Kyueun Kim

In March 2024, I participated in an international symposium on “Technology in Contemporary East Asian Performance” at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park. My presentation was about site-specific VR performances from South Korea, with the concept of “void theatres of virtual reality” being a key aspect I’m developing in my research. I explored the definitions and traces of void theatres of virtual reality and shared analysis of Korean artist Seo Hyun-suk’s participatory VR performance X (Indifferent Spectacle). Additionally, I participated in a closed-door workshop for the publication of an edited collection on the same theme. Follow here to see the full lineup of amazing scholars and artists, including keynotes by Prof. Rossella Ferrari (University of Vienna) and Prof. Suk-Young Kim (UCLA). The symposium was part of Techno-Futures: Collaborations in Performance, Technology, and Creative Scholarship Symposium, organized by Prof. Tarryn Li-Min Chun (University of Notre Dame), Prof. Jyana S. Browne (University of Maryland, College Park), and Dr. Van Tran Nguyen (University of Maryland, College Park).

As an inaugural theatre and technology fellow at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, I had an honor to present a public lecture on “How VR Technology is Changing Theatre” at Bruno Walter Auditorium, NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center on May 1, 2023. As a first-year graduate student in New York, we were required to learn how to conduct research using the library’s collection to understand the processes and possibilities of performance research. It was such a pleasure to return to this space toward the end of my Ph.D., something I could never have imagined when I first set foot in the beautiful building in 2015. I delivered an hour-long lecture, followed by a curated conversation with the curator, Dr. Doug Reside.

Full Description: Virtual Reality (VR) has been quietly changing the field of contemporary performance and giving new perspectives to audiences. This lecture by Kyueun Kim, the inaugural Theatre and Technology Fellow at the Library for the Performing Arts, explores how VR technology is changing theatre. In the course of her fellowship, Kim worked on a project titled “VR for Theatre Research and Archiving,” in which she used VR as a method to explore, expand, and examine questions related to VR and theatre. Kim documented the oral histories of VR artists, interviewing directors and performers who created and participated in VR projects, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the lecture, Kim will give a brief history of VR and theatre as well as a map of a global network of contemporary VR performances. She will demonstrate how she conducted and archived interviews with artists in VR and showcase the VR Research Archive Gallery she created in the “metaverse.” Using South Korean media artist Kwon Hayoun’s participatory VR performance XXth Attempt towards the Potential Magic (2021) as an example, Kim’s objective is to explore not only how VR technology is changing theatre, but also how theatrical and performative practices can reshape and open up new avenues of VR discourse and practices. The VR interview archive materials will be included as a digital appendix to Kim’s dissertation. 

I am the recipient of the Inaugural Theatre and Technology Fellowship by the New York Public Library (NYPL) for the Performing Arts. The NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center is a research library and archive, and houses one of the world’s largest collections of materials related to the performing arts.

In my project “VR for Theatre Research and Archiving” I use VR in two ways. In addition to exploring how artists use VR in their performances, I deploy VR as a method to explore, expand, and examine theoretical questions relating to VR. I use the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset and conduct a series of interviews with VR artists via “social VR” platforms (e.g., Altspace VR, VR Chat, or Spatial). Through the interviews, I explore what kinds of different experiences are generated in virtual environments and what the implications of this are for my research. The VR interview materials will be archived and included as a digital appendix to my dissertation. The project is also supported by the 2022 – 2023 Art and Science Connect Research Fellowship and New Media Lab at The Graduate Center.

During summer 2022, I conducted a one-month residency and archival research at the NYPL for the Performing Arts. During this period, I identified and reviewed relevant archival materials. My goal was to examine how performing arts history and theory could expand assumptions and expectations about VR. The focus areas included Audience Participation, Immersive Theatre, Interviews, Motion Capture, and Digital Technology. In my research, I delved into a diverse array of materials spanning dance, experimental performance, theatre, and discussions, focusing on artists such as The Builders Association, Jennifer Haley, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Hijikata Tatsumi, Richard Move, and Ping Chong. I observed that the bulk of the collection items predominantly originate from the United States, with fewer materials representing Asia or Asian Americans.

In Fall 2022, I initiated a pilot project, conducting interviews with scholars, theatre-makers and producers in New York using social VR platforms. This phase aimed to test and compare social VR platforms and identify broader topics about VR and performance. In Spring 2023, I developed a VR Research Gallery on a social VR platform, designed to archive my research process focused on South Korean artist Kwon Hayoun. This approach included conducting and archiving interviews with Kwon directly within the VR environment. The research journey culminated in May 2023 when I delivered a lecture titled “How VR Technology is Changing Theatre” at the Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium.

With the support of the 2022-2023 Art and Science Connect Research Fellowship, I began exploring VR as a potential medium for performance research. In addition to investigating how artists utilize VR in their performances, the project examines the possibilities of VR as an experiential medium for the production of embodied and situated knowledge. My research questions included: Co interviews with VR artists in VR create new epistemologies that are expanded in the sense that VR claims to expand human senses and experience? What kinds of different experiences might be generated in virtual environments and what are the implications of this for my research? These questions persistently guide my ongoing exploration of using VR for research purposes.

In 2020, I received the Lennihan Arts & Sciences Grant provided by the Futures Initiatives at The Graduate Center, CUNY. I originally proposed to present my paper at an international symposium on “Contemporary Stage and Robotics” (originally scheduled to be held in Switzerland), but I changed my plans due to the pandemic and other factors, and instead embarked on a research trip to Europe in August 2021. I attended performances by Jaha Koo at Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Zürich, Switzerland) and by Choy Ka Fai at TanzhausNRW (Düsseldorf, Germany), and had the opportunity to converse with the artists and artistic teams. At the Lennihan Grant Showcase, I had a presentation on my research project and how the grant supported my research trip. I wrote a performance review of Jaha Koo’s The History of Korean Western Theatre in Asian Theater Journal (Fall 2022).

Here is the description of the Grant.

Thanks to a generous gift from Curtis Wong, recipient of an honorary degree from the Graduate Center in 2016, the annual competition honors Dr. Lennihan for her extraordinary service on behalf of students and faculty at the Graduate Center. Funding to the following students has been awarded for research related to scholarship at the intersections of humanities, arts, science, and technology.