Inside a water tank, a screen unfolds two different landscapes divided by the surface of the water. Above the waterline appear the ridges of a classical landscape painting; below it, traces of microorganisms captured through a microscope. Within movements of life invisible to the human eye, the forms and order of another world exist.
Lee Lee-nam, 57, a media artist often called "the second Nam June Paik" for reinterpreting traditional aesthetics through digital technology, is holding a solo exhibition titled "Seeing in the Formless, Hearing in the Soundless: Painterly Reflections on Life and Existence" at Hakgojae in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. As the title suggests — seeing what cannot be seen, hearing what makes no sound — the show summons onto screens and into space the movements of life and matter that human senses struggle to grasp.
"I collected water from Yongso Falls in Damyang, Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla Province), my hometown known for its pristine environment, and when I observed it under a microscope, there were countless microorganisms inside repeating cycles of creation and extinction," the artist said. "Their movements and clusters called to mind the ridgelines of mountains in the outside world, clouds and mist, and the surface of flowing water."
The character of the artist's work is symbolically revealed by two pieces at the entrance to the exhibition hall. One is "Buoyant Landscape — Early Spring." Microorganisms taken from the Yongso valley float above "Early Spring," a painting by Guo Xi of China's Northern Song dynasty, presented on a display. At a glance it looks disorderly, but viewers can watch the microorganisms moving across the painting. The other work, hanging side by side next to it, is "Two Worlds — Early Spring." Set inside a tank half-filled with water, this piece is divided into two different worlds by the water's surface. Above the water is the landscape of the original painting; below it is an unfamiliar scene covered with microorganisms. Through media art, it shows the same landscape taking on different appearances depending on the conditions of observation.
Further inside, visitors encounter "Microscopic Landscape." Titled "Microscopic Landscape — Inner Mount Kumgang," the work is a folding-screen-style media piece. The dots, stains and cell-like organic traces that fill the screen appear up close to be separate, independent entities. But viewed slowly from a distance, these small traces connect organically and read as the form of Mount Kumgang, complete with peaks, ridgelines and valleys. Elsewhere, works such as "Winter Scene" and "Clearing After Rain on Mount Inwang" also receive this baptism of microorganisms.
"One Water, Many Landscapes — Yongso" takes a different approach to Yongso Falls, the starting point for this exhibition. Multiple monitors are stacked vertically like a waterfall. Rather than containing the entire falls in a single monitor, the work divides it across several screens. Water flows on one screen, a tree branch sways on another, and part of a rock appears on yet another. It feels as though the artist's own time — spent going back and forth to the falls, collecting water and reflecting — is flowing by. "Move Sound Image — Common World" combines a cathode-ray-tube television submerged at an angle in a water tank with eight projectors. Overlaying memories of war and ruin onto the landscapes formed by microorganisms, it contrasts the coexistence of small life with the destruction humans have left behind. The video and sound extend across the walls and onto the floor.
The artist said he received help from artificial intelligence for this body of work. "This is the result of eight months of collaboration with AI," he said, calling it "a new way of interpreting landscape."
Lee is a media artist who has built a distinctive visual language by combining traditional painting with digital technology. He has explored the meeting point of tradition and the contemporary by rendering classical paintings as moving images, and has expanded his range from museum exhibitions to large-scale media facades and public projects. On the 26th of last month, he drew attention by unveiling what was billed as the world's first media-art ceremonial pitch at the Gwangju ballpark, where the KIA Tigers faced the LG Twins in a Korea Baseball Organization game. The exhibition runs through Oct. 24.