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!
Tag Archives: ajumma
Spring has come to ajummas
Spring has come.
I can smell Spring from wind and fresh green sprouts shot up. I still feel cold in the early morning and late night but spring has come to us because I can see ajummas wear sun visors!
Spring has finally come to ajummas.
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.
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.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
Are you an ajumma?
Well, since I’ve started this research project people keep asking me a same question so many times. They asked me, “are you an ajumma?”
I put the URL of this blog (smart-ajumma.com) on my Twitter profile, Facebook and Instagram. People who follow me on these various SNS, they kept asking me a question that “Are you an ajumma??? I didn’t know that!!!”. Then I had to repeat the same answer that defend against this question. I replied or explained, “No! I’m not an ajumma, I’m just doing my research about ajummas and their use of smartphones in everyday practices…blah blah blah.”
I know being an ajumma is not a problem at all, but whenever people ask me a question like that, I always answer with a serious face to protect myself. (protect I mean!)
There’s one thing. I’ve already mentioned in one of blog entries that I uploaded previously, people are curious about the reason why I’m doing research about ajummas even though I’m not an ajumma yet! People think it is very strange when non-ajumma researcher researches about ajummas. Also they expect that research about ajummas is not an attract thing at all. For these many reasons, people keep asking the same question to me for many times and I had to explain to them whenever they asked questions.
I’m still enjoying my research about ajummas and I will be doing this research continuously. Ajummas are attractive people in Korea and there are voluminous research topics to study about ajummas. Through this blog, I will keep doing my research about ajummas and their use of new media.
Fighting ajummas!!
Digital Ppal-let-ter Project
Digital Ppal-let-ter Project
Jung Moon
PhD Candidate
Centre For Ideas, University of Melbourne
Why?
Through various and deeper ways of study such as an academic research (e.g. literature research) and qualitative/quantitative research (survey and deep focus group interview), I could realise and identify who ajummas are and their behaviour of mobile communication through using smartphones in their daily lives. Digital Ppal-let-ter project is a part of Smart Ajumma research project that expresses my research findings and interpretations metaphorically through a video humorously but the stories are still based on academic research in order to avoid losing the purpose of this research project.
Ppal-let-ter (wash place)?
I was amazed through enjoying this research project for last few years. Ajummas in Korea, they actually have their own communal spaces and keep doing communication with each other by their own ways. We didn’t know about their communal spaces and their ways of communication because we just stared at them rather than looking inside deeply.
After I found that there are communal spaces for ajummas’ own through doing field research, I could keep continuing this creative research project. And I thought about Ppal-let-ter (wash place)!
Of course, there are many countries had wash places but a wash place in Korea can be considered as a characteristic place than other countries’. As I mentioned so many times, a wash place in Korea is more likely a women’s communal space before 1960s. There are sill wash places in Korea but those places haven’t been used as a wash place for a long time. They rather became tourist spots today because we have washing machines at home to do our laundry instead of going to wash places regularly.
Whereas, going to the wash place regularly was a matter of course for village women (or ajummas) not only doing their laundry, but also meeting other village women (or ajummas). In other words, the wash place was a place for ‘socialising’ and ‘communicating’ for middle-aged and married women in Korea during 1960s.
They don’t have an appointment with each other, but they could meet someone whenever they visit the wash place. So it was possible to have conversations with each other about various topics from complaining patrilocality to boasting their children. The wash place functioned as more than ‘wash place’, rather it played a role as a women’s communal space. Thus, I got inspired by this important but being forgotten wash place to start doing my creative project so called as ‘Digital Ppal-let-ter’.
Women’s place?
Even though there are various types of women’s communal spaces such as hair shops and jjim-jil bang (sauna), the reason why I chose a wash place as a key space to do my creative project is because I thought a wash place is one of women’s communal spaces and it has sentiments of Koreans and Korean culture.
In the late 18th century, ‘the wash place’ by Hong Do Kim shows how a wash place in Korea could be a women’s place even though there were no law and regulations that prohibited men from coming to a wash place.
Digital Ppal-let-ter?
Through survey and focus group research, Kakao Talk’s group chat room was the most preferred way of mobile communication among ajummas. Some of interviewees responded that they purchased smartphones only for using Kakao Talk’s with their friends and family. Like this, Kakao Talk’s group chat rooms were now newly used as communal spaces or the ways of communication today.
Of course, Kakao Talk is one of mobile chatting applications that anyone can use freely. However, I discovered that Kakao Talk’s group chat room in 2016 and the wash place in the before 1960s have much analogy with each other in many ways. (I already wrote about the 6 similarities between wash place and Kakao Talk’s group chat room in my blog)
These two dissimilar places that came from totally different time are very much similar with each other. This makes me so exciting.
