https://yeseul.com Yeseul Song Fri, 25 Apr 2025 03:04:18 +0000 https://yeseul.com en https://yeseul.com/entry-1 Tue, 25 May 2021 03:56:45 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/entry-1 entry 1 entry 1 https://yeseul.com/entry-1-copy Tue, 25 May 2021 03:59:36 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/entry-1-copy entry 2 entry 2 https://yeseul.com/news-title Wed, 14 Jul 2021 05:24:11 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/news-title News: my upcoming shows/events I usually update my upcoming shows/events on&nbsp;my Instagram. You’re welcome to subscribe to my newsletter. You can see how’s my Invisible Sculptures are doing here :) https://yeseul.com/About Tue, 01 Aug 2017 03:03:17 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/About <img width="2130" height="964" width_o="2130" height_o="964" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/19b52fc9b4b3b66324e12069dbba110fa0349323c8c08371f0976f8ae7b4c1c2/Screen-Shot-2021-04-15-at-8.19.46-AM.png" data-mid="105332719" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/19b52fc9b4b3b66324e12069dbba110fa0349323c8c08371f0976f8ae7b4c1c2/Screen-Shot-2021-04-15-at-8.19.46-AM.png" /> Yeseul Song&nbsp; / born in Busan, South Korea. lives and works in New York, USA Artist working with technology, interaction, and participation Professor (Assistant Arts Professor) at NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ ITP/IMA (faculty profile) Yeseul Song is a South Korean-born, NYC-based artist who uses technology, interaction, and participation as art media. Her work uncovers creative possibilities of non-visual senses through inventive sensory languages that advocate for imaginative and inclusive views of the world. Her work questions how we normally perceive, think, and interact through novel perceptual experiences. Yeseul’s work redefines the relationship between art and participants—in her work, the audience becomes participants and performers. She explores and occupies non-traditional public spaces as well as institutions to challenge commonly held ideas about access and accessibility of art. Outdoor public spaces, where she shares work-in-progress and ready-to-show work, become extensions of her studio. She’s best known for Invisible Sculptures (2018-2021), a series of non-visual experiential sculptures made of sound, warmth, air, smell, and thought. The series was shown internationally, and a book about the series was published (Invisible and Existent, ISBN 979-11-90401-32-6) in 2021. One of the works in the series is recently acquired by Middlebury College Museum of Art for its permanent collection. Her non-visual experiences has been brought to numerous number of people at both indoor and outdoor spaces, including Clayarch Art Museum (South Korea), Kansong Art Museum Daegu (South Korea), National Asian Culture Center (ACC), Watershed (UK), Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum (D.C.), New York Live Arts (NY), Museum of Arts and Design (NY), Samsung Leeum Museum of Art (South Korea), PASEO (NM), Public Works Administration (NY), NYU Bobst Library (NY), Mana Contemporary (NJ), DUMBO (NY), and Art in Odd Places (NY). Her work has also been supported by More Art, Future Imagination Fund, Engelberg Center on Innovation Law &amp; Policy, Embassy of the Republic of Korea's Korean Cultural Center, GimHae Cultural Foundation, Wave Farm, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and more. Yeseul’s work won the iF Design Concept Awards and Communication Arts Interactive Awards, and her recent project has been shortlisted for Creative Capital 2023 and Ars Electronica 2022. She is an alum of New Museum’s NEW INC and served as a mentor at NEW INC, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), Japan Arts Council’s WAN. Yeseul served on the jury panel for Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), Wave Fram, Sound Scene, Queens College, and more. Her many public speaking engagements include The Cooper Union (NY), Seoul Foundation of Arts and Culture, Da Vinci Innovation Center (Paris), Art Collider Lab (Korea), Maryland Institute College of Art (MD), and Haeundae Art and Culture Center (Korea).Yeseul is an Assistant Arts Professor at New York University Tisch's Interactive Telecommunications Program &amp; Interactive Media Arts (NYU ITP/IMA). Her teaching areas span interactive art, participatory art, physical computing, and sustainable materials. + Yeseul is an adult figure skater ⛸ and contortion lover.