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Urban Meditation

Today, in the midst of rapidly changing circumstances around us as well the convenient

but yet confusing modernized life styles, people often experience stress and a loss of

control. However, it is often even more difficult to find peace and a sense of calmness

in the course of urban life. Therefore, I would like to explore and design alternative and

suitable ways of meditation that is in tune with urban life and create a space that is

filled with many screens and computers. These alternative ways have been inspired by

experiences of different Asian cultures as well as my personal Korean lifestyle.

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Tea ceremony provides new way of meditation on finding relaxation and harmony with nature.

People in fast-paced New York City usually drink a cup of coffee or tea at Starbucks or rush out

to go somewhere with their cups in hand. However, in Korea the approach to enjoying their tea is

with relaxation in mind. The traditional Korean setups of the tea table is in a teahouse usually in

the garden where can enjoy all four seasons of nature.

Tea Ceremony

6 7Ji Sun Lee _ Tea Ceremony _ Processing and Arduino with sensors _ 2006

Tea Ceremony was inspired by the appreciation for enjoying tea in nature. The core of the natural elements

is water because tea is made by water. Furthermore, drinking tea allows people to purify their body and

mind. The visualizations are based on the concepts related with water; 4 abstract images inspired by

Korean calligraphy. This was recreated in a programming language by Processing, a design interface

dedicated for processing to create an interaction with the tea ceremony set. This interaction is supposed to

symbolize the connection between nature and inner peace.

Tea Ceremony is ideal for one or two user in a quiet room where a large screen is placed on the wall. The

user pours tea into a teacup, and then experiences the drizzle of spring rain, followed by heavy shower of

summer, fog and early bird chirping in autumn and snow with an owl singing in winter. The relaxing music

and warm green tea helps the users release stress and meditate their spirit.

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class Shower { oat xpos; oat ypos; oat showerSize; oat speed; Shower(){ xpos = random(0,width); ypos = -100; showerSize = random(0,33); speed = random(1,10); } void move(){ ypos += speed; } //Check if it hits the bottom boolean rechedbottom() { if(ypos>height){ return true; } else{ return false; }}

void display(){ fill(255,random(3,15)); float f1 = 0.0; beginShape(POLYGON); while(f1 < TWO_PI) { vertex(xpos + cos(f1)*(27-showerSize) + random(0,5), ypos + sin(f1)*(27-showerSize) + random(0,5)); f1 += PI/12.0; } endShape(); }}

Ji Sun Lee _ Tea Ceremony _ Processing and Arduino with sensors _ 2006

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The Four Gracious Plants, otherwise known as the Four Gentlemanly Plants, or the Four

Seasons symbols, consist of plum blossoms, orchids or wild orchids, chrysanthemums, and

bamboo. They were originally Confucian symbols for the four qualities of a learned man, but are

now more commonly associated with the four seasons. Plum blossoms represented courage,

the orchid stood for refinement, the chrysanthemum was a sign of a productive and fruitful

life, and bamboo represented integrity. In modern times, the four have come to be associated

with the seasons as well; plums blossoms bravely bloom in the cold of an early spring, orchids

disseminate a dim fragrance far in the heat of summer, chrysanthemums overcome the first

cold of a late fall and bloom, and bamboo bares its green leaves even in the winter.

The Four Gracious Plants are one of most popular themes in traditional Korean painting. They

are not simply decorative wall paintings but also symbolize a way of life. People hang these

paintings in their studies or living rooms as a daily healthy reminder and to cultivate their minds

in positive ways.

Four Gracious Plants

Asian Traditional Paintings by WizData , iStockphoto.com

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Four Gracious Plants is created by altering abstract images from traditional paintings in order

to suggest the passing of time and the seasons. In the cool early spring, rain drizzles and plum

trees boldly blossom. Pink flowers grow on in its branches. When the plum flowers are gone, the

orchids grow and its flowers open to disseminate a dim fragrance in the heat of summer. When

the summer reaches its peak of hot temperature, the orchids are caught in a rain shower and

then the season changes to fall. In the early morning, chrysanthemums appear in a dense fog.

Then, the chrysanthemums overcome the first cold of late fall and yellow flowers bloom. When

the winter comes, the bamboo raise up with green leaves, even though it is very cold. After the

snow, the season changes again and this cycle repeats indefinitely.

The images on Processing are triggered by switch sensors, which is located inside the book and

detect the turning of the pages. The interaction between the book and the images represent the

relationship between engaging in literary works and the appreciation and cultivation of one’s

mind. The purpose here is to show the audience that such a connection does exist.

Ji Sun Lee _ Four Gracious Plants_ Processing and Arduino with sensors _ 2007

Ji Sun Lee _ Four Gracious Plants_ Processing and Arduino with sensors _ 2007

class Plum {ArrayList a;oat j = 0;int branchCounter = 0;Plum() {a = new ArrayList();PlumBranch b = new PlumBranch(new Vector3D(100,500),new Vector3D(0f,-0.5f ),300f );a.add(b);}void go() {for (int i = a.size()-1; i >= 0; i--) {PlumBranch b = (PlumBranch) a.get(i);b.update();b.render(random(15,20)-j);j= j+0.00055;if (b.timeToBranch()) {branchCounter = branchCounter +1;if (branchCounter>64){createBlossom(b.loc);}if (a.size() < 1024) {a.add(b.plumBranch( 45f)); // Add one going righta.add(b.plumBranch(-30f)); // Add one going left}}}}void createBlossom ( Vector3D loc ) {Blossom new_blossom = new Blossom(loc);blossoms.add(new_blossom);}}

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FanningA BUCHAE(Korean fan) brings about wind and gets rid of dust. It was believed that, as it clears

dust o, it also gets rid of evil spirits that bring bad luck or disease.

