Coordinates: Social Vision of a Human System Designer in the Age of AI - Focusing on My Work

Indeed, we are in an era where generative AI is rapidly reshaping the landscape of artistic creation.

Multimodal AI, which freely fuses and transforms data of various modalities such as text, images, and sound, is expanding the possibilities of creation at a speed and scale that was unimaginable in the past, posing new questions to both artists and audiences. In this period of technological upheaval, my work, starting as a photographer and extending to include sound, performance, and visual arts (photography/video), presents an aspect of "making art in the AI era" and dares to assert that it provides an important clue to the independent social vision that art can have in a future society where generative AI is generalized.

First, I would like to discuss the significance of this work by citing Dick Higgins's "Intermedia" concept and the Fluxus movement, which were major trends in mid-20th century avant-garde art.

Higgins believed that new art forms are born through "conceptual fusion" that occurs in the uncharted territory "in-between" the existing art genres, breaking down the boundaries between them. This means not merely multimedia that juxtaposes various media, but a transformative process in which the essential attributes of each medium chemically combine to create a third, independent artistic entity. Higgins argued that this dissolution of media separation is connected to the critique of the feudal hierarchy of the Renaissance era and demands a new art form that responds to the social changes and the rise of populism of the time.

Fluxus is a representative movement that practically embodied this intermedia thinking. By blurring the boundaries between art and life and bringing everyday actions and objects into the realm of art, Fluxus radically shook the definition of art and the methods of creation and reception, especially through a unique form called the "Event Score." Like George Brecht's "Exit," an Event Score composed of concise verbal instructions shifted the artist's role from creator of a finished object to "system designer," and elevated the audience from passive viewers to active interpreters and co-creators. It is noteworthy here that Fluxus works often intentionally featured a "lack of technical virtuosity." This was a strategic choice that emphasized that artistic value lies not in technical proficiency or flamboyance, but in the freshness of the idea and the conceptual depth of the system.

an Event Score composed of concise verbal instructions shifted the artist's role from creator of a finished object to "system designer,"

My first intermedia art performance that expand the visual experience of the sunset of West Coast of Korean Peninsular into music, sound, and performance appear to inherit and develop this legacy of Higgins and Fluxus. I refers to Olivier Messiaen's synesthetic color-sound system, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp's ambient and generative music principles, and attempts a multi-layered fusion, starting with photography (visual) and extending to sound (auditory), performance (time-action), and even introducing a geometric model called the octahedral-based spherical coordinate system (conceptual system) into improvisation to express space.

I explicitly declare, "There is no real-time processing involving complex calculations, nor any technical magic." For example, Max/MSP is a much more technical and interactive tool for such work. My approach instead emphasizes a pre-designed, non-interactive structure, stating, "Pre-configured colors and images, and music flowing along with them" and "Precisely configured effector chains and pedalboard systems, and performative interactions" to realize artistic intentions. This is an attitude that deliberately distances itself from immediate and sometimes opaque "technical magic." Instead, like a Fluxus artist designing an Event Score, or a generative music composer creating rules for a music generation system, he establishes his own "conceptual system" and seeks to share it with the audience through live performance. At the heart of this system lies a geometric abstraction called the "octahedral-based spherical coordinate system model," which acts as a kind of "intermedia translation rule," mapping the color changes of the sunset (HSB/HSV) to Messiaen modes, mapping our sense of space to spherical coordinates (θ, φ, r), and converting these back into musical parameters (scales, harmony, timbre, etc.).

For instance, it's systematic and mechanical based work, not electronic.

My approach presents a social vision of how art can proceed in the AI era.

First, the value of human-centered system design and conceptual transparency. While the "data fusion" of multimodal AI often relies on complex algorithms that operate like a black box, my work is differentiated in that the basic logic of the system (mapping of color-geometry-sound) is intentionally designed by humans and conceptually understandable. While the unpredictability and sometimes inexplicable nature of AI-generated outputs can amplify the mystique of art, the process in which a clear system devised by humans generates unexpected beauty also evokes deep reflection. This emphasizes the role of human intelligence in creating artistic meaning by utilizing technology proactively, rather than being subjugated by it.

Second, a process-centered "dwelling experience" and the aesthetics of slowness. I want to create a "Dwelling Experience" in which the audience does more than just "see" the work but "resides" within it. This is aligned with the repetition and continuity of minimalist music, the spatial resonance of ambient music, and suggests a "value of slowness" that contrasts with the speed of generative AI that pours out immediate results. If art in the AI era constantly seeks new stimuli and immediate gratification, then experiences of slowly immersing and resonating, like my work, will have a rare value, providing a unique space and time for reflection and expansion of senses.

Third, live performance as "authorial manifestation" and reaffirmation of non-material value. The reason I, as a photographer, have turned to live performance is that it can provide a unique experience that changes every moment and that the artist's manifestation can be shared with the appreciators – the audience. Even if the system is pre-designed, the real-time interaction of the performer and the atmosphere of the venue will create different "lingering feelings" and "resonances" each time. This suggests that the presence and singularity expressed through the artist's body and actions can still have a powerful artistic force in the age of digital reproduction. Just as Fluxus valued non-material ideas or processes over material objects, this performance re-examines the value of the experience itself, beyond material possession.

In conclusion, just as Dick Higgins's Intermedia and Fluxus's Event Scores dismantled the boundaries of media and art and explored new modes of perception, my work transcends the boundaries of vision, hearing, concept, and action, exploring another "in-between space" of the AI era. My attempts remind us of the importance of human conceptual thinking, system design skills, and direct communication through live performance, which can be overshadowed by the technological convenience provided by AI. As AI becomes a powerful tool for artistic creation, the effort to intentionally step back from "technical magic" like mine, design systems containing unique human creativity and conceptual depth, and communicate with the audience through them will shine even brighter. This is an encouraging prospect that shows that art in the generative AI era can build an independent realm that carries human values and social meaning, beyond simple technical reproduction.

This work raises fundamental questions about what artistic experiences and social communication we will create through technology, not technology itself, and I am convinced that this is the most important topic that the spirit of Intermedia throws into the AI era.