2021 Ars Electronica Garden Seoul Festival: Code H
2021 Ars Electronica Garden Seoul Festival: Code H
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Korean language
Humans have adopted different values in different eras. Since the advent of digital technology, humans have developed a language and an aesthetics befitting the new technological environment. With the term “New Aesthetic,” James Bridle describes the emergence of a visual language and mixed reality in the post-digital era. As social networks and virtual media have a ubiquitous presence in our daily lives, we are experiencing unpredictable errors and solid messages reacting differently from their original intentions as we experience a combination of real and virtual environments and turbulent changes of the future.
The 2020 festival defined “the third life” as an issue concerning the relationship between reality and virtuality caused by the rapidly changing technological environment in the late 20th century. Conversely, the 2021 festival attempts to expand the realm of art education based on the Internet as an art school in the post-COVID era. Prompted by Ars Electronica, the attempt began by running an international collaborative education program called “Korea National University of Arts X Ars Electronica Academy,” which transcends physical limitations. The program included a team of emerging artists from various disciplines at Korea National University of Arts and international mentors from Ars Electronica. It supported eight teams to lead convergence arts education and create artworks during the first semester of 2021, through two curriculums: “Interactive+” (three teams) and “Immersive Performance” (five teams). Each program focused on games and immersive performances as new art media and created artworks that experimented with the interaction and artistic immersion of digital media. I am proud to introduce them in this festival.
The results from the various artistic education and creative attempts in a rapidly changing society will be presented at 2021 Ars Electronica Garden Seoul in September. Under the theme “Code H,” the festival focused on humor as a way to explore the new aesthetics and enable future art and technology to coexist with humanity. Henri Bergson defined humor as “very humane and a remedy for anti-sociality.” Humor is a universal language, more persuasive and inclusive than other means of expression; it has always played a significant social role. Through lectures by experts, showcase, and performance screenings, this year’s festival rediscovers the value of humor to overcome hardships during this post-COVID era and elucidate the relationship between humor and convergence art.
Code H Director : Chungyean Cho (Vice President of Korea National University of Arts, Professor of School of TV & Multimedia)
Online Performance <Code: Human> presents the invited performance/videos on the theme of the human body existing in linear time and physical space. It will screen "Neo-human Scale,” which is about a new sense of distance; "New Ritual," a modern interpretation of Korean shamanistic ceremonies and traditional mask dance movements; and "The Purpose of Talchum," which features a contemporary interpretation that deviates from the Korean mask dance. Through this, <Code: Human> will suggest you to imagine the possibility of a new future beyond the dichotomous limits of tradition and modernity.
New Ritual (2018) | SaaWee
The Purpose of Talchum: A Study of the Formal and Practical Meaning of Talchum and its Sustainability in Modern Society (2021) | Performed by Insun Park
Neo-Human Scale (2020) | HjkEg Collective
<Code: Humor> presents seven lectures set up to share the various discourses surrounding humor as a language of empathy and communication: Day 1. Humor for Community; Day 2. Humor for Inter-play; Day 3. Humor for Future Creativity, and the like. Through talks by experts in various fields such as cultural anthropology, psychology, gaming, and arts, we will try to see the crisis as an opportunity and explore the value of humor to imagine the future in various ways.
Sociology of Sense of Humor |
Chanho Kim(Professor of Liberal Arts, SKHU)
Talchum and Humor Community |
Yongho Heo(Visiting Professor of School of Korean Traditional Arts, K-Arts)
Anyone Can Play! |
Young Yim Doh(Professor of KAIST GSCT)
Play – Network – Art |
Sun Park(Independent Game Developer) X Jing Yang(Game Designer, Curator, Artist)
Art Museum as a New Playground |
Clarence Ng Kian Peow(YCAM Production Manager)
Exploring the New Digital Territories for Contemporary Dance |
Gilles Jobin(Choreographer, Artistic Director of The Cie)
Literacy for Future Artists |
Kiheon Shin(Freelance Creative Director)
Online Showcase <Code : Hybrid>
<Code: Hybrid> aims to experiment with new possibilities of artistic creation through works created with virtuality and interaction of the media, based on the mixed environment of digital humanism. The showcase introduces students' works created through the new media creative education program "K-Arts X Ars Electronica Academy," which the Korea National University of Arts collaborated with and operated with the Ars Electronica Export team. The academy consists of two classes, Interactive+, which deals with games as creative media under the theme of Humor for Future Community, and Immersive Performance, which experimented with realistic performances using VR.
<Welcome to Janggu in the Club> is a closing event of the Ars Electronica Garden SEOUL festival, designed to allow anyone to enjoy music and dance in the online virtual world. Due to the prolonged pandemic, the festival networking party will be held in the VRChat space.
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