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Surreal wave sweeps over the city

Last summer, a giant wave swept over downtown Seoul. The vividness of the graphic, which I witnessed by accident while taking the bus, was so overwhelming that it was something I have never experienced. I could not take my eyes off the screen, but stared at it for a long time, mesmerized by the greatness of the wave that seemed about to pour over the bus. And several passersby were standing still, glued to the wave which was on the screen but looked like it would crash into the ground. Despite knowing that it was not a “real” wave, a sense of freedom we shared that day by looking at the wave was “real.”

The unexpected experience of the day still lingers in my mind. Crashing waves in the center of a mega city. I was able to find out online that the great wave was “immersive media art” that demonstrated the movement of waves on the Digital Signage on the exterior of the city’s SMTown COEX building.

Humanity has dreamed of the extension of human ability and a new world through art. Philosopher Vilém Flusser, from his definition of the function of the arts, stated that arts create another world and lend us access to other realities. As he said, humans look at the present from a different perspective, through the eye of the arts, and experience something new. It is the same with me watching the waves in the middle of the city and having an unrealistic experience. In particular, with the advent of new media, the arts provide us with opportunities to share new experiences.

Words like artificial intelligence, metaverse, and immersive content are not unfamiliar in the era we live in. Such technology, through integration with the arts, creates content that is more creative than ever. And in the field of creation, technology plays the role of a painter’s brush.

In keeping pace with the rapid changes, Asian Culture Center (hereafter ACC) offers a competency building program for creating technology-based work in numerous ways every year. This year’s program provides four cultural technology workshops, including Unreal Engine workshops for creating immersive content, creating digital content with motion-capture data, a TouchDesigner workshop, and creating with artificial intelligence.

The technology that created the sweeping waves in Seoul is largely connected to the theme of the first workshop, “Unreal Engine.” The course, held for three weeks between April and May, helps creators interested in immersive content understand the basic functions and relevant application techniques of the Unreal Engine and practice creating digital content.

Unreal Engine is the software and a creation tool for interactive content creation like games, augmented reality and virtual reality realization, and 2D and 3D content that can be created in a short time. Immersive content produced with the Unreal Engine is media-based content that maximizes stimulation of the five senses, enabling a convincingly real experience. Taking the existing media to the next level, this so-called immersive content maximizes the sights, shapes, and angles, to create 3D environments and stimulate new sensations.

The workshop first introduces the ways to create and utilize immersive content and explains the concepts. Then, by employing the Unreal Engine tool, participants are to create their own content from their ideas within the training period. In addition, the course helps participants create content independently after the completion of the workshop, allowing them to gain insights and experience that can be of great help in their workplace.

From basic instruction in Unreal Engine to creating content using state-of-the-art equipment and gear owned by ACC, the <ACC Professionals Competency Building Program> is known to facilitate the growth of new creators and artists who currently work in the field of art content and provide them with opportunities to broaden their creative horizons. We visited the training site brimming with passion and briefly met with a few of the creators. I first met with the instructor, Hong Min-ki of the Unreal Engine workshop.

• What stands out from your experience in leading the class?

  Hong Min-ki Above all, I had a hard time having my students use the game tool at first. I received a lot of questions, which was unexpected, but since we only had about three weeks to complete the course and a massive amount of material to cover, I could not answer every one of their questions, so I felt bad. But we had fun and learned a lot through sharing opinions on diverse choices, finding solutions, and solving problems. The participants work in diverse fields, but it was great to meet people with whom I can share my interest, and it was such a great time working with them.

Additionally, I met with Creator Choi Min-kyeong and Yeom Ji-hee to share their stories as well.

• Please share your thoughts and impressions of the workshop and briefly explain the content you are currently working on.

  Choi Min-kyeong In fact, there are several technology workshops for nonprofessionals. But this one offered by ACC was for creators, which was why I applied. I found the workshop very meaningful, personally, since I was able to learn techniques that I can use at my work site. My current work is directing and producing a psychological landscape with the theme of division. By placing a character, which was modeled after myself, and some objects that bring up the images of a room of a little girl, I wanted to demonstrate the suppression and fantasy that women feel, and I am trying to create a “meta human” that exists with the Unreal Engine to keep utilizing those images.

  Yeom Ji-hee The ACC website has a very intuitive way of finding workshops and lectures, making it very easy to access information. I found this workshop on the website and applied to learn to transform my collage work of photos and pictures into virtual reality. The motif of my work is a dream. Based on my drawings, I wanted to express the world of people who are still having sweet dreams even after the border between dream and reality collapses.

Other creators who participated in the workshop, including the two we met, expressed high satisfaction with the program. Particularly, thanks to the accommodation provided by the host for those who came from other regions, creators were able to solely focus on developing their skills. In addition, they learned a lot about Gwangju as well. They also expressed their anticipation of creating more programs at higher levels, which will lead to creating diverse outputs and content. The trainees also sent their words of gratitude to curator Wi Sang-eun, who stayed with them until late to help them.

A total of 13 pieces of content created by the artists and creators through one-on-one mentoring at the workshop will be on display until June 30, at 12 PM and 7 PM at Hanul Madang Media Cube. We look forward to experiencing the special inspiration through immersive content screened in the city.

For the upcoming second half of the year, ACC is preparing training programs for artists and creators who aspire to develop their competencies with help of creating space, equipment, and profession. The course will provide a “Media Performance Workshop” which utilizes ACC’s Motion Capture technology, studio, and theater. We hope to see many artists and creators participate in the program.