&nbsp; * 송예슬미디어 아티스트, 뉴욕대 티쉬예술대학 ITP/IMA 교수 (profile) / 부산 출생, 뉴욕 거주 한국 부산에서 태어나 현재 뉴욕에서 활동중인 미디어아트 작가이자 교육자이다. 첨단 과학기술과 인터랙션을 재료로 관객이 직접 참여하는 감각적 경험을 창조함으로써 예술과 관객의 관계를 재정의하고, 시각 중심의 기존의 예술적 패러다임에서 벗어난 비시각적 경험을 통해 미디어아트의 의미를 확장하고 더 많은 관객들을 포용하고자 한다. 예술은 누구나에게 접근 가능해야 한다는 신념을 바탕으로, 미술관과 갤러리같은 예술 공간뿐 아니라 야외공간, 공공장소, 길거리, 사적 공간에 이르기까지 비전형적인 공간들을 예술로 채워왔다. 대표작으로는 “보이지 않는 조각들 (Invisible Sculptures, 2018-21)”와 "귀를 기울이면 (Two Subtle Bodies, 2022)", “아슬아슬 (Balancing Act, 2025)”이 있다. 뉴욕의 뮤지엄오브아츠앤디자인 (Museum of Arts and Design), 뉴뮤지엄 뉴잉크 (New Museum’s NEW INC), 뉴저지 마나컨템포러리 (Mana Contemporary) 등의 레지던스를 거쳤으며, 뉴욕파운데이션오브아츠 (NYFA), 뉴욕예술문화위원회 (NYSCA), 웨이브팜 (Wave Fram), 브루클린아츠카운실, 한국영사관 문화원 등에서 다수 기관에서 작가활동을 지원받았다. 또한, 커뮤니케이션아츠 인터랙티브 어워드 (Communication Arts Interactive Award) 와 이프디자인상 (iF Design Award) 을 수상하고 크리에이티브캐피털 (Creative Capital) 과 아스일렉트로니카 (Ars Electronica) 최종후보로 선정된 바 있다. 스미소니언 허쉬혼 뮤지엄 (Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum, D.C.), 뉴욕라이브아츠 (New York Live Arts, NY), 컬쳐허브 (Culture Hub, NY), 구글 I/O (Google I/O, CA), 바르셀로나 소나 (Sónar), 영국 워터쉐드 (Watershed) 등에서 작품을 선보여 왔고, 한국에서는 클레이아크미술관, 대구간송미술관, 국립아시아문화전당 (ACC), 서울문화재단, 리움미술관, KBS 뉴스, MBC 뉴스 및 각종 미디어를 통해 소개되었다. 뉴욕대 티쉬예술대학, 연세대학교, 시적연산학교를 졸업하였으며, 뉴욕대 티쉬예술대학 인터랙티브 텔레커뮤니케이션프로그램(New York University Tisch School of the Arts’ Interactive Telecommunications Program &amp; Interactive Media Arts: ITP/IMA)에서 교수(Assistant Arts Professor)로서 후학에게 예술과 기술을 가르친다 (티칭 분야: 피지컬 컴퓨팅, 인터랙티브 아트, 지속가능소재연구). 로어맨하튼문화의회(LMCC) 예술지원사업 및 뉴욕주예술의회(NYSCA) 미디어아트지원사업 심사위원, 스미소니언 허쉬혼 뮤지엄 사운드신의 자문위원으로 활동하였으며, 뉴욕예술재단 (NYFA)과 일본 WAN: Art &amp; Tech Creators Global Network에서 멘토로 활동중이다. + 예슬은 피겨 스케이팅을 통해 몸과 정신, 공간과 움직임의 관계를 탐구한다 ⛸ * Photo by Aing Studio / Courtesy of Clayarch Art Museum C.V. Instagram (news) Newsletter (extremely occasional) Email 🐣 New-Born! Balancing Act 아슬아슬 (2025) commissioned by National Asian Culture Center (ACC) 🌸 Upcoming Public Programs: Distinguished Speaker at Hong Kong Arts Festival’s No Limits Symposium (3/8/2026) Presenter at&nbsp;CAA 114th Annual Conference (2/8/2026) Meet the Artists at Wave Hill (7/27/2025) «우리를 바꾸는 다섯 가지 대화» × 송예슬 작가와의 만남 Talk at MMCA (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Seoul, South Korea (May 28, 2-4pm KST)Public Program at National Asian Art Culture Center in Gwangju, South Korea (late June)Curious Cubes: Workshop Series at Samsung Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (June 20 &amp; 22) 🎠 Works On-View: Balancing Act 아슬아슬 (2025) &amp; Invisible Sculptures: Sound Sculpture 소리조각 at National Children’s Museum, South Korea 11/25/2025 ~ 08/29/2027 Balancing Act 아슬아슬 (2025) &amp; Invisible Sculptures: Air Sculpture 공기조각 at &lt;우리의 몸에는 타인이 깃든다&gt;4/17/2025 ~ 6/29/2025, National Asian Culture Center (ACC) 국립아시아문화전당, South Korea7/23/2025 ~ 8/22/2025, Modu Art Space 모두미술공간, Seoul, South Korea9/26/2025 ~ 11/30/2025: Gimpo Art Village, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Whispers of Sunken Forest (2022) w/ Jesse Simpson at &lt;Trees, We Breathe&gt; 5/31/2025 ~ 11/30/2025 Wave Hill, NY &lt;소리로 지은 집 (Hunminjeongeum: Acoustic House)&gt;9/3/2024 ~ 5/25/2025, Kansong Art Museum Daegu 대구 간송 미술관, South Korea Invisible Sculptures &amp; Two Subtle Bodie&nbsp;at Sing The Body Electric (Collection #1, Collection #2) 11/2024 ~ 1/2025, Undershed, Watershed, Bristol, UK&nbsp; Invisible Sculptures: Sound Sculpture at An Invitation to Awe + permanent 9/13/2024 ~ , Middlebury College Museum of Art https://yeseul.com/Invis_sculptures Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:00:56 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/Invis_sculptures Invisible Sculptures (보이지 않는 조각들, 2018-2021)&nbsp;is a series of sculptures that can be only seen by senses other than sight. The project explores a more sensory inclusive view of the world while questioning the meaning of “the art object” by challenging sighted people's dependence on vision through immersive multi-sensory experiences. The project is also a celebration of diversity evidenced by our biological, social, and cultural backgrounds, as well as the diversity of our perceptions. The sense of vision doesn’t help you to see Invisible Sculptures–because of this, visually impaired people and people with sight are on equal terms when they encounter these sculptures. To learn more about the project, feel free to watch this interview video from my solo exhibition or my recent talk. You can also purchase the book about the project (Korea / other countries).