Invisible Cities: ㅇ ㅗ ㅍ ㅣ ㅁ (OPIM), 2021                   [Link]

Live VR performance.
5’45”

Invisible Cities: <OPIM / ㅇ ㅗ ㅍ ㅣ ㅁ > is a transdisciplinary Mixed Reality performance that pushes the boundaries of reality by allowing the audience to experience a live performance simultaneously in virtual and physical reality. Through the use of motion capture suits and high-speed network data transmission technology, the artistic experiment transcends spatial and temporal limitations, enabling artists and viewers to connect across the network.

The audience encounters the work through different layers of experiences that continuously collapse and expand, providing a unique and immersive artistic encounter. The project brings together artists of different genres, including a writer, a media artist, a composer, and a choreographer, in a collaborative fashion reminiscent of the surrealist game of ‘exquisite corpse’. This allows for overlapping contributions from each artist, rather than adhering to unidirectional output, creating resonating concentric circles of inspiration that complete the project.

The title of the work, borrowed from Italo Calvino’s novel “Invisible Cities,” references a historical moment of unknown territories and expansionist desires. Much like the colonial expansionism depicted in Calvino’s novel, our current global socio-economic landscape is rapidly changing due to advancements in information technology, artificial intelligence, automation, and geotargeting, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital aspects of our lives have become more prevalent than ever, blurring the lines between the virtual and the real.

The surreal landscape of OPIM opens up new psychical horizons, akin to the virtual city of ‘Aldalbach’ described in collaborator Sim Na-wool’s story, ‘Virtual Love.’ This virtual world, <OPIM / ㅇ ㅗ ㅍ ㅣ ㅁ >, is a manifestation of imaginary subsistence, a phantasm beyond the graspable reality. Through its transdisciplinary approach and exploration of virtual and physical realities, OPIM challenges traditional notions of reality and expands the possibilities of artistic expression in the digital age.

The piece was showcased in 2021 at Platform L in Seoul in three separate spaces each with a different component: 1. VR Room 2. Live Performance Room 3. Projection Room.