Exhibitions & Events

JUNE 8, 2022 – SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Manifest, Unmanifest XII presents a site-specific sound and light environment in which various interdependent media collectively create an intersubjective space as a unified continuum. This twelfth edition in Choi’s series of environmental compositions exploring the concept of “Manifest, Unmanifest” features six recent works including large-scale multimedia installations, light point drawings and a sound environment, which completely envelop the listener’s body in the physical experience of sound vibrations and standing waves. Through a synthesis of light, incense and sound, Choi creates an immersive environment where opposites are not separate entities, but rather exist in synchronicity. The environmental composition’s constantly evolving aural-visual forms and patterns unveil a micro-macro dialogue between states of flux and stability and reveal the constantly changing, transient nature of the manifested reality.

ABOUT JUNG HEE CHOI

Jung Hee Choi is an artist and musician who works in video, performance, sound and multimedia installations. Her work has been presented in the United States, Europe, and Asia including FRAC Franche-Comté, France; Berliner Festspiele, Bundeskunsthalle, Germany; Dia Art Foundation, Guggenheim Museum and MELA Foundation Dream Houses, NYC; FRESH Festival, Bangkok; Korea Experimental Arts Festival. Choi is the senior disciple of La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela with the traditional Kirana gandha bandh red-thread ceremony taking place in 2003. In 2002 she co-founded, with Young and Zazeela, The Just Alap Raga Ensemble and has performed as a vocalist in every concert. Choi’s electroacoustic and modal improvisation ensemble, The Sundara All Star Band, premiered in 2015. The members include Young, Zazeela, Choi, Jon Catler, Hansford Rowe and Naren Budhkar. The New York Times listed Choi’s Tonecycle for Blues performed by her Sundara All Star Band as one of The Best Classical Music Performances of 2017. Since 2009 Choi’s long-term multimedia installations have been presented both solo and simultaneously with Young and Zazeela’s sound and light in the MELA Dream House creating a continuous collaborative environment. 

Jung Hee Choi, Composition 2006 #3 (Spirit), 2006, 60 x 72 in.; mixed media: graphite on black paper and video, Photo: Jung Hee Choi. Copyright ©Jung Hee Choi 2013.

Jung Hee Choi, Light Point Drawing 31–1, installation view, Udine, Italy, 2019. Photo: Dominique Philibert. Copyright ©Jung Hee Choi 2019.

Jung Hee Choi at her Ahata Anahata, Manifest Unmanifest XI, MELA Dream House, New York City, 2017. Copyright ©Jung Hee Choi 2017.

 

Manifest, Unmanifest XII is produced in collaboration with the Donghwa Cultural Foundation and is sponsored in part by the MELA Foundation.

GIL BRUVEL, EUNSUH CHOI, JAMES CULLINANE, RODNEY DICKSON
KYUNG-AE HUR, YONG R. KWON, TAEZOO PARK, RAPHAELE SHIRLEY

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 — NOVEMBER 10, 2021

SWPK is pleased to present the group show Diffusion/Cohesion, featuring artists Gil Bruvel, Eunsuh Choi, James Cullinane, Rodney Dickson, Kyung-Ae Hur, Yong R. Kwon, Taezoo Park and Raphaele Shirley, whose works in traditional and new media reflect the dualities of diffusion and cohesion in the world we live today.

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the behaviors of society. As people struggle to maintain a semblance of normalcy, the dichotomy of physical remoteness and virtual proximity has been intensified in a globally interconnected world. Despite the distance between us, communities have strived to create and adapt to novel forms of unity and cohesion, ushering in an era where we must re-evaluate the perceptions of our new reality.

Diffusion/Cohesion seeks to examine the role these opposing, yet interconnected forces play in our human experience, both within the context of our globally altered reality and beyond. The artists presented in this exhibition explore the dichotomies of cohesion and diffusion through video and digital installations, analog and NFT technology, glass sculpture, paintings and three-dimensional wall pieces, reflecting the collapse and unity we experienced, and continue to experience, as a society and reveal the potential for ensuing cultural renewal and regeneration.

Gil Bruvel, Bending the Lines #16, wood, resin, and acrylic, 48 x 48 x 9 in. 

Eunsuh Choi, Dreams V, flameworked borosilicate glass, 20 x 11 1/2 x 20 in.

James Cullinane, Sudan, 2012, map pins, paint & paper on panel, 36 x 30 in. 

Rodney Dickson, Untitled, 2012, oil on board, 96 x 60 in.

Kyung-Ae Hur, N°FRP0821BP2, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 31 1/2 in.

Yong R. Kwon, Ultramarine-Light, 2014, stainless steel on canvas, 57 1/8 x 89 3/4 in.

Raphaele Shirley, Sky (obscured and revealed), 2021, seven-minute single channel immersive video installation.