&nbsp; Recent/Upcoming Showings of Invisible Sculptures: [NOW] 7/23/2025 ~ 8/22/2025 — Air Sculpture at &lt;우리의 몸에는 타인이 깃든다&gt;, Modu Art Space 모두미술공간, Seoul, South Korea [NOW] 4/17/2025 ~ 6/29/2025 — Air Sculpture at &lt;우리의 몸에는 타인이 깃든다&gt;,&nbsp;National Asian Culture Center (ACC) 국립아시아문화전당 Sep ~ Dec 2024 —&nbsp;Sound Sculpture at An Invitation to Awe at Middlebury College Art Museum, VT, USANov ~ Dec 2025 —&nbsp;Sound Sculpture and Air Sculpture at Sing The Body Electric at Watershed’s Undershed in Bristol, UK Sep 1, 2024 – Invisible Sculptures:&nbsp;Sound Sculpture has been purcahsed and collected by Middlebury College Museum of Art Nov 12, 2023 – Artist Talk at&nbsp;Connected Week 2023 by Art Collider Lab in South Korea Aug 1, 2023 – A poem about Invisible Sculptures by Karen Neuberg is published on APPAGUS Apr 24, 2024 – Artist Talk at&nbsp;I_mBODY lab at&nbsp;Universidad Carlos III de MadridMar 1, 2024 – How To See Invisible Sculptures: Creating Experimental Art with Non-visual Spectrum, my essay on Epi Science Magazine 23 (in Korean) Feb 12, 2022 – Artist Studios Open House at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD Museum) March, 2022 – Thought Sculpture III at The Sound and Fury, a metaverse exhibition curated by Kim Seung Hyun. Oct 2021 – An exhibition book about the Invisible Sculptures series has been published! (Publisher: Clayarch Museum).&nbsp;You can purchase here (Korea). If you’re outside Korea, here’s the form. Oct 23, 2021 – Central Park, NYC w/ Museum of Arts and Design (Invisible Sculpture OnWheels). Event PageOct 6, 2021 – Artist Talk at Cooper Union (hosted by the&nbsp;Autonomy Lab) “Creating New Sensory Languages with Invisible Sculptures” Sep 12, 2021 – Dumbo, Brooklyn @ The Six Foot Platform, presented by Brooklyn Arts Council &amp; Dumbo Improvement District&nbsp;(Invisible Sculpture OnWheels) Aug 27, 2021 – Virtual Tour of my solo exhibition about the Invisible Sculptures series, &lt;Invisible and Existent&gt; / in Korean /&nbsp;RSVPAug 2, 2021 – The project has been selectedfor the City Artist Corps Grants by the New York Foundation for the ArtsJuly 21, 2021 – Thought Sculpture III at &lt;NFS NSFW NFT&gt;, a 3D virtual exhibition produced by members of NEW INC and Rhizome’s Art &amp; Code trackApril 9, 2021 – Virtual Tour of my solo exhibition about Invisible Sculptures series, &lt;Invisible and Existent&gt; with MAD Museum / in English / RSVP April 2 ~ August 31, 2021 – A solo exhibition dedicated to the Invisible Sculptures series, at Clayarch Art Museum in South Korea May 14 ~ 16, 2021 –&nbsp;Art in Odd Places in NYC (Invisible Sculpture On Wheels) May 7, 2021 – Talk at the Seoul Foundation of Arts and Culture, South Korea March 2021 – GimHae, South Korea (Invisible Sculpture On Wheels) November 2020 – Tompkins Square Park in East Village, NYC (Invisible Sculpture On Wheels) https://yeseul.com/ongoing Mon, 30 May 2022 17:01:46 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/ongoing These are some of the projects I’m working on currently or presented recently. I’m actively creating these work and doing research on related topics. Interested? Please fill out this form. If you want to more closely follow my process, here’s my Instagram. May 2023 – Two Subtle Bodies at Columbus Park, Brooklyn, with More Art w/ Fred Wilson’s sculptural workSep 2023 – Whispers of Sunken Forest at Art in Odd Places, NYC June 3-5, 2022 – Debut of Two Subtle Bodies at Sound Scene 2022 at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden https://yeseul.com/Teaching Wed, 27 May 2020 18:49:46 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/Teaching I develop and teach courses in art, technology, and design at NYU ITP/IMA as an Assistant Arts Professor. I also teach workshops at various cultural institutions. My teaching areas span interactive art, participatory art, and physical computing. On the right are selected courses and workshops that I’ve developed and/or