Nam June Paik's Visuals Change with Music... "Seoul Light DDP" Debuts Real-Time Media Art

"Seoul Light DDP 2026 Autumn" to Be Held September 3–13
Yoo Youngkuk and "Cheongguyeongeon" Reimagined as Media Art
Features Laser, AI, and Live Performances Combined

Nam June Paik's video art, Yoo Youngkuk's "Mountain," and the lyrics from "Cheongguyeongeon," the oldest collection of sijo poetry, will fill the exterior walls of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. This year, the event goes a step beyond the traditional media facade that plays pre-recorded videos, introducing for the first time a performance in which the video and light change in real time according to the musician's live music.

Image of 'The Break Point,' a modern reinterpretation of Nam June Paik's video synthesizer concept and experimental spirit. At 'Seoul Light DDP 2026 Autumn,' held from the 3rd to the 13th of next month, the video and light on the exterior wall of DDP will change in real time in sync with the live performance of musicians. Seoul Design Foundation

On August 20, the Seoul Design Foundation announced that it will host "Seoul Light DDP 2026 Autumn" at DDP for 11 days from September 3 to 13. Every day from 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM, the 222-meter-long exterior wall of DDP will serve as a canvas for media art, and admission is free. This year's annual theme is "DAYBREAKER," symbolizing the act of breaking darkness and ushering in new light, while the autumn season's theme is "K-Original Light," which sheds light on the creative roots of Korean culture.

The highlight of the event is "The Break Point," a piece that brings Nam June Paik's spirit of experimentation into the present through new technology. In collaboration with the Nam June Paik Art Center, media art studio BUS:DAY will reinterpret Paik's concept of the "video synthesizer." As the musician begins to play, the visuals and lights on the DDP's exterior wall change instantly in sync with the beat and rhythm of the music. This work translates Paik's idea—that anyone could create images as freely as playing instruments—into a real-time media art performance.

On the opening day, September 3, the electronic band Idiotape will headline the stage. On September 4 and 5, SION will perform; on September 6 and 12, HYPNOSIS THERAPY will take the stage; and on September 11 and 13, SOULSCAPE will give performances. With these performances, the visuals of "The Break Point" merge in real time with the live music, resulting in a unique rendition for every show—even for the same piece.

The master of Korean abstract art, Yoo Youngkuk, will also see his mountains expanded into a digital landscape. "Looking for the Mountain Within Me" is a work in which media artist Kwon Hayoon projects Yoo's lifelong exploration of mountain forms and vivid colors onto the undulating surfaces of the DDP. Rather than simply magnifying the static canvas painting, the project is designed so that mountains and colors continually emerge and transform within the digital space. The piece is also linked to "Yoo Youngkuk: The Mountain Is Within Me," an exhibition at the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art running until October 25.

Marking the 100th anniversary of Hangeul Day, "Cheongguyeongeon" will also come to life through light. "The Night with Shining Words" reinterprets the poetry from the National Hangeul Museum's collection of "Cheongguyeongeon" and natural scenery as digital landscape and light. Songs once passed down orally and later recorded in Hangeul are now dispersed and expanded as massive waves of light, structured in three acts to mirror the initial, middle, and final stanzas of the sijo poem format.

The newly introduced program "DDP 365 Light" using lasers will also make its debut. "Passing Through the Light of the Future, the Resonance of Time" by Yoon Jeho reconstructs traces of the past preserved in the DDP's relic exhibition space using laser, traditional percussion, electronic sounds, AI-generated video, lighting, and choreographed movement. The opening performance on September 3 at 7:30 PM will combine Yoon Jeho's media work with Sogyeongjin's traditional performance and percussion, Ahn Sanghwa's choreography, and a dance piece by DanceMoA.

Since its launch in 2019, Seoul Light DDP attracted 1.92 million visitors last year alone, with approximately 87,000 attending the New Year's Eve countdown event on December 31. In 2025, it was registered in the Guinness World Records as "the world's largest irregular architectural 3D projection mapping display." This year, it also received main prizes at the iF Design Award and the Red Dot Design Award, and was a finalist at the IDEA Awards.

Kanghee Cha, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, stated, "As the world focuses on K-Culture, what Seoul needs is not simply to present existing culture but to build a creative foundation where new culture can continue to be born," adding, "We will establish DDP as a cultural platform where new art and technology are first attempted and then spread globally."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.