WORD TREE [2018]
A Participatory Art Installation. By Betty Sargeant and Justin Dwyer
Oil Tank Culture Park, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA, May 2018
THE WORD TREE is a participatory artwork by PluginHUMAN. The public work together to create a co-designed sculpture. Audiences use printed maps and social media to find small sculptural pieces that are hidden around the exhibition area. They bring these pieces to the exhibition space and connect them to create THE WORD TREE sculpture.
THE WORD TREE is constructed from coloured, laser cut acrylic. This work is designed for Korean audiences – it is in Hangul (Korean script). Each piece spells a different word – the sculpture features words such as ‘ART’ and ‘TECHNOLOGY’.
The Word Tree socially and physically engages audiences and personalises their experience of art.
CREDITS
Betty Sargeant ~ Artist (laser cut design), producer
Justin Dwyer ~ Artist, composer
ABOUT PluginHUMAN
PluginHUMAN is a multi-award-winning art duo led by Dr Betty Sargeant and Justin Dwyer. PluginHUMAN are at the progressive edge of their field, providing audiences with new cultural, environmental and scientific perspectives. Their artworks address the leading questions and concerns of our times.
PluginHUMAN’s work centres around the art of illumination. They create projection mapping, video artworks and led immersive multi-sensory environments. They use the medium of light to translate complex data into meaningful audience experiences.
PluginHUMAN has created commissioned artworks for institutions such as the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan), the Asia Culture Centre (South Korea), Questacon (Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre), the Melbourne Museum (White Night Festival, Australia) and Experimenta (Australian triennial touring media art exhibition). They have exhibited in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. PluginHUMAN were awarded the Rupert Bunny Foundation Visual Art Fellowship (2019/20); they’re developing new carbon neutral and carbon negative materials and working methods. They have also won Good Design Awards (2020 and 2018), and a Victorian Premier’s Design Award (2017).
PluginHUMAN has an acute understanding of the role that technology plays in contemporary society. They reimagine new technologies to produce artistic innovations, creating meaningful large and small scale audience experiences for indoor spaces and outdoor public arenas.
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