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A Storyteller Bridging Art and Technology

Ayoung Kim is one of the most prominent media artists of our time, known for her storytelling that fluidly traverses the boundaries of art and technology, history and futurism. In March, she became the first Korean recipient of the prestigious LG Guggenheim Award, and in 2023, she received the Golden Nica, the highest honor awarded by Prix Ars Electronica, the world’s largest media art festival.

Her works—interweaving video, sound, text, and performance—go beyond exploring the interaction between technology and humanity, offering profound artistic interpretations of the complex socio-political realities of contemporary society. From shedding light on the 19th-century Geomundo Incident to examining the tragic consequences of how the British horse racing industry was introduced into Korea, Kim weaves historical facts with current issues to craft narratives of deep philosophical resonance.

"As artists, we dive deep into ourselves, hit bottom, endure pain, and wrestle with our inner lives. The language and aesthetics that emerge from that experience are what move and connect with people," Kim reflects. With her recent accolades, Kim is poised to continue shaping the global discourse around digital and tech-driven art, standing at the forefront of a rapidly evolving artistic frontier.

Ayoung Kim’s Technophilia

Ayoung Kim, a Korean artist, is one of the hottest properties worldwide right now, after consecutively winning the LG Guggenheim Award and the ACC Future Prize. One of her signature works, Delivery Dancer’s Arc: Inverse, is a three-channel video installation that utilizes cutting-edge technologies such as AI, CGI, and game engines. It continues the story of two female delivery workers, Ernst Mo and En Storm (anagrams of “monster”), first introduced in Delivery Dancer’s Sphere. In that prequel, the love-hate narrative of the couriers (dubbed ‘delivery dancers’, insinuating the inevitable post-Fordist merger of labour and leisure) unfolds in a quasi-fictional Seoul, which Kim scrupulously crafts by merging actual footage of the city with computer-generated imagery to depict the world.

What some might perceive as an invasion into that sacred territory of artistic authorship, for Kim, an avenue through which to incorporate formal and conceptual potentials that are otherwise unobtainable. Yet within that stream of optimism, Kim’s use of technology is full of nuance. For one, the wryly dystopian settings of her latest projects are the direct result of the amplification of neoliberal forces accelerated by the digital revolution. This approach also surfaces in her earlier Zepheth series, where she reconstructs historical narratives of the petroleum industry and labor migration into new performances using computer-generated imagery, 3D modeling, and green screen video.

Kim’s practice moves beyond the common narrative of technology as a threat, instead leveraging it as a medium for imagining alternative futures. Her work is currently on view at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin and the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, and will be exhibited at MoMA PS1 in New York this coming November.

Queen of May’s New York Art Week, Ayoung Kim: “My Journey with AI Began in the Distant Past”

Ayoung Kim is a media artist who uses advanced technologies like AI, VR, and motion graphics to build narratives that connect history with contemporary social issues. As the first Korean recipient of the 3 rd LG Guggenheim Award, she is recognized for reimagining the future through deep research into ancient myths and forgotten technologies. Her large-scale video and installation work often highlight marginalized voices, such as female laborers, and blend fiction with real-world observation. Embracing collaboration with AI as part of her creative process, she works under the belief that “the future holds answers in the past,” continually pushing the boundaries between art and technology.