 

Gil Bruvel, Bending the Lines #16, wood, resin, and acrylic, 48 x 48 x 9 in. 

Eunsuh Choi, Dreams V, flameworked borosilicate glass, 20 x 11 1/2 x 20 in.

James Cullinane, Sudan, 2012, map pins, paint & paper on panel, 36 x 30 in. 

Rodney Dickson, Untitled, 2012, oil on board, 96 x 60 in.

Kyung-Ae Hur, N°FRP0821BP2, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 31 1/2 in.

Yong R. Kwon, Ultramarine-Light, 2014, stainless steel on canvas, 57 1/8 x 89 3/4 in.

Raphaele Shirley, Sky (obscured and revealed), 2021, seven-minute single channel immersive video installation.

PLAN YOUR VISIT:

Our exhibition spaces are now open fully to the public Tuesday thru Saturday from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Please note that in accordance with New York City mandate, all visitors age 12 and older must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and must present a photo ID and proof of vaccination in order to enter the exhibition. Proof of vaccination may include CDC Vaccination Card (or photo), NYC COVID Safe app, New York State Excelsior Pass, NYC Vaccination Record, or an official immunization record from outside NYC or the U.S.

Face coverings are required for all visitors age 2 and older and for the duration of the visit.

Diffusion/Cohesion has been curated and produced in collaboration with the Donghwa Cultural Foundation.

Header image: Raphaele Shirley, Sky (obscured and revealed), 2021, 7-minute single channel immersive video installation.

JUNE 15, 2021 | 6:30 PM

We are pleased to present a screening of Oscar-nominated director Erick Oh’s newest animated short film, Namoo, created in collaboration with the six-time Emmy award-winning interactive animation studio, Baobab Studios.

The screening will be followed by a reception and artist talk with film’s director Erick Oh, producer Kane Lee,  production manager Anika Nagpal and animator Jon Brower. The talk will be moderated by Edo Choi, film curator at the Museum of the Moving Image.

Remote participation in this event will be available through a virtual film screening and livestream of the artist talk. Please also note that the virtual screening capacity is limited.

The screening of Namoo and artist talk is presented through a partnership between SWPK, the Museum of the Moving Image and the Donghwa Cultural Foundation.

ABOUT NAMOO

Celebrating its U.S. theatrical version online premiere at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, Namoo (meaning ‘tree’ in Korean), is a narrative poem come to life as an animated film and created as a virtual reality experience. The project is led by esteemed Korean director Erick Oh (who received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short in 2021 for Opera, and won Annecy’s Cristal Award for TV for The Dam Keeper Poems with Tonko House).

Namoo is an ode inspired by Erick’s grandfather’s death. The narrative follows the journey of a man from his birth up until the end of his life. As a young man, he falls in love with painting and as an adult, he falls in love with another person for the first time. But not all love lasts forever, and he eventually finds himself a broken man who puts a band-aid — literally — on his past woes and disappears into his work. Finally, as an old man he has the time to reflect on his life, what really mattered, and appreciate his amazing journey.

Watch the trailer for Namoo here.

Guests at the in-person event will also have the opportunity to experience ‘Namoo’ in VR during the post-screening reception. 

Header Image Credit: Erick Oh and Baobab Studios

IN CONVERSATION:
BARBARA LONDON WITH HARU JI AND EUNSU KANG

Wed, Dec. 4, 2019 | 6:30 PM

On December 4, New York-based curator Barbara London will be in conversation with artists Haru Ji and Eunsu Kang, whose provocative work is featured in the 2019 Korean Media Arts Festival. The three will discuss how technology inspires artists to be fearless about experimenting with evolving tools and advance their practice.
 
Barbara London is a longtime media art curator, writer and professor who founded the video exhibition and collection programs at the Museum of Modern Art, where she worked between 1973 and 2013. Her new book, Video/Art, The First Fifty Years, is being released by Phaidon Press in January 2020.

Toronto-based Haru Ji and Pittsburgh-based Eunsu Kang both wear several hats, as media artists, researchers and professors engaged with human-machine interfaces and interactivity with A-Life and AI techniques. Their artmaking involves a profound understanding of hardware and software, which steadily undergo upgrades that challenge their innovations. 
 
Together Barbara London, Haru Ji and Eunsu Kang will look at art and experimental research processes, in particular interactivity and what has been labeled “interface culture.” 

Space is limited, rsvp required.
RSVP now

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

TECHNOIMAGINATION: LIVING DATA

Ever since the advent of the internet, an influx of data has become available from a variety of sources. As an era of Big Data has dawned upon us, the amount of unstructured data and the methods of its analysis have greatly increased, thereby intensifying the imperative to know the types of data to extract and filter, today a common interest in all fields including the arts.Living Data presents data-based works by Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield, Yoon Chung Han, and Eunsu Kang and collaborators. As artists and educators who have combined art and data in the labs of universities, they explore post-information age themes including the ethical issues in artificial intelligence, the privacy of biometric data, and the living systems of virtual environments.

 Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield’s Infranet employs an artificial life agent with an evolutionary neural network that transforms urban infrastructural data into a virtual artificial ecosystem. Eyes by Yoon Chung Han utilizes biometric data to transform iris patterns into an interactive installation of musical sound and 3D-animated images. Eunsu Kang’s Aural Fauna presents an unknown organism form, called aural fauna, that enigmatically reacts to visitors’ sound and touch.The three works presented in Living Data expand the boundaries of creative expression through their visualization of analyzed data, revealing a data-dependent artistic communication relevant to contemporary society’s data dependency.

ABOUT THE KOREAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL

Technoimagination, the theme of the Korean Media Arts Festival 2019, introduces to New York the unique situation and characteristics of media art in Korea, as a leader of IT, in a post-media or post-digital contemporary art era. Presented at The Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Gallery (SWPK) are the exhibition sub-themes Technoimagination: Memories in Time and Space and Technoimagination: Living Data, featuring works by Chan Sook Choi, Yoon Chung Han, Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield, Eunsu Kang & Collaborators, Hahkyung Darline Kim, Beikyoung Lee, and Cheol-Woong Sim.

The Korean Media Arts Festival 2019 is organized by the Donghwa Cultural Foundation, sponsored by the Korea Foundation, and presented in collaboration with SWPK and Harvestworks. Technoimagination has been co-curated by Odelette Cho of SWPK and Kyung Ran Joo of FUSE Art Project. 

More information online at www.kmaf.us

PANEL DISCUSSION
LIVING DATA: AI, A-LIFE & DATA ART

Thurs, Oct. 24, 2019 | 6:30 PM

Join us for a panel discussion with Deborah Levitt (Assistant Professor of Culture and Media, The New School), Margaret Schedel (Assistant Professor of Music at Stony Brook University) and Technoimagination: Living Data artists Yoon Chung Han (Eyes), Haru Ji (Infranet) and Eunsu Kang (Aural Fauna), moderated by Xin Wang (independent curator and art critic).

Within the context of the Technoimagination: Living Data exhibition, the panel  will examine the use of artificial intelligence, artificial life, and data in art. The discussion will also shed light on the ways in which the Living Data artists are incorporating these media in their practices to explore post-information age themes such as the ethical issues of artificial intelligence, the privacy of biometric data, and the living ecosystems of virtual environments. Read more

Space is limited, rsvp required.
RSVP now

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

TECHNOIMAGINATION: LIVING DATA

Ever since the advent of the internet, an influx of data has become available from a variety of sources. As an era of Big Data has dawned upon us, the amount of unstructured data and the methods of its analysis have greatly increased, thereby intensifying the imperative to know the types of data to extract and filter, today a common interest in all fields including the arts.

Living Data presents data-based works by Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield, Yoon Chung Han, and Eunsu Kang and collaborators. As artists and educators who have combined art and data in the labs of universities, they explore post-information age themes including the ethical issues in artificial intelligence, the privacy of biometric data, and the living systems of virtual environments.

Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield’s Infranet employs an artificial life agent with an evolutionary neural network that transforms urban infrastructural data into a virtual artificial ecosystem. Eyes by Yoon Chung Han utilizes biometric data to transform iris patterns into an interactive installation of musical sound and 3D-animated images. Eunsu Kang’s Aural Fauna presents an unknown organism form, called aural fauna, that enigmatically reacts to visitors’ sound and touch.

The three works presented in Living Data expand the boundaries of creative expression through their visualization of analyzed data, revealing a data-dependent artistic communication relevant to contemporary society’s data dependency.

ABOUT THE KOREAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL

Technoimagination, the theme of the Korean Media Arts Festival 2019, introduces to New York the unique situation and characteristics of media art in Korea, as a leader of IT, in a post-media or post-digital contemporary art era. Presented at The Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Gallery (SWPK) are the exhibition sub-themes Technoimagination: Memories in Time and Space and Technoimagination: Living Data, featuring works by Chan Sook Choi, Yoon Chung Han, Haru Ji & Graham Wakefield, Eunsu Kang & Collaborators, Hahkyung Darline Kim, Beikyoung Lee, and Cheol-Woong Sim.

The Korean Media Arts Festival 2019 is organized by the Donghwa Cultural Foundation, sponsored by the Korea Foundation, and presented in collaboration with SWPK and Harvestworks. Technoimagination has been co-curated by Odelette Cho of SWPK and Kyung Ran Joo of FUSE Art Project.

More information online at www.kmaf.us