SEOUL · on june 3rd (last friday), we threw a huge bash called PLASMACK! it was a pre-party for DALSMA, an annual international conference about Digital Architecture and Large Scale Media Art. (D.A.L.S.M.A., there you go) The party, which happened a day before the actual conference, was not just a typical eve, but rather a celebration packed with a lot excitement. it was the outgrowth of three dynamic groups united, DALSMA, HACKER SPACE SEOUL and PLATOON KUNSTHALLE. HACKER SPACE SEOUL is currently working in studio B, one of the artist labs at PLATOON KUNSTHALLE. colorful media and hacking elements on top of this party were totally out of the ordinary.

the interactive social games developed by HACKER SPACE SEOUL and DALSMA were blended into the atmosphere and the participants very smoothly without giving any pressure of a huge concept, media. let me introduce some of the most enjoyable social games, which adorned the party.

dan mikesell (HACKER SPACE SEOUL), physical computing and kinetic expert, is wearing a helmet with a headphone attachment inside and an ipad around his neck. the participant, dan in this case, received some missions from the "player" holding a joystick on the second floor, through the wifi transceiver within the ipad, connected with the headphone. dan and andrea bianchi purple t shirts), one of the DALSMA's representatives, co-invented this game. andrea was an organizer of PLASMACK and has taken charge of the artist programs participating for DALSMA.

the players gave missions, like "run," "dance," "go back," and "say hello to the guy next you!" maybe it was a little bit embarrassing for the participant while the players were having some fun, but it was meant to be! the key point of this game was making the participant to be brave enough to get closer immediately to the person he/she likes, instead of just circling around.

'twinkling alluring eye' was produced by HACKER SPACE SEOUL. it was the objet in the testing phase for the 'kiss and wink game,' a collaboration by jihyun and minyoung (HACKER SPACE SEOUL). the main hall was brightened up with this "third" eye. according to jihyun, in buddhism, the third eye is the mind's eye in other words and it is believed to give an insight into other's minds. in fact, this philosophical(?) equipment helped many participant to get the conversation started with all the cool people out there and get to know each other.

daham park, studying at KAIST, played the cello and performed modern dance. the spoken words transformed into her dance were truly overwhelming and the energy that she was giving off was simply unbelievable. at the same time, the splendid videos, produced by vj will craig and aniframe art director noah shibley, were screened and they were in beautiful harmony with daham's performance. they brought the party to the next level, even more colorful.

silver balloons with LED inside, emitted beautiful lights whenever people shook them. as time went by, the party grew more exciting and people were shacking more balloons. although they all got tangled in the end, architectural value was still remained just like the beginning. actually it was very impressive to see all the different lights, which reminded us of the interaction and the process of building a network with others from various fields.

according to HACKER SPACE SEOUL, they do not aim at destruction, but disassembling and creating something new out of the components. also, DALSMA stated that they want to inspire people and increase their awareness of the variety of ways we can begin re-thinking modern cities and WE LOVE THEM. there is a thread of connections between all three of us, including PLATOON KUNSTHALLE. so, please look forward to us and of course, big shout outs go to all the participants as well as the organizers and staffs from all three promising groups, HACKER SPACE SEOUL, DALSMA and PLATOON.

for your information, HACKER SPACE SEOUL is supported by WORLD CLASS UNIVERSITY, ARTS COUNCIL KOREA and SEOUL FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE.