When a sculpture is intended to be closely connected to a specific person, place, or event, relying solely on the creator's internal expression is often insufficient to fully convey its inherent meaning. For an individual or community to embrace a scu...
When a sculpture is intended to be closely connected to a specific person, place, or event, relying solely on the creator's internal expression is often insufficient to fully convey its inherent meaning. For an individual or community to embrace a sculpture as "their own," it must incorporate a narrative or memory relevant to the owner or user. In other words, the sculptures explored in this study should not merely serve as a medium for the artist's unilateral message but act as a vessel that preserves memories, communicates emotions, and encapsulates stories from the owner's perspective. Thus, sculptures must reflect the owner's story.
The advantages of this approach are as follows: First, it emphasizes the importance of personalized experiences. By enabling owners to project their own experiences and memories through interaction with the sculpture, it transcends being a mere object of observation and becomes a deeply meaningful entity for the individual. Second, it fosters active interaction between art and the public. Sculptures embedded with the owner's story create a platform for communication between the creator and the audience.
There are various ways to incorporate the owner's story into a sculpture. Personal preferences can be reflected in the form or material of the sculpture, or specific memories and events can be expressed through text, images, or symbols. However, traditional methods have largely been limited to visual experiences. In contrast, sculptures that utilize auditory elements are noteworthy for their ability to naturally capture temporality and the flow of emotions. For instance, incorporating the owner's voice, music, or recordings of specific moments into a sculpture allows viewers to not only see but also hear and feel the experience. This enables the sculpture to move beyond a mere physical form, expanding into a sensory space where memories and emotions coexist.
Through three phases of sculptural research, the researcher identified the characteristics of sculptural elements capable of materializing cherished human memories, ultimately selecting sound waves as the primary medium. However, the initial phase of sculptural research focused on expressing context within virtual spaces. This phase explored how invisible information in digital environments could be physically materialized, rather than focusing on memory preservation. The first phase of sculptural research emphasized the operational mechanisms of electronic devices, expressed through a cyberpunk style. However, the researcher recognized that this approach was limited to replicating existing styles, prompting a shift in subsequent phases toward developing an original sculptural language and exploring new stylistic possibilities.
In the second phase of sculptural research, rather than adhering to familiar forms, the researcher leveraged creativity to create sculptures based on geometric principles. Specifically, biometric data such as heartbeats or voices were used to record fleeting moments that anyone might wish to preserve, materialized as wearable ornaments. This work was not limited to small-scale ornaments but was scaled up to be applied in various material environments, such as pendant lighting. In the third phase of sculptural research, sculptures utilizing sound waves were designed, structured to encapsulate cherished memories.
Through the final work, the researcher went beyond merely representing sound waves, learning methods to convey the memories and emotions embedded within them more profoundly. Emotions derived from memories were expressed not only through color but also through variations in texture and thickness, enriching the emotional depth of the sculptures. Additionally, by modifying the physical production process or adding intricate details, the researcher explored new ways to express memories in physical forms. This process extended beyond simply recording sound waves, expanding the sculptural possibilities to more effectively convey the emotional depth of cherished moments.