An extraordinary event has occurred: a Korean contemporary artist’s PhD thesis has been permanently acquired by the Ashmolean Museum in the UK, one of the world’s oldest university museums.
The thesis, titled “Empty Garden – A Liminoid Journey to a Place Everywhere and Nowhere,” by Lee Jin-jun, a professor at the KAIST Graduate School of Culture Technology and a media artist, has been officially added to the prestigious Ashmolean Museum’s collection.
In this episode, we meet Professor Lee Jin-jun to discuss the story behind his 10-meter Hanji scroll thesis that caught the eye of the global art and academic worlds, as well as his philosophical message on the future of human senses in the AI era.
■ A 10m Hanji Scroll Thesis… “An Experience of Walking, Not Just Reading”
Breaking away from the traditional book format, Professor Lee’s thesis was created as a Hanji scroll reaching 10 meters in length.
Inspired by the tradition of landscape painting scrolls from the Joseon Dynasty, the work is designed for viewers to unroll and move along as they read. Instead of simply reading text, it allows the audience to experience it physically, as if strolling through an East Asian garden.
The thesis explores how to recover human senses, memory, and thought in an era of rapid AI and data technology growth. Professor Lee gained attention by proposing “Data Gardening,” a new concept of experiencing data slowly, like tending a garden, rather than processing and consuming it quickly.
In the broadcast, Professor Lee will explain why he chose Hanji, the production process, and the philosophical meaning behind the scroll format.
■ Oxford’s “No Corrections” Verdict… Global Academic Attention
In 2020, this thesis received a unanimous “No Corrections” verdict during the DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy) in Fine Art examination at Oxford University.
It is known that passing a PhD thesis at Oxford without any corrections is extremely rare. Furthermore, the fact that he completed his degree in just two and a half years drew significant interest from the local academic community.
While Oxford theses are typically kept in libraries as academic records, this case is particularly meaningful because the museum decided to officially purchase it after a separate long-term review, recognizing its artistic and academic value.
The Ashmolean Museum is considered the world’s oldest university museum, housing works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. It is very unusual for a living artist’s PhD thesis to be included in its permanent collection.
■ From Business Student to World-Renowned Media Artist
Professor Lee Jin-jun’s background is also quite striking.
After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in Business Administration and working as a broadcasting PD, he pivoted to fine arts, attending the Royal College of Art (RCA) in the UK before earning his doctorate from Oxford University.
He is currently the first artist-turned-full-time professor at KAIST, continuing convergence research that combines technology, art, and the humanities.
Recently, he has been garnering attention in the global art scene with various works, including the space art project “Good Morning, Mr. G-Dragon,” which utilizes G-Dragon’s iris data, and the AI-based media symphony “Cine Forest: Fairy Tale.”
The interview will also reveal his journey from a business student to a media artist, the decisive moment that led him to the path of art, and his plans for future projects.
■ “Human Senses Cannot Disappear Even in the AI Era”
Professor Lee believes that as digital technology advances, human senses and experiences may actually weaken.
In the broadcast, he will state, “Even in the AI era, art cannot remain solely as non-material images,” adding, “I wanted to propose a new sensory system where humans experience and contemplate with their bodies beyond just data.”
He also shares the significance of his thesis being housed in the Ashmolean Museum, a symbolic space of Western intellectual history, and expresses his hope that the Eastern aesthetic of “emptiness” will be read as a new alternative sensory system for the AI era.
