김리진

Statement (2008-2013)

I am a subjective scientist. I explore forms, images, and the anatomy of the body, considering the body not only as a form of mind and will, but also as confinement of energy and perspectives toward the world. I delve into the subject matter by freely leaping across boundaries from Human Anatomy to Architecture, from Pop Culture to High Art, and from Science to Art, not limited by the confines set by these fields of study. While I hybridize various fields, from visual research and extracted patterns, a mutated creature begins to evolve into a tangible form that is the visualization of my reality, vision, and philosophy.

Since my college years in Korea, I have been committed to exploring movement in virtual space and real space fantasizing about someday creating a man made out of non-degradable and modular inorganic materials. I utilize various interactive and time-based media such as the Internet, software programs, 3D games, and animations, as well as drawings and sculpture to find more active ways to communicate with viewers.

Meanwhile, studying cultural body images in the United States and Korea, I noticed that certain visual elements tend to change their meanings and contexts when globalized. Languages and images are intricately interlinked to each other formulating their meanings and contexts in the local communities. I explore tensions between universal values of cultural body images that have potentials to be globalized and local values that are not readable outside of their cultures and languages.

In Fall 2009, I entered the interdisciplinary PhD program in Media, Art, and Text to scholarly develop innovative theories and practice of New Media Art. In my ongoing dissertation project, “Anatomy-based Realistic Facial Animation and Its Application to Art,” I aim to create an anatomy-based facial modeling and animation system, and real-time control of it, that enable real-time communication of emotional status. The project incorporates interdisciplinary methodologies and theories of Art, Engineering, Psychology, and Cultural Studies, and explores unique exhibitions of its data. Textual, visual, and multimedia resources of facial and facial expression theories and projects from various fields are collected and analyzed with methodologies from social science and engineering.

I construct my Art through conceptualizing the body not only in relation to anatomy, but also in connection with culture, environment, and social structure. I synthesize seemingly unrelated concepts blurring the boundaries of theoretic logic institutionalized by academia using the various techniques of visualization, to materialize my hybridized mind and thoughts.

Written in 2008, revised in 2013.

1956-1957 Korea (2014)

[Exhibition] 1956-1957 Korea (CICA Museum, Nov. 29, 2014 – Feb. 28, 2015)

[전시] 1956-1957 한국 (CICA 미술관, 2014년 11월 29일 – 2015년 2월 28일) 

http://cicamuseum.com/1956-1957-korea

[Book] 1956-1957 Korea (CICA Press)

Published in conjunction with the exhibition “1956-1957 Korea,” organized by Leejin Kim, an art director at CICA Musuem, Gimpo, Korea, November 29, 2014 – February 28, 2015

Produced by CICA Press, Gimpo, Korea

Curator: Leejin Kim

Editors: Leejin Kim, Kyungjin Yoo

The exhibition and the book ‘1956-1957 Korea’ features photographs taken in Korea from 1956 to 1957 by Lecile Webster and her story. Lecile Webster is the first African-American Woman worked for the U.S. Embassy Seoul, Korea. Her photographs include Seoul and rural scenes, daily lives of U.S. Embassy employees, Ik-hee Shin’s national funeral, John Foster Dullas’ visit in Korea, embassy wedding, and the adoption scene of Korean babies to U.S. families. Her photos capture the encounter between Korean culture and Western culture at that time, which creates surreal foreignness and tension between them.

[도서] 1956-1957 한국 (CICA Press)

주한 미국대사관 최초의 흑인 여성 외교관 레실 웹스터씨가 기록한

1956-1957 한국 서울과 농촌의 선명한 컬러 사진들

큐레이터 김리진 에디터 김리진, 유경진| 판형 (223*223) | 페이지 84쪽

가격 12,000원 | 초판 발행일 2014년 11월 29일 | 분야 예술/사진

ISBN 979-11-953952-0-0(03660)

출판사 CICA Press

“내가 한국에 도착했을 때는 1956년 겨울이었어요. 눈이 왔었죠. 비행기에서 보는 서울은 아무것도 없었어요. 눈뿐이었죠. 허허벌판에 아무 건물도 보이지 않았어요. 당시 한국으로 가는 일반 승객기가 없었기 때문에 나는 군용 비행기를 타고 왔죠.”

“한국은 세계에 아직도 굶주리고 어려움을 겪는 많은 다른 나라들에 좋은 본보기에요. 그들은 한국으로부터 많은 것들을 배우려 할 거에요. 한국의 교육과 발전 과정들을 배우겠죠. 이것은 실제로 가능했던 일이니까요.”

