Any apps especially for ajummas?

Ajummas are now smart ajummas. They do mobile communication through using their smartphones in their daily lives. It is not a special thing to meet ajummas use their smartphones to take photos on the street or playing games in the bus while they’re travelling, etc. They are not outsiders of new technology any more. Who knows? They will be techno-savvy someday soon in the future, I sure. But I think there’s not enough apps for ajummas now! In my mother’s case, she loves playing Anipang and her friends send ‘hearts (lives to play Anipang)’ with each other almost every hour or more than three times per day. (my mum loves Anipang)

Anipang was very popular about 5 years ago and people rarely play that game any more, but my mum and her friends do! My mum said that Anipang is a simple to play but still very exciting. And I just ask her trying other games as well but she said other games are too complicated to play. And she and her friends use almost same apps everyday. I know and you know there are plenty of apps are inventing and developing every seconds and overtime it is so hard to choose one app among thousands of apps. But this story is only for us, not my mother and her friends at all.

Of course, she uses various apps such as public transport tips, schedule, radio, etc. But I think there’s not enough apps were developed that targets for only ajummas, middle-aged women in Korea. The biggest problem (I think) is there’s not enough research about ‘needs for ajummas’ has done yet. Ajummas and Ajeossi (middle-aged married men) are just use apps that were developed for younger people the most, I can say.

If I have any chance, I really want to research and develop the apps, especially for ajummas and ajeossis. I really hope. Then my mother, her friends and ajummas in Korea will enjoy and enrich their mobile communication through using smartphones.

아줌마가 뭔 죄?

얼마전에 인터넷 뉴스에서 한 기사를 접했다. 가사도우미를 하시는 분들의 고충에 대한 기사였는데, 그들이 일하는 곳의 고용인 (소위 말하는 사모님)들의 갑질횡포에 대한 내용이었다. 예를 들어, 소변이 급해도 일이 끝날 때까지 화장실을 못가는것, 비싼 목걸이가 없어졌다며 의심을 받는 등의 정신적 그리고 육체적인 스트레스 속에서 일하는 그분들에 대한 이야기를 담은 기사였다.

소위 말하는 사모님들의 갑질횡포에 대해서는 내 일이 아님에도 불구하고 화가 치밀어 오르는게 사실이다. 그리고 21세기 신하녀라고 까지 불리우는 그 가사도우미분들이 얼마나 힘들게 일하는지에 대한 기사를 읽으면서 뭔가 법적으로 대책을 마련해야 하는게 옳다고 생각했다. 하지만 한가지 공감이 안되는 부분이 있었다.

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‘아줌마’라 부르지 말아주셔요???  아줌마가 뭔 죄?

사실 아줌마라는 존재는 우리사회에서 아직도 그리고 앞으로도 당분간은 그리 ‘반가운’ 존재로 여겨지지 않고 있는게 사실이다. 아줌마라고 불려지는 것도 싫어하고, 아줌마라고 누군가를 부르면 뭔가 잘못된 호칭을 사용하고 있는 생각이 들기도 한다. 하지만 사실, 아줌마라는 단어 자체가 잘못 인식되어져 있기 때문이지, 아줌마라고 불려지는것이 과연 그 사람을 ‘하찮게’ 여기기 때문일까 라는 의문이 생겼다. 아줌마를 연구하고 있는 사람으로써, 왜 아줌마라는 존재가 이렇게까지 부정적으로 여겨지게 되었을까? 그리고 아줌마가 무슨 죄인가 라는 생각도 함께 하게 되었다.

‘아줌마’는 친근한 우리의 엄마와 옆집 이웃아줌마를 떠올리게 하는 단어이다. 물론 부르는 사람의 뉘앙스에 따라서 기분나쁘게 들리기도 하겠지만 아줌마라는 단어가 이렇게 까지 부정적으로 인식되어 지고 있고 또한 아줌마라는 단어가 이렇게 ‘아줌마들’에게 까지도 ‘천대’받고 있는 사실에 화가나기도 했다.

사람들의 아줌마에 대한 인식이 바뀌기 까지는 시간이 걸리겠지만, 그래도 사람들이 아줌마라는 단어를  부르고 떠올릴때마다 따뜻한 우리의 엄마 그리고 우리의 이웃아줌마들을 생각할 수 있게 되기를 바래본다.

나도 언젠가 곧 아줌마가 될테니깐.

우리의 아줌마들 모두 화이팅!

Digital (SNS) Swish of Skirt 2

About 3 months ago, I talked about Digital Swish of Skirt on this blog. As I mentioned in the previous blog, the swish of skirt means that mothers are getting overly involved in the schooling for their children, especially during 1980s in Korea. Due to the increase of using smartphones among mothers (ajummas), they are now getting involved in the schooling for their children through using their smartphones.