taught: Graduate Level Courses Intangible Interaction@ NYU ITP Intro to Physical Computing @ NYU ITP Project Development Studio@ NYU ITPSustainable Material Research Lab@ NYU ITP Undergraduate Level Courses Topics in Physical Computing and Experimental Interfaces: Physical Computing&nbsp; @ NYU IMA Interaction As Art Medium@ NYU IMA Public Programs / Community-Oriented Research &nbsp; 🟡&nbsp;Curious Cubes: Whispering in Tactile Language (감각너머: 검은 상자의 속삭임) @Samsung Leeum Museum of Art 리움미술관, Seoul, South Korea Summer 2025Assistant Teachers: Jiyou Park, Seung Yeon Yang 🟡 Material Kitchen@NYU ITP/IMA 2023 ~Collaborator: Priyanka Makin; Supported by NYU 🟡&nbsp;Decentering Sense 2023 Workshop 《Other’s Space》 | Accessibility Program (감각너머: 타인의 공간) @Samsung Leeum Museum of Art 리움미술관, Seoul, South KoreaSummer 2023 Collaborators: Wonyoung Kim, Soohye Jang 🟡&nbsp;A-Round Project: Community Healing through ArtFunded by the&nbsp;Korea Culture and Arts Education Service2021 Collaborators: Jiyoun Jeong, Ahreum Kim + Online Archive / Interview Video 🟡 Weather Band@ NYU ITP 2020 ~ 2021 I initiated and led the group as the creative director.🟡 Creating Accessible Exhibition Guide for &lt;Invisible and Existent&gt; (전시관람안내서) @ Clayarch Art Museum, South Korea 클레이아크미술관 2021Collaborators: Jiyoun Jeong (curator at Clayarch Museum), Min Hyung Kang (Independent Curator, Founder of Art Space Barim) 🟡 Inclusive Art Museum (함께하는 미술관) @ Clayarch Art Museum, South Korea 클레이아크미술관 2021Invisible Sculptures exhibition preview + Conversations with Visually Impaired Visitors 🟡 On/Off SaiSai: Movement for Conversations (On/Off 사이사이; 대화를 위한 움직임)@ Clayarch Art Museum, South Korea 클레이아크미술관 Summer 2020 A 3-week workshop series in new media art and online community building project for artists and creators working with different mediums. + Book (in Korean) about the workshop published by Clayarch Museum:&nbsp;read here. Workshops (selected)🟤&nbsp;Un-balancing Act: Beauty of Imbalance (흔들흔들: 흔들림 속에서 태어나는 것들) — Video in collaboration with 종달@ ACC (National Asian Culture Center), Gwangju, South Korea <img width="8640" height="5760" width_o="8640" height_o="5760" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e95b2c6e0156d7ded8ba3193f730b389ac3ceff3ca72c848b2e7578e6701bbea/IMG_5741.JPG" data-mid="236271524" border="0" data-scale="75" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e95b2c6e0156d7ded8ba3193f730b389ac3ceff3ca72c848b2e7578e6701bbea/IMG_5741.JPG" />(사진 김선우 photo Sunwoo Kim, ACC 제공 courtesy of ACC) 🟤&nbsp;Sounds Like Us: Creating Collaborative Musical Instruments w Code @ Sound Scene 2022 at Smithsonian Hirshhorn, June 5, 2022 🟤&nbsp;Your Workout Buddy:&nbsp;PoseNet with ml5.js and p5.js@ ITP Camp, Summer 2020 (online workshop) ITP Camp is a 4 week crash course/playground for creative and techy people who want to shake things up. 🟤 Physical Computing Help Session Workshops @ NYU ITP, Fall 2018 I co-led a series of workshops for graduate students, which are supplemental to the Intro to Physical Computing class.🟤&nbsp;Connecting Digital and Physical: Serial Communication between Arduino and p5.js@ ITP Camp, Summer 2019 🟤&nbsp;Getting Started with DMX Lights @ ITP Unconference 2019 🟤&nbsp;Controlling Real Lightbulbs with Arduino @ ITP Unconference 2019 &amp; 2018, ITP Camp 2018 🟤&nbsp;3D Printing for Hackers - An Algorithmic Approach to 3D Printing @ ITP Camp 2017 🟤 Digital Art Studio Summer Program @ BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Summer 2016 Teaching Artist: In collaboration with Molmol Kuo and School for Poetic Computation (SFPC) https://yeseul.com/Public-Talks Mon, 13 Dec 2021 22:13:55 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/Public-Talks I like meeting and engaging with a diverse group of people through my artwork and public talks! Here are selected public talks I’ve given recently. For speaking arrangements, reach out to me via email (below). Creating New Sensory Languages with Invisible Sculptures October 2021 at The Cooper Union’s Rose Auditorium, New York, NYInvited by the Autonomy Lab at The Cooper Union Invisible and Existent: Invisible Sculptures – Artist &amp; Curator Interview February 2021 at the Clayarch Museum, GimHae, South KoreaCurator: Jiyoun Jeong How to See Invisible Sculptures 보이지 않는 조각을 보는 법 (in Korean) November 2023 