In the 21st century when the cutting-edge digital technology is generalized, an infinite amount of information is produced and reprocessed in real time through various digital devices before it is widely used. Anyone can easily produce information and...
In the 21st century when the cutting-edge digital technology is generalized, an infinite amount of information is produced and reprocessed in real time through various digital devices before it is widely used. Anyone can easily produce information and get access to a high level of information in real time. It is now possible to visit almost every city in the world through the Internet.
Now, the 21st century is considered to be the period which cannot be described without mentioning computers and the Internet. Also, the field of art has been influenced by the digitalized period, so digital tools are used in various fields either directly or indirectly. Among them, it can be said that the field of art is more subject to the digital environment than others. Even if the relationship between the field of art and the field of technology still causes some argument, it is a fact that the current cutting-edge technology combined with the cutting-edge info-communication of the 21st century greatly influences the field of art. The development of such a graphic technology as the 3D simulation changes the essence of art which must be based on the related material or the technology required to handle it.
Since the environmental sculpture is installed in a public place due to its characteristics, it is necessary to analyze the complicated social environment with various aspects thoroughly and provide appropriate works to the public society.
The work tools like the 3D simulation can be regarded as the most optimal work tools which can be used to consider the direction of the environmental sculpture. Also, they can be regarded as the most optimal tools which can be used to manufacture the environmental sculpture which reflects various demands of the public society, which are more complicated than those of the past, according to the level of the society.
Since 1990󰡑s when the 3D modeling program became common, the 3D simulation has been actively used in the field of sculpture in Korea. Regarding the domestic environmental structure, the computer graphic work has been used to manufacture an inspection board for various contents. Regarding the graphic works in the early stage, the editing works to combine the pictures of the works with other background views were mainly executed. However, as the 3D modeling program was distributed, the modeling process for the sculpture works was executed through computers as well. The computer graphic works were applied to the manufacturing process for perspective views for the first time. Now, they are regarded as the essential work tool which must be applied throughout the whole process in regard to designing, manufacturing and installing stages for the domestic environmental sculpture. Also, at the site for the domestic environmental sculpture, the 3D simulation has become common, providing the formative changes which are clearly different from those of the previous period.
The field of sculpture has not shown any big change over the centuries due to the characteristics of the materials used in the field. From the prehistorical sculpture to the one found in the 20th century, such strong materials as [Soil and Paddles], [Stone and Chisel] and [Bronze and Casting] have been continuously used. However, as the digital environment was introduced in the field of sculpture, various changes have been emerged.
Since the early 1990󰡑s when the 3D simulation was introduced to the environmental sculpture, there have been many changes to the environmental sculpture over the past 20 years as shown in the complicated social environment at the moment. Also, artists' views have been changed, so have their works.
Regarding the convenient work environment, the workplace filled with dust and the sound of a hammer has been changed to the one filled with the shining light of a monitor. The work environment in which almost every material existing on the earth can be used is provided through the screen of the monitor. As the way of using the materials has become simple and easy, the shapes and types of the works have been changed. As a result, the previous structural works have been combined with various construction materials. They have been transformed into the complicated and multi-functional works with such factors as lighting, installation and media. Reflecting such a situation, the structural sculpture took about 84.5% among the sculpture works in Korea before the year of 2000. However, the proportion was weakened to be 23.2% after that time. On the other hand, the non-structural sculpture took 43.8%. Such changes show that the environmental sculpture works in Korea have been changed from the structural form to the non-structural one. Also, the artist's sense has been changed a lot. As a result, both the previous way of manufacturing academic sculpture works and the way of planning, managing and supervising the works like those applied by the modern architects are considered. Currently, the environmental sculptors use computers to consider and design their works and make blueprints for the modeling process in regard to the entire manufacturing process. The works which are completed this way are divided into individual parts and manufactured at the factory according to different processes. The whole manufacturing process is similar to that of constructing a building.
The artists who can actively utilize the 3D simulation are now accustomed to the mouse or keyboard of the computer rather than hammers and chisel. They are now trying to make the works showing light, music and video images rather than human figures. The environmental sculpture of the 21st century makes it possible to execute every kind of work from the installation to the application with the help of the computer simulation.
As the 3D simulation is used in the process of making sculpture, such positive aspects as shown below are provided. Firstly, by actively utilizing such characteristics as the unlimited change and duplication provided by the digital technology in the process of manufacturing works, it is possible to make the sculpture with various shapes. Also, it is possible to consider the emergence of the sculpture with the formative process which represents various ways of making sculpture. Secondly, by using the convenient organic and communicative characteristics of the digital media, it is possible to consider the emergence of the sculpture which can communicate with other types of media. Such a fact means that the production of the sculpture makes it possible to communicate with other genres such as music, light and sound. Thirdly, it is possible to consider the emergence of the sculpture which can be combined with the urban architecture in the supplementary process. Such a process is possible on the condition that the characteristics of the previous sculpture, which have existed regardless of the environment or architecture, are removed.
All these works compose the media for the harmony between human beings and their environment, which is the original purpose of art. Regarding such a fact, it can be said that the modern sculpture is moving out of the frame of the fixed independent environmental sculpture shown in the previous period.
The field of art which is based on the digital environment in the related process shows such problems as the weakening aspect of aesthetics caused by the excessive visual dependence in the execution process or in regard to the related result and the weakening of the traditional materials caused by the usage of specific ones. However, the programs related to the 3D simulation work have been developed, while various techniques have been studied. As such programs and techniques will be continuously used, it seems that various problems will be gradually solved. Furthermore, even if the 3D simulation is currently used mainly for the environmental sculpture, the range of usage for the 3D simulation will be expanded to other areas. As a result, it will be used effectively as a field of pure art.
Now, regarding the domestic environmental sculpture, the role of the computer simulation has been expanded so much that it is impossible to execute the entire process from the designing stage to the executing stage without the help of the high-tech digital media and the computer simulation. It can be said that the domestic environmental sculpture is currently in the neo-techne period which is removing the border between art and science through computers. We should not forget that the usage of the 3D simulation not only plays the role of a simple tool but also influences the formative change of the entire environmental sculpture.