The <OLED ART WAVE : LONG DREAM> exhibition, LG Display’s art project that transcends the limitations of art and technology, opened at Scène in Seongsu-dong. OLED ART WAVE is a project that showcases OLED as the next-generation digital canvas that merges art and technology, while providing a platform for creativity and exhibitions. Starting with the exhibition <Every Wave You Will Sense> in 2021, followed by <Never Alone> in 2022, the third installment was held this year.
This year’s theme, <LONG DREAM>, depicted humanity’s dreams of utopia and its aftermath through the fresh perspectives of young artists. Participating artists used OLEDs as digital canvases to connect virtuality and reality with the most vivid lights and colors, sharing their unique artistic visions of the aftermath of humanity’s “Brave New World.” Find out more on the experimental journey between LG Display OLED and the five teams of artists.
Artist Gijeong Goo’s <Macro Scenes> focuses on the relationships between man, nature, and technology. This time, he utilized 65”, 77”, and 88” 8K OLED displays to express optical illusions of collected images and objects placed in both virtual and actual reality. By digitally generating images of leaves, soil, moss, and other easily identifiable elements in our surroundings, he has created a space where virtuality and reality are indistinguishable. The portrayal of nature through OLED’s life-like colors makes the visitors feel as though they have been transported to the middle of a lush forest.
- Gijeong Goo
Breaking out of conventional passivity, artist Yehwan Song is on a journey to create a new web-mobile environment. <Upload Type Grinding Evaporator>, her new creative endeavor, showcases a face displayed on a large screen looking out toward the exhibition, dissolving and regenerating repeatedly in augmented reality to depict the characteristics of the digital environment in a witty way. This artwork utilizes a 77” OLED and a 48” art frame, creating a multi-layered space in which the face in the screen, the camera capturing the AR marker, and the perspectives of visitors who view the artwork overlap to blend augmented reality and virtual reality.
- Yehwan Song
Studio AR+ECH has been exploring how technology replicates and alters human experiences, and they have presented <Show Me Your Memories> that abstractly expresses LG Display employees’ precious memories and experiences through AI. This artwork contains the memories and illusions of “the color that inspires you” and “the city experience that inspired you most,” dissolving and reappearing repeatedly on five Transparent OLED screens. These moving images express the senses and experiences of memories in a space much like a house of mirrors.
- Studio AR+ECH
Yaloo’s <TTEUL of KKOT GAM GWAN> showcases unique creature-like representations that appear to float through zero-gravity on Transparent OLED screens, creating a simulated alternate ecosystem by restructuring time and space. This artwork expresses mythology, science fiction, deep-sea creatures, and an imagined future ecosystem on 55” Transparent OLEDs and a large 77” OLED. The two Transparent OLEDs and the 77” OLED are installed vertically as though floating on air, representing doors that lead to the artist’s imaginary world. As visitors are entranced by the eerie yet beautiful sea slugs and the Gilt-Bronze Incense Burnerㅡan artifact of the culturally rich Baekje Dynastyㅡthey are led to the artist’s imagination of a city ecosystem where humans and non-humans co-exist.
- Yaloo
Jonathan Monaghan’s <Crown Dream> utilizes three 55” Transparent OLEDs, displaying humanity’s idealized version of their daily lives in the most dramatic way. In a space adorned with crowns designed in an intricate architectural style, his artwork humorously depicts the underbelly of the values of digital technology and capitalism. Each screen displays robots working out in aesthetic and sleek motions while also making it reminiscent of a comical video game.
- Jonathan Monaghan
This year marked its first “Artist Talk” session, where Studio AR+ECH and artist Gijeong Goo engaged directly with audiences to discuss the details of their artworks, processes in using OLED, and their thoughts. The artists said in unison that they were impressed with being able to use the same displays that they used during their creative process in the actual exhibition. Studio AR+ECH said that Transparent OLED’s ability to seamlessly connect the on-screen virtual world with the actual world beyond the display inspired them as they created their artwork out of LG Display’s employees’ stories.
Artist Gijeong Goo upgraded his computer and camera for <Macro Scenes>, a testament to his passion for this project. He used the top-of-the-line 88” 8K OLED display for this exhibition, and said that it was an opportunity for him to upgrade his technological capability for high-resolution artworks. He continued that he believes Korea is where digital artists are provided with opportunities to attempt the most experimental and daring projects, and that he was impressed by how his work felt more 3-dimensional due to the incomparable picture quality of OLED while preparing for this exhibition.
OLED ART WAVE is offering glimpses of the ever-deepening relationship between technology and art as the years go by. LG Display will continue to promote opportunities for creativity and appreciation to up-and-coming digital artists worldwide with digital canvases that offer innovative digital experiences through high transparency, perfect black, and intricate colors. Come watch the highlights of the 2023 OLED ART WAVE to explore this year's exhibited artworks as well as the ambiance of the exhibition.