A Journey through the Culture-Technology Valley
Abstract
Born in 1952, in the middle of the Korean War, I am one of the rare species who has witnessed and experienced all of the major industrial revolutions (IRs) - the first represented by machines, the second by electricity, and the third by computing. In retrospect, it is interesting to observe that my perception on the IRs has evolved; whereas the first IR was all about the matter of survival, the second one was intertwined with political ideology. In the third IR, I was proud to be in the mainstream, as one of the actors who led the technological innovation. In the course of these developments, I noticed that many crucial social and economic indices which are supposed to be in the form of the normal (Gaussian) distribution polarized into binary form: the rich and the poor, right and left, natural and artificial, technology and culture. Of course art and science is no exception.
In this regard, I coined the term Culture Technology (CT) in 1994, to provide a stepping stone on which the techno-cultural studies and practices could be systematically approached with the goal of narrowing the gap between technology and culture, more specifically science and art. In this presentation, I will review some of my conventional and unconventional attempts in the context of Culture Technology (CT), with the hope that my storytelling will entertain (and hopefully stimulate) the audience who are interested in bridging the gap between science and art. As a bonus material, I will present some personal thoughts on the fourth IR in regards to HAI (Human-Artifact Interaction), claiming that 1) the fourth IR could be the last IR that we humans will ever experience, and that 2) the essence of the fourth IR lies in how we position humanities with respect to artificiality.
Biography
Kwangyun Wohn is currently Chair at National Council of Science & Technology. In the past, he has been with several institutions so far; Agency for Defense Development (for 5 years), Harvard University (for 2 years), University of Pennsylvania (for 4 years), and KAIST (for 27 years).
Major activities and accomplishments include: Director of VR Research Center which is a national center of research excellence, Founding President of Korean Society of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Founding President of Korean Society of Performing Art, Editorial Board of British Computer Society, and Founding Dean of Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST. While his research interests span a broad range of the intersection between art and science - from theoretical aspects to practicalities - he focuses his research efforts to the application of virtual reality technology to various cultural artifacts such as stage performances, museum exhibitions, heritage, fashion, and educational contents.
The dark side of light
Abstract
While incredible amounts of information on the Universe have been gathered in the last decades using optical means and have dramatically sharpened our understanding of the Cosmos, the outcome is that the overwhelming fraction of our world remains invisible, either through the limitations of our senses (whether natural or technologically expanded) or because those invisible domains simply do not interact with light. Photographing, imaging or otherwise apprehending these and thus overcoming the limitations linked to our reliance on light requires re-evaluating our assumptions, broadening our toolkit and reconsidering what we mean by seeing, as will be exemplified via a range of explorations of these invisible domains and the occasional conceptual consequences of such attempts.
Biography
Michael Doser is a senior research physicist at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland, focusing on working with antimatter. Spokesperson of the AEgIS experiment at CERN. Editor of Physics Letters B and of the Review of Particle Properties. Lecturer to a wide spectrum of specialist and non-specialist audiences, from school children to decision makers, often also at art-related events.
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/ava/network-structure/steering-committee/michael_doser/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Doser2
Nam June Paik: Transforming Cultures, Connecting the World
Abstract
Throughout his life, Nam June Paik lived in disparate places such as Seoul, Tokyo, Dusseldorf and New York, where he found artistic camaraderie and which were the arenas for creative experiment. Paik’s unique take on eastern and western philosophies and cultures in his technology-based practice was inspired by the vision of a transnationally and technologically connected world. Influenced by his interest in the history of colonialism, war, immigration and globalisation, Paik’s international trajectory was exceptional at a time when travelling across borders was rare and difficult. Identifying what is Korean, Japanese, German or American about Paik’s art would be a futile task, for his practice was always related to a global community of creators and viewers. Paik freely dipped into diverse cultures and new technologies in a manner he described as ‘random access’. He selected various elements of civilisations past and present, eastern and western, and established a hybrid construct that defied any assumed characteristics of specific countries or cultures of origin. This lecture will address Paik's vision of a world intertwined without national borders or cultural hierarchies that resonates strongly with our increasingly networked and digitally connected reality.
Biography
Dr Sook-Kyung Lee is Senior Curator, International Art (Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational) at Tate Modern, UK. She is currently curating Nam June Paik, which will premiere at Tate Modern in late 2019 and tour in Europe, USA and Asia. As the leading curator of Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational, Lee has a particular interests in transnational interconnectedness in artistic and curatorial practices. She previously led Tate Research Centre: Asia from its inception to conclusion in 2012-2018, and has held responsibilities for the research and acquisition of art from the Asia-Pacific region for Tate Collection. Lee was previously Exhibitions & Displays Curator at Tate Liverpool and curated a number of exhibitions and displays including Doug Aitken - The Source, Thresholds (part of Liverpool Biennial 2012) and parts of Constellations. She also served as the Commissioner and Curator of the Korean Pavilion for the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.
Woman Working with Media Art Technology
Abstract
When we investigate the question how woman work with media art technology nowadays, it is interesting to look at female pioneers of digital art since the 1960ies. Woman artists and researchers had a key impact on today´s digital art and in this lecture selected female media art pioneers will be acknowledged. As the field of digital art has grown exponentially, current female media artists and young practitioners naturally face different challenges. Selected current work examples will be shown and practices will be discussed. Issue of gender inequity in art and technology networks will be addressed and good practice examples how to strengthen female networks in this domain will be presented.
Biography
Christa Sommerer is an internationally renowned media artist, researcher and pioneer of interactive art. After working, researching and teaching in the US and Japan for 10 years, she together with Laurent Mignonneau set up the department for Interface Cultures at the University of Art and Design in Linz, Austria. She studied with Roy Ascott at the University of Wales College of Art, Newport in the UK where she obtained a PhD. She previously worked at the IAMAS International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences in Gifu, Japan, at the ATR Media Integration and Communications Research Lab in Kyoto Japan, the MIT CAVS in Cambridge US, the Beckmann Institute in Champaign Urbana, IL, USA, the NTT-InterCommunication Center in Tokyo. She was a Visiting Professor at CAFA Central Academy of Fine Arts Bejing in 2019, a Visiting Professor at Tsukuba University Empowerment Informatics Studio in 2018 and an Obel Guest Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark from 2014-2016. Together with Laurent Mignonneau she created around 40 interactive artworks that have been exhibited in around 350 international exhibitions. She received numerous awards, f.e. the 2016 ARCO BEEP Award in Madrid Spain, the 2012 Wu Guanzhong Art and Science Innovation Prize which was bestowed by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China and the 1994 Golden Nica Prix Ars Electronica Award.
http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent
http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at
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