at Connected Week by Art Collider Lab in Seoul, South Korea New Media Art: Weaving Art with Technology 기술로 엮은 예술: 미디어 아트 (in Korean) January 2021 at the Haeundae Art and Culture Center, Busan, South Korea 해운대복합문화센터 Invisible Sculptures: Art of Reflection 보이지 않는 조각들: 기술로 엮은 사색의 예술 (in Korean) May 2021 at the “Disability, Art and Technology” Conference, hosted by the Seoul Foundation of Arts and Culture 서울문화재단 같이있는가치 Feeling and Perceiving with New Sensory Languages at i_mBODY Lab at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid April 2024 https://yeseul.com/All-Projects Mon, 28 Aug 2017 00:12:35 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/All-Projects https://yeseul.com/essay_balancingact Fri, 25 Apr 2025 03:04:18 +0000 Yeseul Song https://yeseul.com/essay_balancingact An essay about 아슬아슬 Balancing Act&nbsp;(2025) Commissioned by National Asian Culture Center (ACC), South Korea Published on Pre-exhibition Book “Crossing the Line: Our Bodies, Embedded with Others 우리의 몸에는 타인이 깃든다” [ISBN: 979-11-92402-77-2 (98600)]Published on Post-exhibition Book “Crossing the Line: Our Bodies, Embedded with Others 우리의 몸에는 타인이 깃든다” [ISBN: 979-11-92402-88-8 (93600)] Book Scan: Printed Version (PDF) Written in English and Korean 한국어 Duet for Strangers: Artist’s Statement for “Balancing Act / 아슬아슬 (2025)” Written by Yeseul Song, March 2025 There are moments inside the crowded New York subway when I accidentally lock eyes with someone sitting across from me. Feeling awkward, trying to guess who’ll look away first, we end up gazing into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. On days when such an incident occurs, I find myself thinking about that gaze even into the afternoon. Small details of the facial expression I caught during those seconds pop into my mind, and the strange sense of empathy—a sense of togetherness stemming from the fact that we’re both living here and now—formed between me and the stranger in that instant lingers on. These are moments of encounters made not with words or the intellect but through the body and senses. I recall the couples and families who were moved to tears while experiencing Two Subtle Bodies (2022). In this interactive piece, I invited people in pairs to wear cloaks with sensors, allowing them to move freely and feel each other's amplified energy and peripersonal space through sound and vibration. The movements of these connected bodies culminated in a deeply authentic form of music and performance. As the artist, I treasure the memory of observing a couple that was engaged to be married participating in the work at its premiere at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. I remember them being in tears and sharing their feelings: “What I got was a tangible experience of what it’s like being in her space and her being in my space… Okay… I’m okay with this exposure, and I’m okay with being this vulnerable with you.”“It was so intense for me. I was like, am I crying? Oh my god, I’m crying! What is this?” —Rachel and Tyron, a couple, after participating in Two Subtle Bodies In 2023, I met 12 teenagers through the Decentering Sense 2023 Workshop: Other’s Space, a workshop I led with artist Kim Won Young and producer Jang Soohye at the Leeum Museum of Art. Rather than introducing themselves verbally in the form of “I am so-and-so from such-and-such,” participants were introduced to one another through a movement workshop, after which they became acquainted through nonverbal physical communication, participating in Two Subtle Bodies and producing a small derivative group performance. Only at the end of the two-day workshop did the participants finally start talking to each other and verbally share their thoughts on the experience. One participant shared the difficulties and feelings of loneliness they’ve dealt with after dropping out of school. Another spoke about how hard it’s been to trust others as a person with a visual impairment, while yet another confessed that they felt oddly comfortable with other participants in the workshop even though they had only spent two days together and this was their first time sharing their inner concerns and feelings. This unbelievable result—seeing a level of connection and empathy too deep to form even during a 14-week semester forming in just two days—reminded