Seungju Kim

Thesis: Elevator to Nostalgia

Elevator to Nostalgia is a video installation which combines 3D and 2D elements in a single channel. The animation is about time travel through the history of Korea, showing three different moments in chronological order. The main theme is how the past and present affect each other and what effect they have showing their connection. Elevator to Nostalgia refers to time travel in the form of a scent. Unlike English, ‘Nostalgia’ in Korea has the same word, ‘향수,’ which means ‘Perfume in Korean.' Perfume leaves its scent for a long time and affects others giving an impression of the people who are wearing the perfume. Like perfume, the past moment can remain as some part of the present moment, and it can be an inspiration to the descendant. The goal of this thesis project is to show what our ancestors have been through over the several centuries.

“My inspiration is my grandfather's old pictures my parents found at my grandfather's house. It was delivered to me after several decades by sending the picture digitally. The photo was a trace my grandfather left to keep his childhood memory, passed to his descendant in a new format that did not exist in the past. My grandfather said he misses his past moment, reminding him of his youth even though it was the worst moment in the nation, the Korean War in 1950. Time only can move forward so that we cannot go back to moments in the past and change the decision that affects our life every moment. My project has a loop between the end part and the start point. The audience can have time to see what happened each time and observe what effect each world affects each world. They will be free to wander past and present freely, giving a sense of dreamlike and surrealism, which made the audience broaden their thought and figure out what effect each trace has and the importance of preserving the path and started to get interested in researching the connection between past and present moments.The video is inspired by Lisa Reihana’s work, In Pursuit of Venus, a moving image interpretation of the French scenic wallpaper Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique represents European impressions of Indigenous South Pacific Islanders. Elevator to Nostalgia shows three different moments of Korea with 3D and 2D elements and talks about how each time communicates.”