Digital Ppal-let-ter = A communal place for Ajummas?
These two places are dissimilar, it is so true. However I realised that they are very much similar with each other at the same time. We’re now using smartphones and the use of smartphones allow us to do many things that we never imagined in pre-smartphone era.
I think ajummas in Kakao Talk’s group chat room and their communication in mobile space are not an entirely new things that could be possible due to the development of new technologies. Maybe, they’ve been communicating with each other in their own communal spaces by their own ways of communication.
In other words, the wash place in the before 1960s was not disappeared at all, rather I consider the wash place continues to exist with us in the shape of Kakao Talk’s group chat room.
We’re now using different communicative tools and methods. And we’re communicate in dissimilar communal spaces compared with pre-smartphone era. Even though many things had been changed, we shouldn’t forget one thing that middle-aged and married women in Korea have been communicating continuously regardless communicative tools, methods, time and spaces.
Digital ppal-let-ter in the future?
Digital Ppal-let-ter is not a new thing at all. It is a women’s communal place today.
The communicative method (from face-to-face to mobile communication), communicative tools (from direct dialogue to smartphones) and communal spaces (Ppal-let-ter (wash place) to Digital Ppal-let-ter (Kakao Talk’s group chat room) are changed, I expect that communication among ajummas will be evaluating continuously with their own ways.
Thus, a discovery of Digital Ppal-let-ter is very important and it must continue to research how this Digital Ppal-let-ter will developing or changing in the future. We shouldn’t be overlooked ajummas in new media and communication research. They’re one of unique female group in Korea and we’re ready-to-be ajummas in the future as well.
Wash place was women-only space!
I found a painting from the late 18th century during Jo Seon Dynasty, when it was very Confucius society in Korea. The painting by Hong Do Kim (see above) is about the wash place. The most represent characteristic of his painting was “true-view landscape painting”. He illustrated the everyday lives of ordinary people in his paintings. In this painting, he actually satirised “scholar gentleman class’s Confucian society”. There are various paintings about the wash place in Korea but I chose his work because I thought this painting describes the wash place of the past vividly.
This painting is about the wash place, but as you can see, that guy (yang ban, scholar gentleman class) is looking at the women secretly hiding behind the rocks because he wanted to know what happens in the place of only women are allowed. In the late 18th century in Korea, (actually it was called Jo Seon Dynasty), these scholar gentleman class were usually known as being respectable and being laid off women. This painting is about the wash place, but at the same time it is actually about satirising the voyeurism of ‘scholar gentleman class’s Confucius society’ in Korea.
Also, it can be emphasised that the wash place was a space of women where men were prohibited to come tacitly. This painting is supposed to be one of the relevant references to support the idea that the wash places were women’s space where men are restricted to come in except children.
카카오톡과 빨래터의 6가지 공통점
다양한 필드리서치를 통해서 알게된 점은 바로, 아줌마들은 카카오톡 이라는 모바일 채팅 앱을 통해서 아줌마들만의 독특한 소통 방식을 스마트폰이라는 디지털 커뮤니케이션 기기를 통해 그들만의 커뮤니티를 더욱 더 단단하게 만들어 가고 있다는 점 이었다. 이러한 발견을 통해 나는 아줌마와 카카오톡의 사용에 관한 중점적인 연구가 반드시 필요하다고 생각했고, 따라서 카카오톡에 관한 일차원적인 연구보다는 새로운 관점으로 바라볼 수 있는 연구를 하고 싶었기에 다양한 방법과 시각으로 카카오톡에 관해 접근해 보았다.
카카오톡은 다양하게 쓰여지고 있다. 단순한 모바일 채팅을 하게끔 해주는 앱이 아닌 그 보다 더 깊게 그리고 넓게 사용할 수 있는 모바일 이라는 공간을 통해 여러 방식의 소통을 하게 해주는 공간을 제공한다. 카카오톡 그룹 채팅룸을 하나의 공간으로 생각해 보면 매우 흥미로워진다. 수다를 떨고, 특별한 날에는 서로의 안부인사를 주고 받으며 (크리스마스, 새해인사 등) 때로는 생일을 축하하는 파티의 장으로 변하기도 한다. 물론 직접적으로 만나 축하를 하는 장소가 될 수는 없지만, 스마트폰과 카카오톡을 통해서만 할 수 있는 모바일 커뮤니케이션, 예를 들어 기프티콘을 생일 선물로 준다거나 생일축하 영상 메세지를 비디오톡을 통해 보여주거나 하는 등의 방법을 통해 우리들은 카카오톡이라는 모바일 공간에서 실생활과 거의 비슷한 일들을 할 수 있게 된 것이다.
