established artists such as Kimchi and Chips, Bang & Lee, Seoul Express, and Tacit Group, who provide an overview of the flow of Korean media art, as well as young artists like Graycode, Jiin, Park Minha, Seo Shinwook, and Yohan Han, who offer fresh sensibilities and experimentation. They closely examined the artists’ works and project processes from their early days to recent times, gaining an understanding of contemporary Korean media art and convergent art fields.

On the final day of the program, an artist talk was held to share individual thoughts and reflections gained through the studio visits. The artist talk was divided into four sessions, where five overseas participants, eight artist teams, and selection committee members who took part in this ‘Dive into Korean Art: Media Ground’ shared reflections on contemporary media art encompassing the definition of media art, the role of art and humans in the development of media, and the artistic worlds of the artists they met during the studio visits.

Visit to the studio of Kimchi and Chips.
[Photo by Arts Management Support Center]

Seoul Express stated, “Media and technology are important themes and tools in contemporary times, but we always maintain questions and caution about their hierarchy. Through works that converge various media such as analog and cutting-edge technology, we aim to resolve our concerns and social questions,” discussing their perspective on media as creators.

Kimchi and Chips said, “Public commissions are very important in contemporary work. Since our works placed in public spaces do not end with one-time viewing, we hope they are carried out with the consensus of the communities we live in,” urging the role and involvement of audiences in contemporary media installation works.

Mei Shimada, director of the CCBT program in Japan, said, “Through the artists participating in this program, I reconsidered what media art is today and expanded the concept. Especially the works of Seo Shinwook and Yohan Han made me think that the human body itself can be media and a medium, and I wanted to take a deeper look at how contemporary Korean artists handle and sense media and the body.”

Nora Muraku, director of Transmediale, said, “It is important to find humanity through technology. I place great importance on the reflective aspects in the artists’ works. I believe the definition of media is linked to how we think about humans,” adding that this program allowed her to reconsider the concept and role of contemporary media art together with our artists.

On-site visit to the Seoul Express writer's studio.
[Photo by Arts Management Support Center]

The artist talk attracted more than 100 attendees, including domestic media art and convergent art experts as well as general audiences, creating a lively atmosphere.

Bang & Lee shared, “I was able to share with overseas figures our changes in work and the role of art before and after COVID-19, as well as our concerns about our work,” expressing their thoughts on participation.

‘Dive into Korean Art: Media Ground’ has served as an opportunity to overview and expand the scope of Korean media art and convergent art fields, which have not been regarded as major genres in the art market but are actively developing in contemporary art scenes. Furthermore, through intensive studio visits and public artist talks, it was evaluated as a time that can be expected to promote active overseas expansion and international exchange of Korean artists.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.