Participating artists:Hyelim Jeon, Yunju Shin
Venue:Seoul Exhibition Venue:
Art Space Qualia / 41, Pyeongchang 11-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Leipzig Exhibition Venue:
IG Fortuna | Kino der Jugend, Eisenbahnstraße 162, 04315 Leipzig
A river mediates time and space, yet its flow is irreversible and unpredictable. A single river divides space while simultaneously connecting it; life on the opposite shore neither fully separates nor fully merges, but continues to flow in a state of in-betweenness.
A river is also a living presence. It does not remain in the past, but constantly carries new water forward, embodying a persistent present that affirms that “life goes on.” In this sense, the river becomes a symbol of liveness—a real-time condition of existence defined by continuous renewal and presence.
In Korean, the expression “to cross the water” often implies leaving for a distant place. Nam June Paik, who spent much of his life outside Korea in Germany and the United States, anticipated what we now describe as being “online” through his early articulation of liveness. Through the world’s first satellite live broadcasts, he connected physically distant entities via technology, expanding the notion of the “here and now” and visualizing the simultaneity of interaction across space. These experiments demonstrated how technology reconstructs human perception, memory, and modes of being—processes that unfold in ways that are both irreversible and unpredictable.
Paik’s practice introduced into Korean society a new sensibility toward real-time connection, media convergence, and human–machine relationships. This sensibility later became a crucial foundation for Korean digital media culture—particularly in real-time streaming, fandom-based content, and the formation of relationships with virtual entities. Within the media industry, these concepts were absorbed into live music broadcasts, chat-based streaming platforms, and multi-platform dissemination strategies, offering audiences what is often described as an “expanded experience.”
From a new media perspective, Paik’s live broadcasts can be understood as interactive practices grounded in simultaneity. This exhibition extends that context by experimenting with a streaming format that expands simultaneity into asynchronous interaction. Two physically distant spaces transmit to one another in real time, while audiences are also able to return to earlier moments in the stream, engaging with the exhibition through asynchronous modes of interaction.
On January 29, 2026, marking the 20th anniversary of Nam June Paik’s passing, this project directly connects his legacy to the cognitive systems through which we experience media narratives today. The exhibition seeks to re-narrativize the structures of perception that operate alongside media flows, as well as the simultaneities and asynchronicities formed within them, proposing new ways of understanding how media shapes contemporary modes of existence.
