[ISEA2022] Artists Statement: Inmi Lee & Yunmi Her — The Erection of Phygital Graveyard

Artists Statement

June 11-16, Auditorium, Centre for Contemporary Art Barcelona. Public Event.

Programme in collaboration with Sónar.

Keywords: Auto generated real-time animation, phygital heritage, online relics, machine learning

The Erection of Phygital Graveyard is an auto-generated real-time animation which speculates the heritage of the phygital environment where the online world and the physical world are intertwined. Updated every hour, the system searches for the most popular keywords online, algorithmically downloads and removes part of the downloaded image which conveys the narrative, leaving only the color information and the rectangular frame. The system automatically arranges the residue of the images creating the digiscape of our collective thoughts of the past and the present.

The space created in The Erection of Phygital Graveyard has no similar world to compare as it prevails for one hour and what seems like an accidental creation is only edited by an algorithm. Created by data which was once edited through removal, the phygital world turns into a cosmic dust.

Instead of it being a mimicry of the physical world, The Erection of Phygital Graveyard reveals the workings of the machines dealing with data and in the process displays how the digital culture is created through the means of re-arranging the visual information. Within this digital ecosystem and culture, where the machine generalizes, classifies and makes decisions, and as we all take part in training a dataset to train the machine, The Erection of Phygital Graveyard speculates the possible heritage and the culture of the digital.

http://yunmi-her.com/index.php/the-erection-of-phygital-graveyard/

  • Inmi Lee & Yunmi Her are a collective duo of digital media artists. They have been working together as a collective since July 2021.
  • Inmi Lee investigates the potency of art and technology to explore cultural and social conflicts and create a framework for research and analysis for socio-political realities. Her work takes the form of kinetic sculpture, digital performance, interactive installation, and video. She has exhibited at London FutureFest, Digital Art Biennale, SIGGRAPH, ISEA, Anren Biennale, Boston Cyberarts Festival, and the International Performance Art Festival. https://www.inmilee.com
  • Yunmi Her is a multimedia artist working with VR/AR, video installation, and sculpture. Her interest lies in the paradoxical relationship between individuals and society, which is portrayed as spatial installations in her work. Yunmi’s works have been exhibited in Korea and the United States, including at the SOMA Drawing Center, Seoul Art Center, and San Diego Art Institute.