Students Hwang Dong-wook, Choi Hyun-ho, and Lee Min-a from Samyook University’s Art and Design Department were awarded an Honorable Mention in the ‘2023 Busan Eurasia Platform Media Art Month Competition’ organized by Busan Metropolitan City and Busan Eurasia Platform. The significance of their achievement lies in the fact that they competed against professional artists in a general competition, not just a student competition.

Busan Eurasia Platform is a multi-cultural arts space created at the Busan Station Plaza, the gateway to Busan, in 2019. In 2021, a large-scale media art wall was installed, hosting various media art exhibitions and competitions.

This year’s competition theme was ‘CONNECT: Global Hub Connecting the World! Busan,’ and participants were tasked with incorporating keywords related to Busan such as ‘tourism,’ ‘sea,’ ‘passion,’ ‘youth,’ etc.

The Art and Design Department team submitted a 3D animation piece titled ‘Follow.’ The storyline revolves around a character named ‘Sani’ living in Busan, who shares the beauty of Busan with friends around the world through Instagram. Characters like ‘Bigi,’ ‘Huru,’ and ‘Muff’ visit Busan one after another to enjoy a delightful time together.

Each character represents a persona reflecting the needs of foreign tourists and national characteristics. By unfolding the story centered around Busan’s major tourist attractions, such as Haeundae Beach and Gwangan Bridge, the team maximized the charm of Busan. Additionally, the creative use of Instagram share buttons on the characters at the right tower, sending notifications to the characters at the left tower via the central bridge, highlighted the unique features of the Busan Eurasia Platform Media Art Wall, connecting the two towers with an LED display.

The Art and Design Department team stated, “The core of this competition was to emphasize Busan’s role as a mediator connecting the world,” adding, “‘Instagram’ was the key idea to effectively showcase Busan’s charm to the world and demonstrate the power of digital communication.”

They further explained, “By leveraging the common ground between Instagram and Busan in promoting global communication and cultural exchange, we incorporated these elements into our design. Through this, we aimed to showcase that Busan is closely connected to the world and actively engaged in global communication.”

This project applied the latest digital signage trend of anamorphic technology, which maximizes depth perception by utilizing optical illusions. It required meticulous calculations considering the viewer’s position, angle, display size, resolution, etc., making it a highly challenging task. By using a variety of colors and lighting to capture Busan’s vibrant atmosphere and enhancing visual completeness through special effects and motion graphics, the team successfully encapsulated the essence of Busan.

The Art and Design Department team expressed, “This award serves as a catalyst for us to create diverse projects that communicate with the world through more creative and innovative work,” stating, “We aim to produce works that showcase the beauty of Korea on the global stage, inspiring many and providing new visual experiences.”

The work of the Art and Design Department team, along with the other 7 award-winning pieces, will be showcased at the Busan Eurasia Platform Media Art Wall until May of next year.