window_contemplativeSung Hoon Kim‘s particular brand of visual art deals with assembling and deconstructing images. He works with various forms of tangible media to re-imagine the idea of photography and image representation, creating custom “filters” with everyday objects that change our perspective in imaginative and often unexpected ways. Kim’s work seeks to encrypt his visual representations with additional information like the passage of time or human action, using both analog and digital techniques to create these “digital collages.”Below is a brief overview of some of his most intriguing projects, as well as a brief Q&A with the artist touching on his inspirations, motivations, and future artistic plans. Click through the links to watch videos that offer a step-by-step insight into Kim’s intricate creative processes.window _ contemplative features Kim’s reconstruction of the street view outside his window, shot at several different locations around NYC and NJ. Using the half-open blinds as a kind of filter, Kim programmed a camera to take photos every minute over a three day period, yielding 4324 source images that were later compressed into lines of pixels using a custom algorithm. Progressing in chronological order, the final image tracks the passage of time through variations in color and lighting to create a composite image reflecting a different perspective on the “reality” of what lies beyond that window pane.
Kim dreamed up the idea for Straw Project while sipping coffee. He took his drinking straw and began looking up at the sky through it, using it as a kind of telescope. Inspired by the effect, he began experimenting with gathering bunches of straws to use as a camera filter, creating works that mimic the illusory effects of computer graphics and look not unlike what “bug-vision” might look like. This remarkably simple, home-made filter again plays with the properties of brightness, color and reflection to present a distorted, fragmented view.Substance ½ observes the changes that occur across different mediums. Functioning much like the Straw Project above, Substance ½ is an interactive installation where installed cameras record passersby through the filter of pipes. The footage is then carried over to the computer and churned back out to the viewer in real-time. These sort of simple visual tricks create a profound impact and offer up new ways of seeing and recording the world around us.The Creators Project: Some of your work features the reconstruction of the same composition through time. What was your inspiration for this process? And what is your most memorable work?
Sung Hoon Kim: My work of shooting different time spans started from my daily habit of looking outside the window without thinking anything. I put emotions in my work, especially during the times I experienced the changing of light with hardly any sleep. My most memorable work… Well, I feel like all of my works are like my children, each with its own stories and fun times. Once I climbed a mountain in early winter, shooting all night with just a cup of coffee brewed from a small burner. I also remember gazing at the light shone through the blinds when I was lonely while studying abroad. I felt a surrounding beauty that is often forgotten or never realized. I imagined window contemplative as a reflection of myself in that way.It seems you enjoy looking through different kinds of filters like straws and window blinds. Is there a reason you favor this technique?
It started from looking at the straws in a café while sipping drinks. Although the straw work started out as fun, it made me realize that I could use many forms to deconstruct objects and recombine them. I think I feel intrigued the most in the transformative process in between the digital and analog. If you see my works, many of them are made by collecting images and reconstructing them and deconstructing and recombining objects. And so, each work has it’s own story. As works may be expressed through the same methods, the content is different. If the content is the same, the methods are different.What are you working on these days?
In recent works, I have been trying many different things to break the pattern of working alone. As a member of Random Walks, a data visualization group, I’ve been working on how to express data aesthetically. Also as a member of Workmate, a public art group, I observe trends in the Korean art scene and discover ways to incorporate media art into more traditional art forms. Beyond that, I’ve been experimenting with how to combine the capital of companies and artists to work together.
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Sung Hoon Kim: My work of shooting different time spans started from my daily habit of looking outside the window without thinking anything. I put emotions in my work, especially during the times I experienced the changing of light with hardly any sleep. My most memorable work… Well, I feel like all of my works are like my children, each with its own stories and fun times. Once I climbed a mountain in early winter, shooting all night with just a cup of coffee brewed from a small burner. I also remember gazing at the light shone through the blinds when I was lonely while studying abroad. I felt a surrounding beauty that is often forgotten or never realized. I imagined window contemplative as a reflection of myself in that way.It seems you enjoy looking through different kinds of filters like straws and window blinds. Is there a reason you favor this technique?
It started from looking at the straws in a café while sipping drinks. Although the straw work started out as fun, it made me realize that I could use many forms to deconstruct objects and recombine them. I think I feel intrigued the most in the transformative process in between the digital and analog. If you see my works, many of them are made by collecting images and reconstructing them and deconstructing and recombining objects. And so, each work has it’s own story. As works may be expressed through the same methods, the content is different. If the content is the same, the methods are different.What are you working on these days?
In recent works, I have been trying many different things to break the pattern of working alone. As a member of Random Walks, a data visualization group, I’ve been working on how to express data aesthetically. Also as a member of Workmate, a public art group, I observe trends in the Korean art scene and discover ways to incorporate media art into more traditional art forms. Beyond that, I’ve been experimenting with how to combine the capital of companies and artists to work together.