Media art creation process using digitized archetype of Korean traditional dance movement

Abstract

Cultural heritage is a product of history and culture that contains traces and memories of humanity. Therefore, various kinds of effort are needed to care and spread its value. However, young people's interest in cultural heritage remains shallow due to the strong perception or bias that it cannot be reconciled with modern culture. Intangible cultural properties are thus held and passed down by a relatively small population, which often carries the risk of losing or damaging its original form. Thus, establishing measures to pass down intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a crucial challenge. In addition to the safeguarding of ICH, there is also a need to increase the younger generation's interest in traditional Korean cultural heritage and encourage them to participate in various activities in order to slowly expose them to the various dimensions of cultural heritage.The purpose of this study is to propose and demonstrate a new media art creation process through the case of the 'Dongnae Crane Dance', one of the most prominent aspects within the local cultural heritage of Busan. This study was conducted in using the following process: 1) The archetype data of the 'Dongnae Crane Dance' was extracted using motion recognition technology to recognize the dancer's body movements.2) The displacement difference (difference in the changing position) of the 3D data was calculated, and the trajectory distance of the motion was derived from the accumulative data calculated above. 3) Based on the data acquired, this study proposes a media art creation process applying various practical contents, focusing on the detailed elements included in digitalized archetype data.Through this process, this study aims to enhance the interest of young people in ICH and contributes to the cultural transmission and safeguarding of its original form. Furthermore, it is expected that the creative activity of modern artworks based on archetype data, not on reinterpretation from the artist's point of view, can provide an opportunity to recognize and convey the value of Korean cultural heritage once again and to have this cultural heritage further disseminate throughout the world.