(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)
Abstract
Sunghaksipdo, written in 1568 by Toegye, a famous Neo-Confucian scholar in Korea, shows deep faith in good human nature (based on the Mencian premise). Sunghaksipdo’s collection of images compressing the core themes of ontology, cosmology, epistemology, and psychology suggests the awareness of innate morality would ultimately guide individuals in the right direction. The principle of reality(理) manifested in Sunghaksipdo’s diagrams and writings is perfectly evident, authentic, and real. Therefore, when one seeks such a principle with a mind that also ought to be perfectly empty and spiritual, there should be no failure to apprehend it. What if this kind of speculative reality can be touchable? What if such reality can approach us, and we can pass it or connect it? We create the <Sunghaksipdo VR> to enable the audience to stay in this philosophical space-time and understand the philosophy in a tangible and perceivable way. ‘Gyung(敬, Mindfulness)’ in Sunghaksipdo is an ability to respond to and commune with such reality. In the VR, Gyung is the trajectory of dynamic swirls of morality amid reality’s virtual emptiness. Gyung is represented as shining marbles on a chessboard, stars, and the Moon in the sky, visualizing the real object. Sometimes, the audience can interactively fish the Moon in the river or experience a star flying into them. They can see a seed sprout and grow with the care of the neighborhood underneath the ground, and the waterdrop circulates in its phase as four seasons change. Gyung embodied in our VR is a way of accessing the reality that includes both heaven and things (non-humans) and humans.
Exploring philosophy in old times through new media technologies, we find its contemporary meaning and value in our times. Created as ten separate VR works (13-minutes each), this project has been supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and National Research Foundation of Korea since 2017.
Hyun Jean Lee is a video and multimedia artist and media theorist whose research focuses on media history and aesthetics in the relationship between art and media technology. Lee earned a Ph.D. in Digital Media program at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Literature, Communication, and Culture. At Georgia Tech, she researched emerging physical sensing and computer-interaction technologies across media arts, design, and educational domains. After earning a BFA in Painting from Seoul National University in Korea, Lee, supported by a Fulbright scholarship and a Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council, received her MPS degree from Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University. Currently, she is a professor of Media Arts at the Graduate School of Communication and Arts and a director of the X-Media Art and Research Center at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. As a director, Lee leads a transdisciplinary project, “Sunghaksipdo VR” (a.k.a. the “VR for Toegye’s Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning”) As the crystallization of Korean Confucianism, the original work includes the principle of forming all-natural things and the life-dominating mind. With such philosophical thoughts of cosmology, ontology, and ethics, Sunghaksipdo VR creates conceptual and experiential space-time.
Wonjean Lee is philosophic researcher who focuses on Korean Neo-Confucianism especially on Toegye’s thought. Lee’s studies have been conducted from a comparative philosophical point of view between the West and the East. Lee’s doctoral dissertation is about the diagrammatic and psychological meaning of the Toegye’s Ten Diagram on Sage Learning in comparison with French philosopher Jacques Lacan who used diagrams also in developing his own psychoanalysis. Lee is interested in interpreting the original meaning of Toegye’s diagrams with symbols and texts in order to lighten its modern implication. Lee’s such interest has initiated the project ‘Sunghaksipdo VR.’ After earning a Ph.D. from Sungkwunkwan University, Lee is currently a research professor at X-Media Center at Yonsei University.
Recently, Lee is experimenting the various methods of writings relating philosophy to cultural phenomena. Based on her experience as a journalist for a long time, Lee enjoys thought experiments and wants to play a role in introducing philosophy through pop culture like Netflix dramas or SF. ‘Sunghaksipdo VR’ is also an attempt to experience Korean traditional ideas and eastern wisdom with more modern technology and metaverse. Our approach of tangible philosophy can be another Hallyu(Korean wave) contents reflected in the traditional culture and ideas.
10:45 am - 12:15 pm
Thursday 16th June, 2022