Starting Strong: South Korea's Media Arts Community

Everyday occurrences can lead to extraordinary events. Not long ago a polite gentleman visited 911 Media Arts Center and asked me for a tour. This isn't unusual; giving tours is part of my job. However, I was surprised to learn he was the director of a brand new media center in South Korea called MediACT. He told me he was researching different media arts center models and was interested in 911 because he liked our website. As webmaster, I was terribly flattered. I proceeded to show him every last detail of our center, and he dutifully captured it all on video. After exchanging cards, I forgot about the visit until I received an email from M.J. Kim a few months later. He invited me, expenses paid, to speak at a community media seminar in Seoul. I guess my tour impressed him.

Sleep-deprived and feeling dense from airline food, I arrived in downtown Seoul. Massive video billboards and flickering neon compounded my disorientation. Fortunately, I managed to find MediACT, where I was warmly greeted. The center was highly organized and antiseptically clean; I didn't see a single loose cable or dust-bunny anywhere. I was instructed to remove my shoes and don a pair of MediACT slippers. I shuffled over to an AVID DV suite, a DigiBeta tape room, and a gorgeous recording studio. Inside the equipment cage, gear cases lining the walls shined like gemstones. MediACT had loads of brand new production equipment, including XL-1 and JVC DY-700 cameras, shotgun and wireless mics, light kits, tripods, DAT decks, and portable mixers. Interestingly, MediACT chose to go mostly with Windows and Premiere for their six offline editing systems. (I'm sure this reduced their startup costs, but I'd venture that support cost will be higher down the road.) I was impressed to find that everything was high tech, the edit suites were card-key accessible 24 hours a day, and the bathroom had automatic flush toilets.

The MediACT Center exists completely in the digital era. No capture cards; forget about 3/4" tape; say goodbye (sniff) to Video Toaster. Starting fresh will be both a blessing and a curse for them. With no legacy systems to support, they will have fewer headaches. However, outdated technology contains a rich history. The language of media continually builds on earlier formats. Specific traits like supersaturated Ektachrome film or hyper-crisp Hi8 tape become charged with visual meaning. Media makers reference these looks to evoke a mood or time and place, and those new to the field would do well to learn how media technology has evolved. Without archives or legacy systems, expressive techniques and nuances of visual language may be lost.

After I checked out the impressive facilities at MediACT, I was escorted to a traditional Korean restaurant. Inside, we kicked off our shoes and sat, yoga style, on a heated floor. I ordered a dish described by my hosts as classic Korean-style crab. What arrived was raw crab in mustard paste, which tasted like seaweed Jell-O with a kick. The next night, dinner was much better. I feasted on Boolgogi, a marinated beef and veggie melange fried in a wok right on the table and served with a dizzying number of side dishes. Despite language barriers, conversation came easily - especially after about fifteen shots of a Korean rice wine called Soju.

At the seminar we relied on professional interpreters, not wine, to facilitate communications. Everyone wore a headset and spoke through a microphone. I felt like I was addressing the United Nations General Assembly. My corny jokes provoked a delayed laugh as the interpreters struggled to translate. I was one of four panelists, including Dirk Koning from Grand Rapids Community Media Center in Michigan, Jurgen Linke from Berlin Open Channel in Germany, and Marilyn Hundman of Northern Vision in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Much of our discussion focused on access and education.

MediACT appeared to be defining itself as a training center for media activists. This is greatly needed in South Korea, where alternative viewpoints are just emerging on topics like globalization, privatization, and division from the North. In the face of these pressing issues, support for artists is essential. Artist interpretation of political events or social constructs can incite a heartfelt response, transcending prejudice. In the right context, the media arts provide a healthy jumping off point for dialogue. Stimulating creativity builds community.

On Saturday night, our group attended a massive union rally. Before 1987, labor unions were illegal in Korea, and activists were intimidated and murdered by company goons. Today, the movement is alive and well, as evident by the deafening cheers of thousands of rallying workers. On stage, a variety of acts performed, each seeming to be more urgent and heroic than the last. I couldn't understand a word in the extended speeches, but the determination in their voices was clear. All of the passion and posturing was contagious, and I was soon wearing a red union jersey and cheering along with my fist in the air. The MediACT center sponsors a labor film festival and is well connected with the union movement. At 911 Media Arts Center, we have no political mandate, although, objectively speaking, we tend to attract progressive types. I'm curious if MediACT has a political charter and, if so, what its long-term effect will be. Will it strengthen or hinder the center's role in the community?

The next morning I rose early and headed to the Namdaemun Market. Vendors were setting up shop and fortifying themselves with steaming bowls of soup. Although the early morning activity was frenetic, the market was well organized. Merchants selling similar items were in close proximity to each other, and food stalls specializing in the same dish were grouped together. Most likely, this increases sales by concentrating customer traffic. They had created a system in which every merchant benefited. The MediACT center has the potential to create similar vitality among independent media makers in Seoul. The city has all of the elements for a rich media culture: a good university, high bandwidth penetration, and a technically skilled population. MediACT could provide physical space for meetings among Seoul's independent media community. Additionally, they are demonstrating a model for media centers in other parts of the country to duplicate. Networks are just beginning to form among the South Korean independent media community. In a few years they should be vigorous.

We wrapped up our seminar by discussing the daily challenges faced by community media centers. Although the other panelists came from around the world, we had all confronted similar issues. By hosting the seminar, MediACT stands to learn a lot from everyone else's mistakes. They collected a strong foundation of research and will most likely incorporate their findings into organizational guidelines. As their group grows, it is imperative that continued research and group consensus be woven into their charter. The MediACT Access Center may be just starting out, but they have laid excellent groundwork for the future.

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Peter Mitchell is an arts administrator and new media designer living in Seattle, WA.
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© 2003 National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. All Rights Reserved.