Rule of the Imaginary Line

Organized by DoArt ｜ Venue at GALLERY HYUNDAI


With the advancements in media technology, art that utilizes video tape recorders may be more appropriately displayed in historical museums than in fine art venues. The artists of today favor the most advanced media technology and are focused on becoming experts in the newest hardware systems and latest upgrades of existing software. Within the last ten years, mediums that enable physical interrelationships have emerged. Interactive art, which uses sensory signals to respond to viewer reactions, seemed to predict the chaotic changes in the art world that had previously valued pedantic relationships to communicate its messages. However, such expressive media art has been accompanied with the problem that media art exhibitions may be more reminiscent of science expositions and the flourish of technology. This blurring has become the issue that media art now seeks to resolve. Although it may be unfamiliar, The Imaginary Line is an exhibition by artists at the forefront of contemporary media art in Korea. The Imaginary Line is a term that was originally used to describe a filming technique. It refers to the imaginary line within a script that separates the character positioning and camera movement from the moment of actual filming. The rule is to fix the position, movement, and perspective to avoid confusing the viewer. A familiar example is when a soccer broadcast remains set on a fixed perspective throughout the entire game so that the audience is not distracted. Accordingly, this exhibition has been organized by the artists who, domestically and internationally over the past two years, have actively displayed their well-known works of old (“the first half of the game”) and new (“the second half of the game”) in an attempt to visualize The Imaginary Line. One rationale for exhibiting the artists’ old works is that in some cases, despite receiving critical acclaim overseas, they may not have been able to exhibit in Korea due to restrictions on production and installation. For example, the work of Uram CHOE, which was featured in the 2008 exhibition in Tokyo’s SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, has garnered a great deal of attention from publications throughout the world but was never displayed in Korea. Furthermore, the works that have been introduced in Korea are reinterpreted through exhibition in a new venue. The work of Kijong ZIN, which was exhibited in 2008 in the Arario Gallery, is now installed in a distinct manner from its original display in order to reinterpret the space. Such introductions and reinterpretations complete the “first half of the game” and set the stage for the works of the next period. The destruction and reconstruction of the infinite points within Kyungwon MOON’s seemingly foretold the tragedy and restoration of the symbol of Eastern history and culture while Yongbaek LEE’s Folder has fulfilled the desktop of our lives. Yongseok OH’s collected Spaces are reproduced with familiar scenes from movies and memories from the imagination. Both the works of Kijong ZIN’s and , which humorously address real and imaginary conspiracy, and the work of Junebum PARK, who presents the power of religious belief and its effect on the ordinary, consider the invisible nature of the imaginary line. A discourse on the ideology can also be found in Joonho JEON’s bill. Rather than mere reproduction, leading attempts to connect with this next level are also evident in the births of mechanical living creatures by Uram CHOE. Critics are responding favorably to the Korean media artists’ most advanced techniques and use of space. For these artists, “the first half of the game” was a trial period for adapting to the evolution of techniques and technology. They all began from different perspectives in order to solve the primary issue of interactivity within media art. However, they all now share the same position on the imaginary line as they begin “the second half of the game” of media art in Korea.