Korean language

Hyei Kim

Hyei Kim studied and created documentaries at the School of Film, TV & Multimedia at Korea National University of Arts. She prefers listening over speaking and creates her work because she wants to listen. She primarily focuses on projects that involve giving a voice to the socially disadvantaged and responding to external inquiries. Currently, she is expanding her work into the field of interactive media art. She contemplates the relationship between storytelling and images, as well as the disconnect and interaction between images created in the real world through the camera and those generated virtually through programming languages.

Faces of Stories

'Faces of Stories' is an experiment that aims to bring the stories of people who hesitate to speak out due to the fear of exposing their faces to the world. It seeks to draw portraits of their stories, reflecting their emotional states through an interaction system. Data collected through sensors, including the trembling of pupils, upper body movements, heart rate, and skin conductivity, is visualized in real-time while conducting interviews.

The 40-minute video consists of a making-of video explaining the process of generating interaction images and interviews with three schizophrenia patients. It is divided into two screens. On one side, it shows the images directly chosen and shot by the speaker, along with their voice, and on the other side, it displays interaction images that change based on the speaker's condition. This structure [Image shot by oneself]-[Voice]-[Interaction image generated by body cues] creates a way to prove the speaker's existence not through their face but through a different means.

Hyei Kim, Faces of Stories, single channel video, 40min, 2018

Initial Work Plan

In the project, a significant challenge was overcoming the limitations and power dynamics of the camera. As part of the Creation Support program, the aim was to explore work beyond the camera, or even without the camera. Simultaneously, the project sought to ethically represent the existence of marginalized individuals in the visual public sphere. The plan was to connect various sensors capable of receiving physiological signals to an Arduino and visualize the collected data through Processing.

Work Process

1. Building the Interaction System

The initial task involved testing various sensors that could capture bodily changes during interviews. This process took a considerable amount of time to find the most stable and reliable sensor combination. The concept for visualization was set as "deep ocean," and the corresponding code was implemented. Decisions were made on how to connect each data collected through the selected sensors to specific visual elements.

2. Conducting Interviews

With the completed code and equipment, interviews were conducted. The on-site team consisted of me, the interviewee (speaker), the developer, and a recording staff, totaling four people. Strong rapport was established with the interviewees, and detailed explanations about the interview process were provided, creating a stable and comfortable environment for the interviews. A total of twelve people were interviewed in four sessions.

3. Editing for Presentation

The interviews suitable for presentation were edited into approximately 10-minute segments, and a making-of video was added, resulting in a 40-minute presentation. During the editing process, decisions were made regarding the use of subtitles, music, and editing choices for the interviewee's words and silences, which required some concern when confronted with the initial project objectives.

Faces of Stories, Eye Tracker pupil coordinate test

Faces of Stories, Kinect Human Skeleton, depth test

Faces of Stories, GSR Sensor skin conductance, BPM Sensor heart rate test

Hyei Kim, Faces of Stories, visualization concept, 2018

Hyei Kim, Faces of Stories, interview setup esquisse, 2018

Epilogue

First of all, I was delighted to meet artists from various backgrounds and disciplines. In the early stages of the project, I focused on improving the reliability of the data through multiple tests with various sensors that I had purchased. However, since the sensors and hardware I used were not high-end professional equipment, some margin of error or inaccuracy was inevitable. Despite this, I needed to accept this fact and move on to the next phase, but it seemed like I got too engrossed in the technical aspects of the project. I regret not taking more time to review the overall direction of the work and strengthen its foundations. It taught me the importance of planning the project considering the given circumstances and budget constraints.

Participating in the Center for Art Convergence's Creation Support Program allowed me to learn about the differences in the presentation of screening content and exhibition content. Observing how audiences interact with installation works was a significant experience, particularly for preparing for my solo exhibition (exhibition content) that followed the Creation Support Program's final report. Currently, I am in the process of editing the content to make it suitable for screening at film festivals. In the future, I would like to continue exploring the stories of various subjects under the concept of not revealing their faces and bodies. Additionally, I'd like to move the code I created in Processing into Unity3D to try out a dimensional shift from 2D to 3D, which would allow for expanded interactions.

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