Watch an interview with Lisa Park, former Nokia Bell Labs EAT artist-in-residence and NEW INC. artist, and Julia Kaganskiy, curator of Blooming at NEW INC. at SXSW 2019. Hear from Lisa about the inspiration for her work, what it was like to collaborate with Nokia Bell Labs researchers and see a live demonstration.
Blooming highlights the importance of presence and physical connection in our lives. The deeply personal work is inspired by Park’s experiences living abroad in the United States, feeling detached from family and friends back home in South Korea. While our digital, globalized world allows us to always stay connected, what is lost when our most meaningful relationships are mediated through screens? Drawing on research from developmental psychology on the importance of touch to human well being, Park questions how a lack of physical contact and in-person interaction might contribute to feelings of loss, alienation, dissociation, and melancholy.
The installation—which takes the form of a life-size cherry blossom tree, a common symbol of social ties and the transience of life in East Asian cultures—responds to physical contact between two to four participants. When participants stand before the tree and hold hands or embrace, the tree will flourish in peak bloom; when they release, it will collapse into its pre-bloomed state.
Park’s work is augmented by advanced research at Nokia Bell Labs into sensor technology that enables the detection and determination of intimate contact between people.