The use of smartphones brought a variety of advantages to our daily lives, this is so true. However, everything is a double-edged sword. Digital swish of skirt actually let mothers (ajummas) get involved in the schooling for their children easily. Through using various apps that are relevant to their children’s education, these mothers (ajummas) are able to control or help their children’s education systematically. They could share useful and voluminous information with each other instantaneously and directly.Without visiting every private educational institutes, these mothers (ajummas) can get information for their children’s educational needs. Besides, they are able to hear living opinions from other mothers who are in the same boat.

However, this SNS or Digital swish of skirt also have problems although there are a variety of advantages of doing Digital (or SNS) swish of skirt among mothers (ajummas). I don’t mean that these mothers are people who cause problems at all. They are too passionate about their children’s education (all of mothers are in the world) and the use of social media encourages them to get more involved into having the swish of skirt for their children because they are mothers and ajummas who love their children the most.

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This Digital (SNS) swish of skirt tired teachers out. Mothers (ajummas) left comments or questions about schooling on teachers’ Instagram accounts. And you also know that, the advantages of using social media (well, it sometimes could be ‘disadvantages’) is ‘you can be always on’ and ‘you can contact someone instantaneously through using your smartphones’ without having barriers of time and space. YES, YOU CAN!

So, teachers are actually working for their students and parents for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, like a convenience store. Of course they don’t have to answer or react to every single comment or question of mothers that are left on Instagrams, but you know…it is a delicate situation for teachers I reckon.

http://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1003462876

(News article about SNS swish of skirt, SBS.co.kr)

Of course I don’t mean that I don’t understand these mothers (ajummas). I fully understand how these mothers are passionate about their children’s education and what they want to do for their children. However, I think that we should concern about the use of social media on our smartphones more carefully. The one of biggest advantage of using smartphones is that it allows us to have instantaneous mobile communication but it doesn’t mean that ‘you can get answers from her (or him) whenever you ask’. Especially, the teachers are working in the school for working hours and after hours are their own time to enjoy themselves. At the same time, social media such as Instagram is a personal space where people share their personal stuff with others, so I think mothers (ajummas) should respect the privacy of teachers in Instagram. If mothers (ajummas) have any questions about their children, they should use other ways to contact to teachers rather than leaving comments on photos of Instagram.

Also, I expect that a useful and helpful social media should be developed that satisfy both mothers (ajummas) and teachers. This social media will help mothers keep continuing Digital swish of skirt for their children and at the same time this Digital swish of skirt won’t disrupt teachers’ privacy and their own free time after working hours. I think Digital swish of skirt or swish of skirt is a desirable thing if there is a good balance between mothers’ passion about their children’s education and mothers’ concern about teachers’ privacy in their private social media spaces.

So it is all about passion and concern I think.

Digital Ppal-let-ter is now on YouTube as well!

Now you can watch this Digital Ppal-let-ter video on YouTube as well.

I just uploaded.Please enjoy watching Digital Ppal-let-ter!

디지털 빨래터 비디오를 이제 유툽에서도 볼 수 있습니다!

많이 봐주시고 더 많이 즐겨주세요!

아줌마들에게도 봄이 왔다

봄이 왔다.

아직도 아침저녁으로 바람이 쌀쌀하지만 그래도 봄이 왔다.

새싹이 돋고 꽃들이 피기 시작하는 봄이 왔다.

아줌마들의 썬캡이 많이 보이는걸보니 봄이 온게 분명하다!

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Inspiration for Digital Ppal-let-ter Project

Digital Ppal-let-ter is a new digital space which illustrates the interactively remediated space and time of both the wash place before the 1960s and Kakao Talk’s group chat room in the 21st century. Digital Ppal-let-ter will encourage audiences to consider the existence of  middle-aged and married women’s communal space that has formed and has been developed by those women from the non-digital (pre-smartphone) era before the 1960s to the digital (smartphone) era in 2015.

Digital Ppal-let-ter will take both analogue and digital technology to present a new digital space where ajummas communicate with each other. It is an imaginary space located in a time of coexistence between the face-to-face communication era and the mobile digital communication era. In other words, Digital Ppal-let-ter is located in an in-between space and time of actuality and digitality. For this reason, the creative project of Digital Ppal-let-ter is a converged metaphorical space of communication that transcends time and space among middle-aged and married women in Korea.

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I tried to do an installation art but I’ve changed to produce a video instead.

 

Digital Ppal-let-ter is an imaginary space that does not exist in the real world. However, it asks audiences to think about how communication amongst middle-aged and married women in Korea has always existed even though various communication tools and the locations of communal spaces have changed over time. Digital Ppal-let-ter aims to emphasise that specific features of communication have developed subliminally through continuous interactive communicating among middle-aged and married women in Korea.

