Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries

Above are some screen captures from several "films" by the South Korean artists, Young-hae Chang and Marc Voge who work collectively as "Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries."

Their artwork could be described as half-way between film and literature, which is why I think they're of special interest for this class. Their pieces are created for the Internet (though they also show in galleries) and they consider the internet the basic medium they work in, “We try to break as many rules as possible. We try to express the essence of the Internet: information. Strip away the interactivity, the graphics, the design, the photos, the illustrations, the banners, the colours, the fonts and the rest, and what's left? The text.”

Of course its not just "text": it's also narrative, imagery and sound. All elements of film and yet these are not exactly "films" as conventionally defined because there are no "pictures," just words. Nor are they conventional written "stories," either, because motion and sound are an essential part of these works.

Take a look at some their pieces and think about how motion and sound/music work in them. Think, too, about our recent discussions in class (and in your logs) about editing and sound as significant factors that shape the viewer's attention, sympathy and opinion.

Dakota, Pao! Pao! Pao!, Orient and All Fall Down have a kind of noir-y mystery feel about them; Dakota has hint of the road trip movie, too, and All Fall Down features a split narrative (something we'll see later in "Memento Mori"). The Last Day of Betty Nkomo reminds me a bit of the music video genre, though far from it as well.

The Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries website is here and here you can find some commentary about an exhibit of their work currently being shown at the Moderna Museet in Sweden. The curator says, "I am almost hypnotised by the flashing images and the mesmerising soundtrack. It reminds me of the special state of mind one can enter while watching a film at the cinema. Or the feeling of sitting by oneself, deep in thought, at a bus stop in a city, in a flow of impalpable impressions. I’m not quite sure which. Perhaps a bit of both. The works are very filmic, hovering somewhere in the borderland of animation, silent movies, poetry and rap."