Interview With David Han

I have manage to contact David Han through email and ask him a few question:

1.Can you provide some background as to why you start create /design
installation art?

I completed an undergraduate degree in Radio & Television and a
graduate degree in Film production, so my art practice is rooted in
film and cinema. Before I began my graduate degree, I had a chance to
visit Venice, Italy for the Venice Biennale's 2005 International Art
Exhibition. I was inspired by the wide range of installation work I
saw there. Mariko Mori's "Wave UFO", Mona Hatoum's "+ and -", Carlos
Garaicoa's "Untitled, 2005", Kimsoonja's "A Needle Woman", and Annette
Messager's "Casino" were particularly inspirational. I became very
interested in expanding my conception of film beyond the traditional
boundaries of the cinematic screen. As I worked towards completing my
graduate studies, I discovered that I could achieve this through the
use of new media technologies and the application of computing to
linear, time-based experiences like film and video.


2.What type of media that you usually use for your installation art?

I generally use time-based media for the basis of my work. As I've
mentioned above, I'm interested in exploring the ways in which
traditionally linear, time-based media can be manipulated and
transformed through integration with computing technology.


3.What usually inspires you when designing an installation art?

Since my work generally involves the use of time-based media, most of
work is an exploration of the shifting relationship between viewer and
screen. I'm interesting in creating experiences where this
relationship is in flux, blurring the lines between presentation and
representation. For example, in "Tread Lightly, Tom, Tread
Light(ly)", limited interaction is employed to permit the viewer to
control the playback of video sequences. By walking or running on a
treadmill, viewer's bodies are physically linked to on-screen events,
radically altering the traditional cinematic experience.


4.Is there any particular subject that you focus on when designing an
installation art?

Again, the common thread which ties all of my work together is an
exploration of the relationship between the viewer and the screen.
Traditionally, the viewer of the cinematic screen is physically
passive, sitting in a darkened cinema as moving images are appear on a
large screen before them. However, as media technology has evolved,
the screen has moved beyond the cinema. Television moved the screen
from the public site of the cinema to the private site of the home,
broadcasting content to a massive audience. Personal computers and
home video game systems transformed viewers into users, enabling
control over the on-screen content. Today, advances in mobile and
projection/screen technology have made the screen a ubiquitous object
in contemporary society. I'm interested in creating work that
explicitly engages the screen and encourages an exploration of the
conceptual foundation of this technology.


5.Can you give some insight on your next project?

I just finished a work titled "Restive Threshold". It addresses the
ways in which urban and residential space, and the natural space
within them, are imagined and experienced. This film and video
installation uses the traditional opposition of natural and urban
spaces as a starting point. The screen, suspended from the ceiling in
the centre of the gallery, displays a video projection from the front
and a 16mm film projection on the back. On one side of the screen,
the gallery is filled with natural objects (a canopy made of
intertwining branches, tree roots hung from the ceiling, dead leaves
on the ground) while the opposite side is barren except for a solitary
bench. Gallery visitors are encouraged to move around the screen and
view the projections from both sides, reflecting the constant shifts
between how the these sites are imagined and experienced.

Assingment 1

The Artist that I pick is David Han

DAVID HAN ( BIO)

David Han is a film, video & digital media artist living in Toronto. He received a BAA in Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University and completed an MFA in film at York University. Often employing playfulness and absurdity, his work negotiates the liminal state between cinema, video art and new media. His most recent work explores the ways in which traditional cinematic relationships with the screen are being challenged, altered and expanded by interactive technology.

HIS WORK:

Margaret Learns to Drive From There to Here -

http://vimeo.com/14181935

Tread Lightly, Tom, Tread Light(ly)

http://vimeo.com/18512035

Glass Looking Through

http://vimeo.com/8033810