‘link’, the work of design studio kimchi and chips

 

 

 

‘link‘ creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes, each filled with the face and story of a different visitor to the installation space. juxtaposing technology and simple materials, the bounds of the private and public spheres, and the ideas of viewer and creator, the interactive installation was designed and created by kimchi and chips, the collaborative studio of london-based technical designer elliot woods  and seoul-based artist mimi son. adopting the form of a miniature cityscape, the sculptural component of the project involved stacking and arranging 400 cardboard boxes. the design team developed their own projection mapping software  to flexibly accommodate the large number of surfaces,  so that each box is capable of projecting a unique video feed from one of six projectors,  linked to three media servers. to engage viewers as participants in the piece, a series of kiosks lines the border of the installation.  here, interacting with a touchscreen device and videocamera, anyone can record a video of herself, which is then saved and replayed on boxes throughout the work.

kimchi and chips creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes for link - 2 closer view of the multimedia sculpture

 

 

the changing faces and constant activity of the piece recall the movements and encounters of people in real cities, and raise questions of memory and its relative permanence in an increasingly digital society. the designers express the foundational goal of the project as ‘bringing developing technologies together with everyday materials, and bringing people together to share their stories and presence’.

kimchi and chips creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes for link - 3 view of the project from the visitors’ side

kimchi and chips creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes for link - 4 detail view of the recording kiosk

kimchi and chips creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes for link - 5 a visitor records video of herself, to be added immediately to the installation

kimchi and chips creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes for link - 6 during the installation phase, each box needed to be individually mapped to the projection software

kimchi and chips creates a constantly evolving city of paper boxes for link - 7 designers elliot woods (standing in center) and mimi son (sitting) survey the space during the installation process

video documentation of the project’s design and installation

kimchi and chips completes the original structural mockup of boxes, their first step towards the realization of the piece