Jin-Yo Mok + Gicheol Lee: MusicBox
August 2004
Jin-Yo Mok + Gicheol Lee: MusicBox
Jin-Yo Mok and Gicheol Lee’s Gate Page was an entry portal to their interactive sound instrument MusicBox, which added a technological twist on the old-fashioned device by connecting an online interface to a modified music box. In this digital iteration of the instrument, the pins on the rotating cylinder are replaced with LEDs, and the prongs that the pins strike to produce a note were exchanged for photo sensors. A specific tone assigned to each of the sensors played when struck by light from the LEDs. On the project website, users could draw a shape using their mouse, and the corresponding pattern of LEDs would illuminate on the physical music box. By virtually turning the crank handle of the music box, users could hear the melody they composed. The compositions are stored in a networked database shared between the online and offline versions of the music box, allowing users to select, play, and listen to each other’s creations.
The original Music Box is no longer online. What's available is reconstructed from the Internet Archive, but critical .swf files are missing.
Jin-Yo Mok is a multimedia artist living and working in New York. He received his BFA and MFA from Hongik University in Seoul and continued his studies at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. His artwork has been featured at online and offline venues worldwide including the Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria; WIRED NextFest, Chicago; Pixelache, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Chelsea Art Museum (2002–11), New York; FILE Electronic Language International Festival, Brazil; Mediacity Seoul; Korea web-art festival; and the Seoul Museum of Art Netart Gallery. He received an individual artist grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (2007) and an artist residency from the Harvestworks Digital Media Art Center (2005), New York.
Gicheol Lee (b. 1957; South Korea) is an interactive designer and programmer interested in applying art and science concepts to information and interface design through programming. He holds an MFA in computer art from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and a BS in mathematics from Sogang University, Seoul. His experimental website Typeorganism.com received awards from the Communication Arts Interactive Annual and in HOW magazine’s Interactive Design Competition (2002). Gicheol has worked as a designer and senior developer, developing interactive content for clients in various industries.
Gate Pages
Every month from March 2001 to February 2006, the Whitney invited an artist or collective to present their work in the form of a “Gate Page” on artport. Each page was meant to function as a portal to the artist’s own sites and projects. The Gate Pages comprise a range of artistic approaches to the format—while some of them are designed as entry points to the respective artist’s website or promote a recently launched work, others take the form of a more complex stand-alone project.
Wherever necessary and possible, these works are made functional through emulation and reconstructions from the Internet Archive. Not all of them have been restored to their original state and their conservation is ongoing. You can also view the original Gate Pages archive to see how they were presented at the time of their creation.
artport
View more on artport, the Whitney Museum's portal to Internet and new media art.