Middle-aged and married women used to be considered a peripheral group by the digital technology industry in Korea whereas younger female groups were given attention. However, it is time to look intensively at how these middle-aged and married women, ajummas, communicate with each other in the pre-digital communication era before the 1960s to the digital communication era of today. In general, ajummas used to be considered a group of ordinary middle-aged and married women but they are not ordinary when people look at them with affection. The group ajummas now attract respectful attention from the digital technology industry and Korean society. The creative project Digital Ppal-let-ter presents how the ordinary but not ordinary ajummas build their own communal spaces and have their own ways of communicating which have developed in line with technological developments in communication

Digital Ppal-let-ter is based on Korean sentiment but the convergence of digital and analogue technology in the project is universally relatable. To create this complicated but poetic and new experimental media art project that includes interdisciplinary academic research and mixed media art forms.

Digital Ppal-let-ter (VIDEO)

Digital Ppal-let-ter is a new digital space where the wash place before the 1960s and a Kakao Talk group chat room in 2015 coexist together. As an imaginary space that has been planned and created based on interdisciplinary research and creative concept of thinking, I have carefully considered how to present the concept of Digital Ppal-let-ter to audiences. Initially I planned for Digital Ppal-let-ter to be exhibited in a gallery or other space in the form of an installation. However, the plan changed to using video due to the difficulty of installing a reproduction of a wash place and the Kakao Talk group chat room. Through the video, the audience can experience the wash place prior to the 1960s with village women and a Kakao Talk group chat room in 2015 with Smart Ajummas at the same time.

The project will also encourage audiences to reconsider the communal spaces, the ways of communication and the communities of middle-aged married women, ajummas, in Korea from the past to the present. Furthermore, it can be expected that this opportunity will increase interest in ajummas and their ways of communication among audiences and the general public. Hence, both the creative project, Digital Ppal-let-ter, and the research project, Smart Ajumma, will awaken thoughts and value about the existence of ajummas and their unique way of communicating that has gone unnoticed.

Digital Ppal-let-ter (Wash place) from Jung Moon on Vimeo.

디지털빨래터 프로젝트 (1)

지난 3년간의 PhD 연구를 통해 나는 논문과 크리에이티브 프로젝트를 완성해야 했다. 사실 대부분의 다른 학생들은 프로젝트가 기반이 된 연구, 즉 프로젝트나 아트웍을 통해 논문을 작성하는데 나의 경우는 전혀 반대로 진행했다. 나는 철저하게 미디어 배경을 가진 경우라서, (석사에서도 그리고 honours에서도 논문을 통해 크리에이티브 프로젝트를 만들었기 때문에) 학문연구를 먼저 시행하고 나서 그렇게 얻게 된 연구결과를 바탕으로 크리에이티브 프로젝트를 진행했다. 디지털 빨래터 프로젝트는 다양한 필드리서치와 문헌연구를 바탕으로 만들어진 프로젝트인 것이다.

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디지털 빨래터에 대한 아이디어를 생각하고 난 후에 나는 이 프로젝트를 과연 어떠한 방법으로 풀어낼 것인가에 대한 고민에 빠졌었다. 사실 처음에는 설치미술로 풀고 싶은 마음이 컸었다. 공간에 대한 이야기를 풀어낼 수 있는 연구였기에 설치미술을 통해 관람객들이 실제로 존재했던 1960년대의 빨래터와 현재의 모바일공간인 디지털빨래터를 몸으로 직접 체험하고 느껴볼 수 있는 기회를 만들고 싶었었다. 그래서 작년 9월까지만 해도 설치미술에 대한 준비를 하던 중이었지만 과감하게 방향을 바꿔서 비디오라는 미디어로 표현하게 되었다. 설치미술을 하기위해서는 내 스스로가 설치미술을 해 본 경험도 없었고 또 자칫 잘못하면 말그대로 ‘허접’해 보일 수 도 있었기 때문에 차라리 내가 배우고 내가 자신있게 할 수 있는 비디오를 만들기로 했던것이다. 그리고 수퍼바이저도 비디오를 적극 추천하기도 했고. 주위의 여러 PhD하는 친구들이 늘 했던 말이 현실이 된 순간이었다.

“연구 방향이 바뀌지 않으면 그건 제대로된 연구가 아니래!”

진행하고 있던 디지털빨래터의 설치미술과 관련된 모든것을 다 잊기로하고 나는 그 날 부터 당장 비디오 제작과 편집에 들어갔다. 찍어놓은 비디오가 없었기 때문에 필드리서치를 하면서 틈틈이 찍어두었던 사진들을 사용하기로 하고 없는 아카이브들에 대해서는 인터넷 소스와 그리고 내가 직접 그려서 만들기로 마음을 먹었었다.