-레실 웹스터

책소개

1956-1957 외국인이 담은 서울 및 교외 풍경, 주한 미국대사관 직원들의 생활상, 신익희 선생의 국민장, 존 포스터 덜레스의 방한 장면, 대사관 결혼식, 한국 아이들의 미국 입양 장면과 같은 역사적으로 소중한 한국의 일상들을 담은 컬러 사진이 사진을 찍으신 레실 웹스터씨와의 인터뷰 내용과 함께 수록되었다. 당시 컬러 사진이 한국에 보급되지 않은 상황에서 서양인이 기록한 당시 한국의 선명한 컬러 사진들은 역사적 자료로서 의미가 있다. 특히 서울의 풍경사진으로서 최초의 컬러 사진으로 또한 웹스터씨의 한국에서의 생생한 기억들은 1950대의 한국인의 단상들을 잘 묘사하고 있다.

2014년 12월 9일 KBS 9시 뉴스 및 12월 10일 뉴스 보도

“세종로에서 연 날리고, 한강에서 얼음낚시”

저자소개

김리진

서울대학교 미대를 졸업하고, 펜실베니아 대학에서 미술석사를 취득하였으며, 버지니아 커먼웰스 대학에서 미디어, 아트, 앤 텍스트로 박사를 취득하였다. 현재 CICA 미술관 아트 디렉터로 활동하고 있다.

유경진

문화에 대한 열정이 넘치는 학구파 컴퓨터 공학도로 서울대학교를 졸업하고 네이버에서 근무하다가 현재는 메릴랜드 대학에서 박사과정 중이다.

목차

About C.A.N. 2

여의도 공항 4

서울 풍경 18

입양 장면 36

연날리기 대회 46

창덕궁 50

대사관 결혼식 53

시골 풍경 58

젓가락 공장 68

신익희 선생 국민장 70

마치는 말 80

C.A.N. Magazine (2014 – current)

Read C.A.N. Magazine >>> http://cicamuseum.com/c-a-n

About C.A.N.

C.A.N., an online and print magazine issued by CICA Museum, is media for art and culture from the perspective of young culture makers in spirit. C.A.N. is an acronym of CICA Art Now, and also means a word “can,” that stands for the positive and keen artists’ passion. CICA support “young” culture makers, who have passion, critical thought, and desire for creative and experimental expression, regardless of their age and background. We have belief that our inexhaustible passion for art and expression and a reckless rebelliousness can change the world.

C.A.N. deals with visual art and culture from perspectives of local artists. To overcome uniform dissemination of contemporary art from the “center of Art,” we aim to introduce local artists and cultures from different regions to global audiences and connect them with each other. C.A.N provides online and offline space to create a global network among local artists, designers, audiences, and communities so that they can make, appreciate, and live in art in their regions and cultures.

매거진 C.A.N. 을 소개합니다.

C.A.N.은 시카미술관에서 발행하는 매거진으로 ‘젊은’ 문화 창작가의 관점에서 아트와 문화 전반의 소식을 전하는 미디어가 되고자 합니다. C.A.N.은 CICA ART NOW의 축약어로, ‘할 수 있다’라는 단어인 can의 다소 무모하지만 긍정적이고 패기 넘치는 작가들의 열정을 중의적으로 내포하고 있습니다. CICA는 ‘정신’이 젊은 문화 창작가들을 후원합니다. 나이와 배경을 불문하고 열정과 비판적인 사고, 창의적이고 실험적인 표현에 대한 욕구를 가지신 분이라면 우리 모두 ‘젊은’ 문화 창작가가 아닐까요? 질풍노도 청춘의 이유 없는 반항심과 열정과도 같이, 눈먼 불나방과도 같은 창작의 욕구, 표현의 욕구가 세상을 바꿀 수 있다는 확신을 가져봅니다.

C.A.N.은 ‘미술의 중심지’로부터 세계로의 일방적인 흐름을 극복하고자 세계 각 지역의 지역작가와 문화를 세계 독자들에게 소개하는 교두보가 되고자합니다. 온라인 및 오프라인 공간을 통하여 지역 작가, 디자이너, 관객, 주민들을 위한 글로벌 네트워크를 제공하여, 각자의 공간에서 고유의 문화를 발전시키면서 동시에 세계적인 수준의 예술문화를 창출하고, 공유하고, 즐기고, 감동을 주며, 예술이 삶에 스며들 수 있도록 힘쓰고 있습니다.

C.A.N.은 문화 전반에 대한 이슈를 다루고 있습니다. 미술은 전시장 안에서만 관람하는 것이 아닌 우리의 삶 깊숙이 생활전반에 걸쳐 스며들어 있습니다. C.A.N.을 통해서 우리의 삶 전체를 음미하고 관찰하며, 비판적이되 창의적인 시각으로 바라볼 수 있는 계기가 되고자 합니다.

