Rehearsal #1-1

Digital Print with float mount, 30x30(inch), 2012


I am making virtual performance art in virtual theater that I created. “Rehearsal” series is strongly related to all of my experiences. I was a technical art director for three years when I was in Korea, and this experience leads me to create a virtual theater. Also, the photorealistic reflection on digital bodies came from pictures that I took in Chicago. When I moved to Chicago three years ago, I felt a sense of social isolation as an alien. So, I spent a lot of time exploring and documenting the city at that time. These two different experiences are combined in my work.

In the virtual performance, I can be a director, choreographer, stage designer or lighting operator. Being placed in these positions through digital media allows me to get over a feeling of alienation while creating a story and scene. Also, I can express my emotion with a digital body. The digital bodies in this series are meant to do two things: to embody the qualities of digital culture and virtual experience and also to express the pain that a real human might feel if confronted with these certain emotions.

Imagining and making a virtual performance is one of the methods I use to ensure my existence in an American culture, which seems to exclude me. Through making a virtual performance in digital media, I could fully be able to communicate with the world.