People use a fan in the summer to reduce their body heat and enjoy the wind blowing on their

face. “Fanning” creates a soft wind. This wind cools down the heat and helps relieve people’s

stress from the hot temperatures in the city and other annoying things around them.

Korean fan By JoonYoung.Kim

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Fanning creates the feeling of emptiness inside the mind. It creates moments of relief in

stressful situations, which feels as if the stress is being cleared away. It is as if you left the

realities of life behind for a while by Fanning. When the user uses a fan on his or her face, he

or she is able to see a digital version of their face being scattered on the screen by the wind

generated by the fan.

The user is able to control the strength and angle of the fanning motion with his or her hand and

wrist. A tilt sensor detects the angle and the number of the fanning motion which is correlated

directly to the digital images and changes accordingly. The flying pixels of the digital image of

the person’s face on the screen symbolize the blowing away of complicated and stifling realities.

Ji Sun Lee _ Fanning _ Processing and Arduino with a sensor _ 2007

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int tiltSensor = 0; // digital sensorint inByte = 0; // incoming serial byte

void setup(){ // start serial port at 9600 bps: Serial.begin(9600);}

void loop(){ // if we get a valid byte, read analog ins: if (Serial.available() > 0) { // get incoming byte: inByte = Serial.read(); // read switch, multiply by 255 // so that you’re sending 0 or 255: tiltSensor = 255 * digitalRead(8); // send sensor values: Serial.print(tiltSensor, BYTE); }}

Ji Sun Lee _ Fanning _ Processing and Arduino with a sensor _ 2007

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Head of Speech

There are many methods for meditation. In Korean, Head of Speech(usually translated as “head

of speech” which means “true speech”) has been used for general meditation at the temple in

Korea. Used by many enlightened masters of the past, the practitioner endeavors to suspend

logical thinking so that the Original Nature becomes clear through a direct transmission from

mind to mind.

Today, it is often very difficult to find a “peace of mind” by contemplating about your “true self”

like the Head of Speech. People often lack the time or the proper space to engage in such

meditation and to ask oneself questions that are aimed for self reflection.Temple Stay at Hwagyesa - Meditating by sellyourseoul

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Head of Speech asks our views questions about life, our identity, and the relationship between

these two. The screen on the wall will show short and simple questions continuously. Then, the

users will think about the answers to these questions and forget about the stress surrounding

their everyday lives and release tension while they are focused on finding the answers.

Ji Sun Lee _ Head of Speech_ Processing and Mirror _ 2010

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The DotSimilar to the walking meditation style, called Haengseon, the sitting meditation style, or Jwaseon, is also

a common form of meditation in Korea. In the quest for contemplation, this sitting meditation style helps

one to be immersed in specific and general questions one may have about life. For people who are new to

this type of meditation, they can start by imagining a virtual dot on the wall, which should be at the same

height as your belly button in the sitting position. In the sitting position, the person should be able to lean

over slightly and touch the wall with the edge of one hand, marking the recommended distance between the

person and the wall. After placement is assigned, one can start the meditation by focusing on the dot and

counting from 50 to 0. It is important to note that the purpose of this countdown is to prepare the person for

the meditation. At the point of complete tranquility and stillness, he or she experiences the dot growing and

canvassing the wall, leading one to become fully immersed in it.

Temple Stay at Hwagyesa - Meditating by sellyourseo

The Dot helps the user experience this moment of stillness that only happens after some form of meditation.

There is a camera that detects the movement of the user and analyzes whether the user has moved or not.

If the participant successfully focuses on the dot for an extended period of time in stillness, the dot on the

screen suddenly grows. The dot helps the user not only stay focused on the task of meditation at hand, but

also encourage the user to experience this moment of tranquility that is often hard to find in everyday life.

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The small sized digital photo frame displays a small dot on the screen. While in the cross-legged

position, the user should align the height of his or her belly button accordingly with the height of

the dot. The images on the screen will proceed in this order. First, a countdown from 50 to 1 helps

the user become comfortable to the new surroundings and prepare him or her mentally for the

exercise. Afterwards, a black dot with a white background appears and this image stays for 2 to 5

minutes. Then, the black dot expands and becomes the background.

Ji Sun Lee _ The Dot_ Processing _ 2010

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Many people tend to think about people, situations and the circumstances happening in

their lives while they are walking. The “walk” is a sort of medium and place to engage in

such meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh, who is a famous monk and the author of a walking

mediation book, conduct walking meditation programs with many people in cycles. The person

participating in the walking meditation exercise watches the heels of the person in front of

them and follow his or her direction. When one person rings a bell during this meditation

exercise, everyone stops and empties their mind of worries, troubles and anxieties

Walking

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Walking encourages people to walk in the designated space by following footprint images that

are being projected onto the floor. The camera on the ceiling detects the user’s position and

shows the following footprints in front to help guide the participant and indicate the cycle’s

direction. If the user stops or his or her pace lags behind the images, the projections of the

footprint images wait until the user decides to start walk again or catches up. Overall, these

images are shown at a pace where the user will be able to enjoy and relax his or her mind.

Media Noche in New York

02 10 2011 to 03 24 2011

1355 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10029, USA

T. +1 646.228.7950

www.medianoche.us

JiSunLee.netsun.neofuture@gmail.com

+82 (0)10 7385 9373

Facebook: jisunlee.net

Twitter: jisunlee

THE MEDIUM in Seoul

01 25 2011 to 01 30 2011

3F, 132-27, Yeonhui-dong,

Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea

T. +82 (0)70.4084.8965

www.themedium.co.kr

The First Solo Exhibition in New York and Seoul

This work is licensed underhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/