Dissertation Project (2013)

Analysis and Construction of Engaging Facial Forms and Expressions

The face is a crucial attribute in our communication with others. Using facial expressions, people share their emotions, display empathy, and relay interest with each other. The topic of this dissertation is the anatomical, psychological, and cultural examination of a human face in order to effectively construct an anatomy-driven 3D virtual face customization and action model. In order to gain a broad perspective of all aspects of a face, theories and methodology from the fields of art, engineering, anatomy, psychology, and cultural studies have been analyzed and implemented. The computer generated facial customization and action model were designed based on the collected data. Using this customization system, culturally-specific attractive face in Korean popular culture, “kot-mi-nam (flower-like beautiful guy),” was modeled and analyzed as a case study. The “kot-mi-nam” phenomenon is overviewed in textual, visual, and contextual aspects, which reveals the gender- and sexuality-fluidity of its masculinity. The analysis and the actual development of the model organically co-construct each other requiring a interwoven process.

3D Face SSS Rendering – Jan 2, 2013
3D Face SSS Rendering II – March 31, 2013
Physical simulation of facial expressions – June 2013

Morphace (2012)

Studying cultural body images in the United States and Korea, I noticed that certain visual elements tend to be globalized while changing their meanings and contexts. In 3D animation “Morphace,” a 3D base face model is slowly morphed into 5 celebrity faces in chronicle order that I became interested in each face; While some faces are globally recognizable, the others are only locally recognizable. Through the exhibition of a morphing face that transcends its race, sex, and culture, I explore tensions between universal values of cultural faces that have potentials to be globalized and local values that are not readable outside of their cultures and languages.

Morphace Installation at B.Y.O.B RVA (2012)

HELLO WORLD (2011)

The project Hello World aims to bridge the gap between the virtual computer graphics environment and real space enabling the real-time interaction between the virtual character and the human. Computer graphics technologies and the development of sensors have expanded the possibilities of the interaction between the human and the virtual world. Free from the confining computer screen, keyboard, and mouse, the project tries to expand the accessibility of the virtual world and the character. The virtual world and the real world are merged into one world interacting in the same extended landscape. The virtual man H2 symbolizes the virtual world that simulates the forms and physics of the real world using mathematics. H2 does not have a tangible body – only his simulated mask and the costume are attached to him.

Hello World explores the technique of real-time motion tracking using a Kinect camera. The virtual character H2 projected on to the wall follows the movement of the viewer in the gallery space. When the viewer takes a default pose, H2 starts motion-capturing the viewer in real-time. Physics effects have been added to the small spheres that are constantly emitted from H2’s left hand and the falling flower leaves in the background, enabling live interaction between the objects and the character.

Technical Statement

A Kinect camera is installed and directed at the viewer to sense the movement of the viewer without the need to attach any other device. OpenNI, an open-source driver software, has been used to connect a Kinect camera to a computer. With an open-source Unity3D wrapper provided by openni.org, Unity3D received the data of the viewer’s movement sent by a Kinect camera. The virtual character has been modeled and textured in Maya. The flowering tree in the background has been created in Unity3D and physics effects have been added to the falling flower leaves.

Hello World I – Installation

-Video documentation of the installation work “Hello World.” When a viewer approach to a virtual man, He bows to the viewer, which is a polite way of greeting in Korea.

Hello World II – Installation

Herbacula.net (2010-2013) – Online + Offline Project

Herbacula: Leejin Kim Online+Offline Solo Exhibition (2012)
Project Website: http://herbacula.net (2010-2013)

Herbacula is the data set from my art creation process continuously inspired by my “taste”. My artistic and personal “taste” is a living object that continuously metamorphoses based on my collected data.
In Herbacula.net, my input – collected data and output – works and researches have been documented since 2010. My works have constantly emerged from my digital source data and added back to it.
The offline solo exhibition in CICA museum is a tangible advertisement of Herbacula, a formless data set. Then the offline exhibition will be recorded back to Herbacula. Through online and offline exhibitions, I materialize Herbacula through showcasing debris of my data set in various forms of Art including installation, websites, prints, and clothing.

허바큘라(Herbacula)는 나의 “취향”에 바탕을 둔 예술 창작과정을 기록한 데이터셋이다. 나의 예술적, 또한 개인적 취향은 살아있는 유기체와도 같이 수집된 데이터에 의하여 끊임없이 변형된다.
2010년부터 Herbacula.net에 Input-수집된 데이터와 Output-작업과 연구를 기록해왔다. 나의 작품은 디지털 소스 데이터로부터 끊임없이 생성됨과 동시에 데이터로 추가된다.
CICA 미술관 오프라인 전시는 무형의 데이터셋인 Herbacula의 유형화된 광고이다. 또한 전시기록은Herbacula의 데이터셋에 추가될 것이다. 온라인과 오프라인 전시를 통해 데이터셋의 파편들을 다양한 미술의 양식으로 제시함으로써 Herbacula를 물질화하고자 한다.

Scroll to top