Nomination
The Light Barrier series of artworks create a semi-material mode of existence, materializing objects from light. The name refers to the light barrier in relativistic physics, which delineates between that which is material and that which is light. Light Barrier Third Edition is a new installment in this series of works, expressing the confusion and nonconformities at the boundaries between materials and non-materials, reality and illusion, and existence and absence, whilst crafting a surreal vision which twists the human instinct of time and space. It is a direct approach to the artists’ theme of ‘drawing in the air’. In this edition, 8 architectural video projectors are split into 630 sub-projectors using a structure of concave mirrors designed by artificial nature. Each mirror is uniquely shaped and collaborates together to make a single image in the air. By accurately calibrating hundreds of projectors, light beams can be merged in the haze to draw in the air. The third edition of Light Barrier was commissioned by the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju.
Credits
Artist: Kimchi and Chips (Mimi Son and Elliot Woods)
Engineering: Chung Youngjae, Studio Sungshin
Sound Design: Pi Junghoon
In collaboration with Arts & Creative Technology Center
Commissioned by Asia Culture Center
Mimi Son (KR) was born and works in Seoul. In her childhood she was fascinated by her father’s painting and music that led her into experimenting with materials and drawing. An obsession with geometry and Buddhist philosophy inspires her to articulate space and time from alternative perspectives. These continuous experiments aims to depict an intersection of material and immaterial, real and virtual, presence and absence.
Elliot Woods (UK) is a digital media artist from Manchester. He tests possible futures between humans and visual design technologies (e.g. cameras, projectors, computation). Towards this goal, Elliot co-founded Kimchi and Chips, an experimental art studio based in Seoul with Mimi Son. He applies his academic studies in physics to produce sense-able phenomena from abstract systems.