me once again of the power of the body and nonverbal communication. <img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeQAA_tfZTK6J2IgE5OydXpV-5AtjlKKyyfkQnK0ql53F9KlVlB_9br75Igyw-ecz6X7AeMzIejKUX4keyL1ewhH5OrOfRD2poJL8p71jSU1EUPAd4DX6Pg9qA3bEc8vojcsKefAA?key=5AKQzJHjt8fRzCen5p3YLf1h" width="617" height="412" style="width: 617px; height: 412px;"> Image 1: Two participants in Two Subtle Bodies at the Leeum Museum of Art, 2023. What is central to my work isn’t the object itself but the people experiencing it. This is evident not only in Two Subtle Bodies but also in the Invisible Sculptures (2018–2021), produced using a nonvisual spectrum of media including sound, temperature, and air; Invisible Forest (2021), experienced sonically while walking around a misty, empty room; Rice Dimmer (2020) of the Slow Dimming Studyseries lit by placing rice grains one by one onto a plate using chopsticks; and the Kansong Art Museum Daegu-commissioned Hunminjeongeum: Acoustic House(2024), built out of the voices of Hangeul users—works which are all completed through participation. In these works, objects such as cloaks, sculptures, and spaces merely serve as well-contrived media to invite people to participate in the work, and the true artistic climax is reached through experience—the interaction between the work and participants—itself. I build “stages” for people, using interactive technology as my medium. I want these stages built using new sensory languages to enable people to perceive materials, others, and the world in an extraordinary way. I hope these unfamiliar experiences help the participants discover the thrill of creation and find the courage they already embody, regardless of whether they have received formal art education. <img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXczizU3wibPcKyCiTsZShcckTe2LY7KdBNfNmBlkWoQm8BVBC6wWBWmNBZONdt3v-0ShuqJ6fpuvvLXlfFepROd_5gPnf5gwpQiPcD9gW7dOA-8d5o2vmHlAL5ZiBGKAtaWkVl7Ww?key=5AKQzJHjt8fRzCen5p3YLf1h" width="609" height="406" style="width: 609px; height: 406px;"> Image 2: A participant in Invisible Sculptures: Sound Sculptureat the Clayarch Gimhae Museum, 2021 While Two Subtle Bodies&nbsp;acknowledged two bodies as separate entities and explored the existence of a flexible space between them—an idea explained through the concept of the “subtle body” [1]&nbsp;in Daoism and Dharmic religions and the “peripersonal space” [2]&nbsp;in cognitive psychology—my latest work Balancing Act presented in the exhibition Crossing the Line: Our Bodies, Embedded with Others curated by Yewon Park and Dayeon Lee focuses on the moment when two or more unfamiliar bodies interlock to become a single entity. One of the moments I always find the most beautiful when observing participants in Two Subtle Bodies is when the two participants enter the room from opposite ends—the exchange of glances when they first see each other in the capes and the (unconscious) synching of their movements. The two participants are free to move as they please, but many of the pairs unknowingly mirror each other or sensitively attune their movements according to the energy and speed of the other person’s movement to move together instead of alone, almost like a pas de deux (the duet deemed the pinnacle of ballet) or pair skating&nbsp;[3](a genre of figure skating in which two skaters become one to demonstrate extraordinary physical potential). <img width="606" height="454" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcKKiQqDA-fcy_fYjMqIQ87r86uHmzGNugPS3TXp3t7zbs3IWWKcXe2wqnysbAHY8QWk757qLFRA3Iws379s__q3AxnBLsTwMWIPmmK7teb37Q9VWVAz-fyK6qEi7LSa7uMnYy8?key=5AKQzJHjt8fRzCen5p3YLf1h"> <img width="4500" height="3000" width_o="4500" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/045e0ea7bf56bfa59bf88f6358e81262d39bfd37c13b3e98ca6b9285d3296c76/20240417--Crossing-the-Line-0138.jpg" data-mid="247019479" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/045e0ea7bf56bfa59bf88f6358e81262d39bfd37c13b3e98ca6b9285d3296c76/20240417--Crossing-the-Line-0138.jpg" /> Image 3: An early concept sketch for Balancing Act /&nbsp;Image 4: Balancing Act (2025) Balancing Act&nbsp;takes the form of an interactive installation that highlights and expands on the very moment when two people become acutely aware of each other and begin to synchronize their