vr - DahaKim

《Research on Digital Media Art (and Cultural Heritage)》_Daha Kim

The exhibition *Research on Digital Media Art* explores the intersection of digital media art and analog media. The artist archives digital data outside the algorithmic platform by printing and installing it, while simultaneously deconstructing the dichotomy between digital and analog by juxtaposing it with hand-drawn watercolor sketches. Among the digital works on display, the virtual reality art piece *Clone App* presents the artist’s 3D-scanned, replicated bodies.

Today, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies are frequently utilized in digital art and film. In virtual reality (VR) art, where viewers wear head-mounted displays, the viewer’s body possesses a unique duality: physically present in the real world, yet perceptually situated in a virtual space. Under these conditions, is the viewer’s corporeality lost or expanded? This question is central to understanding the medium-specific characteristics and strategies of virtual reality art. Existing discussions are divided into two camps: one focusing on the “ghosting” of the virtual body and the other emphasizing the expansion of “digital corporeality”; however, there is a lack of writing that synthesizes this dichotomy. This paper presents four elements to analyze the duality of bodily loss and expansion, and through this, argues that corporeality in virtual reality art varies depending on the direction. According to the phenomenological tradition, corporeality is a concept that emphasizes that the experience of the world originates through the body. The virtual reality art discussed in this paper is broadly divided into two types based on the viewer’s mode of physical engagement. First, cinematic experiential virtual reality is based on 360-degree video, minimizes the viewer’s physical interaction, and pursues narrative immersion. Second, participatory experiential virtual reality refers to interactive virtual reality or virtual reality performances in which the viewer’s movements and choices directly influence the composition of the work.

Discussions regarding the corporeality of digital art using virtual reality technology are divided into two opposing arguments. One argument posits that the medium’s distinctive significance arises from the fluid transformation and ghosting of the viewer’s corporeality within the virtual space, while the other argues that the expression of identity is possible by maintaining and extending the viewer’s subjective corporeality even within the virtual space. This contrast is significant because, while both positions emphasize the importance of the viewer’s body in the use of virtual reality as a medium, they hold opposing views regarding the nature of that body’s existence. The loss of corporeality signifies the absence of the physical body as the source of experience in virtual space, whereas expansion implies the maintenance and extension of the body’s perception- and action-centered functions as the source of experience. The concept of the loss of corporeality has been explored by scholars such as N. Katherine Hayles (her concept of “disembodiment”), Michael Heim (the dematerialization of the body), and Oliver Grau. According to Hayles, disembodiment refers to the reduction and dispersion of the body into information patterns. In this way, the body, as information, becomes dematerialized and is flexibly reconfigured to fit the virtual space. Heim views the body within virtual space as being transformed into information. In addition, various theorists have observed that the viewer’s body becomes more flexible or minimized in digital virtual space. This prompts reflection on the relationship between the human body and technology.

Virtual space can serve as a condition that either diminishes or weakens physicality, or one that expands it. However, it would be superficial to simply conclude that physicality exists solely in a state of loss or expansion by synthesizing these two perspectives. Therefore, it is necessary to divide the physicality of virtual reality art into physical visibility, agency, spatial mobility, and tactile feedback. These elements draw upon research on avatar embodiment and related topics. Each of these elements varies independently. Bodily visibility refers to how the viewer’s body is represented in the virtual space. It ranges from the body being completely invisible to partial representation or full bodily reproduction. Agency refers to the extent to which the viewer actively engages with the virtual environment. It spans from passive observation through limited manipulation to extensive interaction. Spatial mobility refers to the degree of freedom with which the viewer can move within the virtual space. It ranges from experiences confined to specific locations to partial movement and exploration over a wide area. Haptic feedback refers to the extent to which physical feedback of bodily sensations is provided. It ranges from no feedback to feedback involving vibrations, impacts, and other sensations. These elements can serve as an analytical framework for researchers to evaluate and contextualize virtual reality works. Virtual reality artists can strategically choose their approach to embodiment design based on the nature of the experience they wish to create.

This article has explained how, in virtual reality art, physicality is constructed in a multilayered manner through a strategic combination of four elements, transcending the dichotomy between the loss and expansion of the audience’s physicality. This implies that the creator’s choices in design and direction play a pivotal role. The future of virtual reality art depends on how creatively this fluidity is utilized. This exhibition offers a glimpse into that creative utilization.

Reference

Kim, Jin-ah. (2025). Voluntary Exile: The Experience of Becoming a Ghost. Korean Film Database.

https://www.kmdb.or.kr/story/896/8653

Park, Young-wook. (2014). Digital Art and Bodily Intervention: Focusing on a Critical Review of Mark Hansen’s Theory. Drama Research (DR), 44, 5–31.

Park Eun-kyung. (2019). A Study on the Transformation of “Corporeality” in Digital Art. Hongik University Graduate School.