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대부분의 사진들은 필드리서치 기간이었던 2014년부터 2015년의 서울에서 주로 찍은 것들이다. 이 사진들은 모두 아이폰5로 찍었고 사진의 내용은 주로 40대 이상의 아줌마들의 모습, 특히 스마트기기를 사용하는 길거리에서 무작위로 찍은 평범한 우리의 아줌마들의 모습이다. 아이폰으로 사진을 찍었던 이유는 매우 간단하고 명료하다. 예전과 달리 스마트폰에 달려있는 카메라의 화질이 여느 디지털 카메라와 비교했을때 전혀 떨어지지 않고 또한 휴대성으로 인해 언제 어디서나 사진을 찍을 수 있기 때문이다. 즉 사진을 찍기위한 특별한 ‘목적’을 갖고 밖으로 나가는 것이 아니라, 밖에서 다른 일을 하면서 돌아다니다가 필요한 피사체를 발견했을때 자연스럽게 주머니속의 스마트폰을 꺼내어 손쉽게 찍을 수 있다는 매우 큰 장점 때문에 스마트폰을 사용해서 모든 사진을 찍게 되었다. 즉, Luke (2006)가 언급했었던 ‘phoneur’ -‘일상생활 속에서 전화기를 들고 다니다가 만나게되는 사람들 혹은 사물들을 자연스럽게촬영하고 하는 것 등의 일’을 직접 체험할 수 있었던 것이다.
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사실 내가 찍은 사진의 얼굴들은 비디오에서 노출되지 않는다. 일일이 허락을 받은 사진들이 아니기 때문에, 그리고 공공장소에서 찍은 아줌마들의 모습이기 때문에 얼굴 노출에 대해 한 분 한 분에게 모두 허락을 받을 수 있는 상황이 아닌 이유도 있었다. 따라서, 개인 초상권의 보호를 위해서 모든 아줌마 얼굴에는 스마일 스티커를 붙여서 사용했다. 이 스마일 스티커는 ‘초상권 보호’의 목적과 동시에 스마트 아줌마들을 나타낼 수 있는 ‘이모티콘’의 모습을 상징한다. 또한 아줌마들을 개개인으로 보기보다는 그저 하나의 큰 집단 혹은 모든 아줌마는 다 똑같다는 사람들의 아줌마에 대한 시선을 나타내주기도 한다. (아줌마를 모두 다 같은 중년여성으로 보는 사회적 편견을 나타낸 것이기도 하다)

How to create Digital Ppal-let-ter Project (1)

For my PhD thesis, I had to write a dissertation (thesis) and make a create project. This creative project is generally called as a project-led research but my PhD project is different. I rather call my creative project as ‘research-led project’. Digital Ppal-let-ter project (Creative project) is mostly based on academic research then I put my imagination to create this Digital Ppal-let-ter project. Without advanced academic research about ajummas and their use of smartphones in everyday practices, Digital Ppal-let-ter couldn’t be created at all. Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 12.37.34 PM.png

To create this project, I tried to use many different ways of ‘making’ an art work. I’m not an artist and my background is fully media studies. I had various experiences of working in the media industry and I worked as a script writer, producer, video editor, etc. I know how to use tools for making a film but I don’t want to make an actual film for this project. I rather try to experiment using non-professional filmmaking tools for this project. I always admire people who propose a new method so I tried to find a new method for this project. Through this blog, I will explain how I made this video with my own ways of using tools and softwares.

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Firstly, I used still photos for Digital Ppal-let-ter project. The photos for the Digital Ppal-let-ter project were all taken on a iPhone 5 over a period of 2 years from 2014 to 2015. The majority of photos were taken in Seoul, South Korea. The subjects of the photos are mostly middle-aged women, ajummas, in Seoul. The photos were taken randomly in Seoul during the field research in 2014 and 2015. The reason why an iPhone was used as a camera for this project is because it has many advantages such as portability, convenience and instantaneous viewing. Using an iPhone camera for making this creative project has reminded me of the diverse theories about digital communication technology, especially the use of mobile communication devices (e.g. smartphones).

An iPhone allowed me to take photos whenever I found suitable subjects.I became a ‘phoneur’ (2006, Luke) as I took photos while observing people and the city in Seoul and it became a natural part of daily life during my stay in Seoul for the field research in 2014 and 2015.

The subjects of the photos that were used in the video were not asked for permission, however their faces were covered by a hand-drawn sticker of a smiley face to protect each subject’s privacy.
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Most photos of ajummas that were used in the video are not taken from the front and some of them are blurry. Consequently, the subjects in the photos that were used in the video are not recognisable. In addition, the video in the Digital Ppal-let-ter project is not made for commercial use, rather it is produced entirely for a creative project which is a part of the PhD research project. For this reason, the privacy issues of photos that were used in the video should not be a problem at all.