movements. In this work, two people enter a dark room where they can barely see each other. They slowly move in parallel on long, undulating platforms while each holding one end of a pole which lights up only when it’s horizontally leveled. The two can detect the pole’s horizontality by the changes in the chords played on their headphones. Because the two stand at different heights, move at different speeds, have different senses of balance and movement, and walk on platforms with different patterns of undulation, they must carefully observe and sense each other’s movements. When they are fully immersed in each other’s movements and the pole remains horizontal, the dance created through the participants’ movements lights up the space with harmony. “The duet. The dance of two. It serves as the axis on which a dance turns. A duet requires perfect synchrony. Two bodies merging lines, breathing as one. A constant call and answer of balance that changes on a dime. It requires sacrifice, each partner dancing for something bigger than the both of them. In its execution, only one thing matters. Trust between the two of you. A single slip, a tiny tremor, and in an instant, the shape collapses, and you take your partner down with you.” —Tiny Pretty Things (an American television series about an elite ballet academy) I like to refer to the viewers of my works as “participants.” This is because they don’t merely play the role of a passive consumer but complete the works through direct and physical participation, sometimes as performers and at other times as creators. In my Invisible Sculptures series, participants experience invisible sculptures and then use a handful of clay to produce “participatory sculptures,” the only “visible” sculptures in the work, based on their perceptions of each invisible sculpture. In Two Subtle Bodies, participants create their own rhythm and gestures. In Balancing Act, they develop their own body language andnunchi (눈치: a word in Korean that indicates the subtle art and ability to gauge other’s moods) to keep the space lit and the harmony steady. The novel forms of body language they create will hopefully come together and intertwine to form a collective movement that would balance out this world, where desire for efficiency fuels technology and fewer and fewer encounters occur among bodies. I end this essay as I “wait for performers” [4] to join me in creating this movement. * Related Material: Artist Interview on Balancing Act / 아슬아슬 (2025) [1] The concept of the “subtle body” in Dharmic and Daoist philosophies illuminates the idea that one’s body is organically connected to the bodies of others through invisible energy and senses and that one’s body expands toward the bodies of others and vice versa through the same energy and senses. [2] In cognitive psychology, “peripersonal space” refers to the space that a body physically and psychologically perceives as its own, and countless studies have proven it to mediate cognitive connection among bodies. Wataru Teramoto’s experiment featured in the scientific journal Nature in 2018 shows that we react as sensitively and quickly to events and external stimuli affecting the bodies of unfamiliar others as if they were our own. [3] Special thanks to Jonathon Hunt, my figure skating coach and American pair skater, who introduced me to the world of pair skating. [4] Park Yewon, “Reconstructing Sequences,” 2024 ACC Outdoor Exhibition: Reconstructing Sequences, exhibition catalog, 2024. 낯선 몸들을 위한 듀엣: &lt;아슬아슬 (Balancing Act)&gt; 작업론 송예슬 (Yeseul Song), 2025년 3월 사람들로 가득한 뉴욕 지하철, 맞은 편에 앉은 상대와 우연히 눈이 마주치는 순간이 있다. 시선을 먼저 피하기가 머쓱해 서로 눈치를 보다보면 몇 초간 서로의 동공을 응시하게 된다. 그런 우연한 눈맞춤을 한 날은 오후에도 그 눈빛을 생각하는 나를 발견한다. 몇 초 동안 바라본 상대의 표정의 작은 디테일들이 문득 문득 떠오르고, 낯선이와 나 사이에 몇초간 형성된, 지금의 여기를 함께 살아간다는 묘한 공감이 여운이 맴돈다. 말과 지능이 아닌, 몸과 느낌으로 하는 ‘만남’의 순간들. 본인의 2022년 작 &lt;귀를 기울이면 (Two Subtle Bodies), 2022&gt;을 경험하며 눈물을 흘리던 연인과 가족들을 기억한다. &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;은 두 사람이 센서가 장착된 망토를 입고 자유롭게 움직이며 소리와 떨림으로 서로의 증폭된 에너지와 둘 사이의 공감각적 공간을 느끼며 인지적으로 형상화하는 인터랙티브 작품이다. 한 쌍의 몸이 만들어내는 움직임과 그 사이의 공간에 소리와 떨림이 예민하게 반응하며, 경험하는 두 사람은 그들만의 음악과 공연을 만든다. 미국 워싱턴DC 스미소니안 허쉬혼미술관에처 처음 작품을 선보였을 때, 결혼을 앞둔 한 쌍의 연인이 눈물을 줄줄 흘리며 작품을 경험하는 장면과 이후 전한 소감은 작가인 내게 보물과 같다. “그녀가 나의 공간/몸에, 내가 그녀의 공간/몸에 들어와 있는 경험을 했어요. 