Transport to Another World
October 18, 2024–February 16, 2025
We're surrounded by more information than ever before. Anyone with a mobile device can look up details about the past, the present, the other side of the world—even things happening in space. All that data is available at our fingertips. We can digitally travel to a city on the other side of the globe and view it through photographs, we can peek into the day-to-day lives of the locals, and we can access information about places and time periods different from our own. Yet has all this access to information truly given us a better understanding of the people that lived in a different place during a different time? Of the events that happened to them? Can we truly be sure that the answer to these questions is "yes"?
Unlike conventional films, where an audience contemplatively observes characters on a screen from a distance, Transport to Another World is comprised of titles that employ various media to invite viewers to immerse themselves in the lives of people in a different time and place. This exhibition was co-organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) to celebrate the 2024–2025 Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges, and it features films from eight directors (and crews) hailing from both countries.
The majority of the titles presented are virtuality reality (VR) films. Works including Hayoun KWON's Kubo Walks the City, Kyungmook Kim's 5.25㎡, Gina Kim's Comfortless trilogy, Randall Okita's The Book of Distance, and Lisa Jackson's Biidaaban: First Light offer immersive experiences that place the viewer in the eyes and shoes of characters in different times and places. Tyler Hagan's Similkameen Crossroads uses a web-based interface to construct a photo essay that features characters' voices and images. They relate an untold history of a forgotten place. Jason Legge and Dirk van Ginkel adapted Joy Kogawa's writing to bring us East of the Rockies, a story of hardship and survival told in the format of a game. Gina Kim employs mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR) films to construct various points where the film and the audience can meet and interact.
These filmmakers and artists transport us to specific moments and places in history as well as to imagined moments and settings in the future. They resurrect places and people that existed in contemporary society but were covered up and erased, bringing them face-to-face with us. The media employed span a wide spectrum: VR films, interactive games, AR films, and web-based films. Instead of media and formats that we're familiar with, which have been proven through countless hours of experience, the filmmakers presented in this exhibition opted to create films that take on new formats, something that challenges both the artist and the viewer. They also demand that the audience actively participate, perhaps by donning uncomfortable devices or physically moving. Here the viewer is not an observer outside the screen but a participant in the film and art itself, becoming a main character or a neighbor and sharing in these experiences that unite past and present.
Images
1. Hayoun KWON, Kubo, Walks City, 2021, VR installation, approximately 15 min. Courtesy of the artist.
2. Kyungmook Kim, 5.25㎡, 2022, VR installation, 20 min. Courtesy of the artist.
3. Gina Kim, The Extended Reality of Monkey House, 2022, XR
4. Gina Kim, Comfortless, 2023, VR film, 16 min. Courtesy of the artist.
5. Taekyung Yoo, Cinematic Screening: There is No Poverty at the End of Labor, 2022, VR film, 19 min. Courtesy of the artist.
6. Randall Okita, The Book of Distance, 2020, VR installation, approximately 30 min. Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.
7. Jason Legge, Dirk van Ginkel, Joy Kogawa, East of the Rockies, 2019, AR, 40-60 min. Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.
8. Tyler Hagan, Similkameen Crossroads, 2013/2021, web experience, Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.
9. Lisa Jackson, Biidaaban: First Light, 2018, VR, 6-8 min. Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.
Transport to Another World Program
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, which supports the production of innovative works using new technologies, has prepared lectures by related experts and participating artists to open the exhibition “Transport”. We hope that the lectures held on Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18 will be an opportunity to share the insight and vision of creators who pursue meaningful themes and new media of expression.
□ Overview
1. Lecture ‹Expanding Diversity Through Creative and Innovative Collaboration - The NFB's Vision and Practice›
Richard Cormier (The National Film Board of Canada)
ㅇ Date: October, 17, 2024 (Thursday) 14:00-15:00
ㅇ Venue: MMCA Seoul B1 Multi-Project Hall
2. Artist Talk ‹History, personalities, and memories in virtual reality›
Randall Okita X Kyungmook Kim
ㅇ Date: October, 18, 2024 (Friday) 15:00-16:00
ㅇ Venue: MMCA Seoul B1 Multi-Project Hall
3. Artist Talk ‹Challenge and experiment with technological innovation›
Jason Legge X Taekyung Yoo
ㅇ Date: October, 18, 2024 (Friday) 16:00-17:00
ㅇ Venue: MMCA Seoul B1 Multi-Project Hall
□ Registration
ㅇ Registration: Apply through the MMCA website (Visit → Event)
ㅇSeats: 250 pre-registered attendees
ㅇ Fee: Free
※ A weekly registration opens every Wednesday at 11am.
※ For optimal performance of the VR devices, they are available on weekdays until 5:10 PM to 5:20 PM (end time vary depending on the artwork; please refer to the timetable).
※ On weekends, the program is operated in two sessions: AM ad PM
- AM: Lisa Jackson, Gina Kim, Taekyung Yoo
- PM: Randall Okita, Hayoun Kwon, Kyungmook Kim
ㅇ Event Reservation Link Click
□ Notes
ㅇ Participants and schedule are subject to change as the event progresses.
ㅇ There is no separate parking benefit.
ㅇ During the program, photos and videos will be taken for archiving.
