In this lecture, Jinjoon Lee explores ontology in the post-digital age, where myth and history, memory and data, identity and anonymity converge. As a data gardenist, he investigates the liminoid experience of utopian space ideologies through new technologies, specializing in creating multisensory in-between spaces where perception intersects with data -driven systemsusing elements such as light, sound, scent, and data. Focusing on the theme of creativity in the AI era, Lee presents a range of his recent works to examine how artistic practice can navigate and respond to these complex conditions. At the same time, he raises critical questions about the dangers of overreliance on technology, arguing that an uncritical embrace of AI risks weakening independent and reflective thinking. This view is grounded in the speculative idea that the post-digital era is characterized by rapid acceleration and overwhelming excess, with the speed of AI development and the proliferation of images generating an epistemological crisis that challenges human perception and comprehension. Within this framework, Lee situates his practice in East Asian philosophical traditions and the lineage of the literati artist-scholar, highlighting the interconnectedness of nature, technology, and human perception, while suggesting alternative pathways for reinterpreting creativity in the AI era.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Jinjoon Lee FRSA is a leading scholar and media artist exploring the convergence of art, technology, humanity, and multisensory environments. As a data gardenist, he explores the liminoid experience of utopian space ideologies through new technologies. He specializes in creating multisensory in-between spaces where perception intersects with data-driven systemsusing elements such as light, sound, scent, and data.
After graduating from Seoul National University, Lee earned Masters degree in Moving Image and Design Interaction at the Royal College of Art in London in 2017, and Doctorate of Philosophy in Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Fine Art, St Hughs College, University of Oxford. In recognition of his contributions to art and society, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
He is currently a Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), where he serves as the founding Director of the Art & Technology Center (KATEC). Lee also holds positions as the Art Director of Korea Media Symphony, Visiting Fellow at Exeter College, Visiting Scholar at St. Johns College, University of Oxford, Visiting Senior Researcher at Tokyo University of the Arts, and Affiliate Professor at New York University (NYU).
As a Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021 artist in the UK and represented by BB&M Gallery in Seoul, Jinjoon Lee has exhibited his work at institutions including MMCA Korea, ZKM Germany, the Korean Cultural Centre London, and BB&M Gallery. He gained recognition in the early 2000s for THEY, a permanent public media sculpture installed at the Digital Media City (DMC) and he received international attention for Good Morning, Mr. G-Dragon, an unprecedented project that transmitted G-Dragons music and biometric iris data into outer space via satellite. Most recently, Lee directed Cine-Forest: Awakening Bloom, the worlds first large-scale, AI-driven media performance that transforms an urban forest in South Korea into an immersive open-air theatre, creating a total experience where citizens, technology, and nature merge.
Drawing on East Asian philosophical traditions and the literati artist-scholar lineage, Lee continues to play a leading role in global discourse on media art, artificial intelligence, and creativity.
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