나를 이만큼 투명하게 드러내도 괜찮구나, 내 약한면을 드러내도 괜찮구나, 하고 처음 느낀 순간이었어요.”, “엄청나게 강렬한 느낌을 받았어요. 내가 지금 우는건가? 어머, 내가 울고 있어! 이게 대체 뭐지?!”– &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;을 경험한 레이첼, 타일러 커플 2023년에는 리움미술관에서 김원영 작가, 장수혜 프로듀서와 함께 진행한 “감각너머” 프로그램을 통해 12명의 청소년들을 만났다. 참가자들은 ‘저는 어디에서 온 누구누구입니다’ 하는 말로 하는 소개 대신 무브먼트 워크샵으로 첫 만남을 가졌고, &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;을 경험하고 작품을 활용해 소그룹 공연을 만들며 비언어적 소통을 통해 몸을 부대끼며 서로를 알아갔다. 이틀을 함께 보낸 후, 워크샵 마지막에 마침내 서로 말문을 열고 이틀간의 소감을 전했다. 자퇴를 하고 얼마나 힘들고 외로운 시간을 보내고 있는지, 시각장애인으로 살면서 사람을 신뢰하는게 얼마나 힘든 일이 되었는지… 고작 이틀을 함께 보냈지만 다른 참가자들이 이상할 정도로 편안하게 느껴져서 처음으로 남에게 어려움과 속내를 털어놓는다고 한 참가자도 있었다. 14주짜리 한 학기 수업에서도 일어나기 힘든 진한 연결과 공감이 이틀만에 일어나는 놀라운 광경은, 비언어적 소통과 몸의 힘을 다시금 느끼게 했다. 나의 작업의 중심은 그 오브제 자체가 아니라 작업을 경험하는 사람들이다. &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;도, 소리, 온도, 공기 등 비시각 스펙트럼으로 만든 &lt;보이지 않는 조각들 (Invisible Sculptures), 2018-2021&gt;도, 안개 낀 빈 방을 걸으며 소리로 경험하는 &lt;보이지 않는 숲 (Invisible Forest), 2021&gt;도, 젓가락으로 쌀알을 접시 위로 하나하나 옮겨 천천히 불을 밝히는 &lt;쌀알조광기 (Slow Dimming Study: Rice Dimmer), 2020&gt;도, 한글사용자들의 목소리로 지은 대구간송미술관 커미션 전시 &lt;훈민정음: 소리로 지은 집 (2024)&gt;도, 사람이 참여해야만 완성된다. 여기서 망토, 조각, 공간과 같은 오브제는 사람들로 하여금 작품에 참여하도록 초대하는 섬세한 매개체일 뿐으로, 진정한 예술적 클라이막스는 경험의 순간 자체 즉 작품과 참여자의 사이에 형성된다. 나는 인터랙션과 기술을 재료로 사람들을 위한 ‘무대’를 건축한다. 새로운 감각의 언어로 만들어진 그 무대에서, 사람들이 물질과 타인과 세상을 비일상적으로 인식했으면 한다. 그 생경한 경험 속에서, 예술 교육을 받았느냐의 유무와 관계없이 각자에게 이미 내재된 창작의 설렘과 용기를 발견했으면 한다. &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;이 두 신체를 각각의 것으로 인정하며 그 사이에 존재하는 유연한 공간의 존재–불교와 도교의 ‘미묘한 몸 (Subtle Body) [1]’, 인지심리학의 ‘신체주변공간(Peripersonal Space)[2]'으로 설명되는–를 탐구했다면, 이번에 ≪우리의 몸에는 타인이 깃든다≫에서 선보이는 신작 &lt;아슬아슬 (Balancing Act)&gt;은 둘 이상의 낯선 신체들이 맞물려 하나의 개체가 되는 순간을 추구한다. &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;을 경험하는 참가자들을 관찰할 때마다, 내게 가장 아름답게 다가오는 장면 중 하나는 망토를 입고 반대편에서 등장하는 서로를 처음 만나 눈빛을 교환하며 (자신도 모르게) 서로의 움직임을 맞춰나갈 때이다. 두 참가자 모두 자유롭게 움직일 수 있는데도 불구하고, 많은 쌍들이 서로의 움직임을 무의식중에 미러링하거나 상대의 움직임의 크기, 속도 등을 느끼며 자신의 움직임을 조절해 나가며 혼자가 아닌 둘의 움직임을 만들어 나갔다. 마치 발레의 꽃으로 불리는 파드되(Pas de Deux: 두 사람이 추는 듀엣), 혹은 두 사람이 한 몸이 되어 비범한 육체적 가능성을 보여주는 피겨 스케이팅의 장르 페어 스케이팅(Pair Skating)[3] 처럼. &lt;아슬아슬&gt;는 두 사람이 서로를 민감하게 느끼며 움직임을 동기화(syncing)하는 그 순간 자체를 인터랙티브 설치라는 형태로 드러내고 확장한다. 두 사람이 서로를 간신히 볼 수 있는 어두운 공간에서, 수평을 유지해야만 빛을 내는 장대의 끝을 들고 굴곡이 있는 긴 플랫폼을 천천히 걷는다. 두 사람은 헤드폰을 통해 들리는 변화하는 화음으로도 수평의 정도를 감지할 수 있다. 신장과 속도, 균형감각, 움직이는 방식, 그리고 각 참가자가 걷는 플랫폼의 굴곡의 패턴이 다르기 때문에 두 사람은 서로를 움직임을 주의 깊게 관찰하고 느껴야 한다. 서로의 움직임에 완전히 몰입하고 장대가 수평을 유지할 때, 두 사람의 ‘춤’은 환한 빛으로 공간을 밝히고, 조화로운 화음으로 공기를 채운다. “듀엣은 완벽하게 일치해야 해. 두 몸의 경계가 허물어지며 한 몸처럼 호흡해야 하지. 끊임없이 이동하는 균형을 계속 맞춰 나가. 이건 희생이 따라. 두 사람 다 자신들보다 조화를 생각하며 춤추지. 듀엣을 출 때 중요한 건 딱 하나. 두 사람 사이의 신뢰야. 살짝만 미끄러지거나 미세하게 떠는 순간, 틀이 무너지면서 파트너와 함께 쓰러지니까.”[4] – 발레학교의 이야기를 그린 미국 드라마 “사랑하는 작고 예쁜 것들 (Tiny Pretty Things)” 나의 작품의 감상자를 ‘참여자’라고 부르기를 좋아한다. 작품을 감상하는 자가 수동적인 소비자의 역할에 머무르는 것이 아니라 때로는 공연자로서, 때로는 창작자로서, 직접적이고 신체적인 참여를 통해 작품을 완성시키기 때문이다. &lt;보이지 않는 조각들&gt; 시리즈에서는 보이지 않는 조각들을 경험한 후, 한 줌의 흙으로 자신이 인지한 각각의 조각의 형상을 빚어 시리즈 중 유일한 ‘보이는’ 작품인 &lt;참여의 조각&gt;을 구성한다. &lt;귀를 기울이면&gt;에서는 둘만의 음악과 몸짓을 만든다. &lt;아슬아슬&gt;에서는 공간을 밝히고 화음을 흐르게 하기 위한 그들만의 ‘몸 언어’와 ‘눈치’를 만든다. 참여자들이 만든 새로운 몸 언어들이 서로 엮이고 얽혀, 효율성에 대한 열망이 기술의 날개를 달면서 몸들이 만나는 일이 점점 줄어드는 지금 세상에 균형의 날개짓(collective movement)을 보여줄 수 있기를 바란다. 함께 몸짓을 만들어 나갈 ‘행위자들을 기다리며[5]’, 글을 마친다. * 관련자료: &lt;아슬아슬&gt; 작가 인터뷰 [1] 불교와 도교의 종교철학은 ‘미묘한 몸 (Subtle Body)’ 개념으로 나와 타인의 몸은 보이지 않지만 존재하는 기운과 감각을 통해 유기적으로 연결되어 있으며, 나의 신체는 타인을 향해, 타인의 신체는 나를 향해, 감각과 기운을 통해 확장되어 있음을 조명한다. [2] 인지심리학에서는 한 신체가 물리적, 심리적으로 자신의 것으로 인식하는 공간을 ‘신체주변공간(Peripersonal Space)'이라 칭하며, 무수한 연구를 통해 몸들이 신체주변공간을 통해 인지적으로 연결되어 있음을 증명해 왔다. 일본의 심리학자 와타루 테라모토(Wataru Teramoto)의 2018년 네이쳐(Nature)지 연구는 낯선 몸들 사이에서도 타인의 신체에 일어나는 사건과 다가오는 외부 자극에 자신의 몸처럼 예민하고 빠르게 반응한다는 점을 실험을 통해 보여준다. [3] 페어 스케이팅의 세계를 소개해 준, 나의 피겨스케이트 코치이자 페어스케이터인 조나단 헌트(Jonathon Hunt)에게 감사를 전한다. [4] “The duet. The dance of two. It serves as the axis on which a dance turns. A duet requires perfect synchrony. Two bodies merging lines, breathing as one. A constant call and answer of balance that changes on a dime. It requires sacrifice, each partner dancing for something bigger than the both of them. In its execution, only one thing matters. Trust between the two of you. A single slip, a tiny tremor, and in an instant, the shape collapses, and you take your partner down with you.” [5] 박예원, “현장 속으로”. 2024 ACC 야외전시 ≪현장 속으로: 기억과 사건≫ 전시 도록.