This past summer, students from CBNU went to France through the Humanities Finder Project. They were introduced to media facade, a cultural art they learned while in France. They were interviewed at the CBT to introduce media facade, thinking that students would want to know about it.

  1. Please introduce yourself and explain why you were chosen for the project.

  I am Yoon Kang-hee, and I’m majoring in French Language and Culture. I went to France with my teammates during last winter. While there, I happened to be out for a walk, and there was an event nearby under the theme media facade. I stopped by the event to learn about it. It was so cool to see so many images on the exterior walls of the building. After seeing the images, it was so impressive that I decided to focus on media facades this year while working on the Humanities Finder Project. I decided to investigate media facade under the team name Highlight. To understand more about media facade, I went to France again during this summer.

  2. What is a media facade?

  Media facade is a type of media art that shows various images using the exterior walls of a building as a large screen. People can see it in Korea as well. In fact, a festival about media facade was held in 2016 at the Munui Cultural Properties Site. The art form injects images that contain dynamic photos rather than just inserting a static image onto the exterior walls of a building. It conveys a more accurate portrayal of what each artist wants to say. An example of a media facade in France is ‘Quarries of Lights’. Instead of merely showing a picture that doesn’t move, artists can add movement to a painting and tell a story to the viewers. Also, at ‘Quarries of Lights’, visitors can also lie down and watch if they want Media facade is a space-based art that allows visitors to understand the work more.

  3. Tell me about your experiences with media facade in France.

  My team visited Chartres, an area in northwestern France. Chartres is famous for its light festival, as the mayor of Chartres calls it, the ‘Capital of light.’ The festival, ‘Chartres en Lumières’, takes place throughout the city and allows visitors to see media facade in various places such as the Catholic cathedral and downtown areas. As ordinary people can easily see artwork while walking through the neighborhood, anyone can become a visitor. This festival is the longest festival in the world, so visitors can freely watch many lights and videos whenever they visit there. My team stayed in Chartres for only three days, but it was good to see various works of art all over the place. In particular, it was most impressive that the artists used media facades to tell stories about the regions, as the artists intended to explain the historical culture of the area. Also, they projected images on the walls of the Catholic cathedral to show how the cathedral was built.

  4. Did you have any difficulties with the project?

  Light festivals are held all over France. However, the festivals are held in different regions. Therefore, it was difficult to experience it all within the allotted time. Moreover, as the ‘Chartres en Lumières’ is about light, I was tired because I could not sleep much because I could only watch them properly late at night. I also decided to interview a manager of La Pasad to get information about media facade. In the process, the officers were often too busy to be contacted, and I was not fluent in French, which made it difficult to communicate.

5. Do you have a most memorable experience?

  The most memorable one was interviewing officers involved in media facade for more information. When I asked them what they thought of their duties, they were proud of their work. The reason is that they believe governing the ‘Festival of Lights’ is a kind of gift for the visitors. I decided to love my work with pride in their honor.

By Nam Min-woo
mw38@cbnu.ac.kr