특히, 필드 리서치를 통해 알게된 아줌마들의 카카오톡 사용은 정말 대단했다. 즉각적인 모바일 소통에 중점을 둔 다른 일반 (아줌마가 아닌) 카카오톡 사용자들과 달리, 아줌마들은 즉각적이지만 관계가 더더욱 깊어질 수 있는 즉, 즉각적이나 지속적인 모바일 소통을 카톡이라는 앱을 통해 하고 있었던 것이다.
이러한 아줌마들의 카톡을 통한 적극적인 소통은 과연 오늘날에 갑자기 생겨난 것일까? 그렇게 생각하지 않았다. 물론 새로운 디지털 기기인 스마트폰이라는 것은 오늘날에 생겨난 ‘새로운 것’ 이지만 사실 스마트폰은 모바일 소통을 할 수 있게 도와주는 기기혹은 도구라고 생각이 든다. 스마트폰이 더 활발하고 더 편리한 모바일 소통을 할 수 있게끔 도와주는 도구이지만 그 ‘도구’를 사용하여 스마트한 소통을 할 수 있게 되는건 그 소통을 만들어가는 사람들 자신의 몫인 것이다. 따라서 아줌마들의 카톡사용을 통한 아줌마들만의 그리고 아줌마스러운 모바일 소통은 과연 어디서 온 것일까에 대한 질문을 나에게 끊임없이 했고 결국 ‘빨래터’라는 곳이 생각이 나게 되었던 것이다.
빨래터와 카카오톡의 상관관계에 대한 이야기는 앞으로도 계속 할 예정이기에 오늘은 이 둘 사이에 어떠한 공통점이 있는지 알아보자.
빨래터와 카카오톡의 6가지 공통점
1. Tranformation: 목적에 따라 그 장소의 역할이 변화할 수 있다
2. Keep in touch: 빨래터와 카톡 단체방의 구성원들끼리 계속 연락을 하며 지낼 수 있다
3. Women’s place: 여성의 공간
4. A notice board: 정보를 주고 받을 수 있는 게시판의 역할
5. A bridge: 지난 모임과 앞으로 있을 모임을 연결해 주는 다리와 같은 역할
6. Pop-up communication: 특별한 약속이 없더라도 카톡에서나 빨래터에서 우연히 만나서 이야기 할 수 있다. 카카오톡 단체톡방 그리고 빨래터에 오는 사람들은 거의 늘 같은 사람들이라서 빨래터에 가면 혹은 카카오톡 단체톡방에 들어가 있으면 그 사람들과 특별한 약속없이도 소통을 할 수 있게 되는 것이다.
1.Transformation: 다양하게 사용되어지는 두 공간
1960년대의 빨래터 모습
카카오톡 단체 톡방의 모습
빨래터와 카카오톡 단체톡방의 6가지의 공통점 중에서 첫 번째 공통점인 Transformation, 즉 목적에 따라 다양하게 바뀌는 공간에 대해 사진을 통해서 알아보았다. 나머지 5가지에 대한 내용은 지난 블로그 포스팅들에서 종종 이야기 한 바가 있어서 이번에는 Tranformation에 관한 내용만 다루었다. 앞으로 디지털 빨래터 프로젝트에 대한 이야기를 계속 풀어나가면서 빨래터와 카카오톡 단체톡방에 관한 이야기는 자주 언급될 것이기에 오늘의 포스팅에서는 이렇게만 우선 이야기해 보았다.
Similarities between KaTalk and Wash Place
How the idea of wash place can be applied to the research project of Smart Ajumma? Wash place is rather relevant to link to the concept of mobile communication in Kakao Talk group chat rooms by ajummas through the usage of smartphones. A space of wash place is regarded as the equals of Kakao Talk group chat room. And both village women before the 1960s and ajummas in 2015 take the same duty of various houseworks for their family such as washing clothes. In addition, several similarities were found between village women of wash place before 1960s and ajummas of Kakao Talk group chat room in 2015.
Here are 6 similar points that were discovered.
1. Tranformation: transformable spaces depending on the purpose.
2. Keep in touch: to keep their relationship through continuous communication
3. Women’s place
4. A notice board: Information intersection
5. A bridge: pre-meeting to post-meeting
6. Pop-up communication: they don’t have an appointment for the meetings but they know they can meet with each other in the wash place and Kakao Talk’s group chat rooms.
1.Transformation
Wash Place in the 1960s
Kakao Talk’s Group Chat room in 2015
The other five similarities between Kakao Talk’s group chat room and the wash place were mentioned many times in previous posts. So I don’t mention about the other five similarities between Kakao Talk’s group chat room and the wash place in this post.
Smart Ajumma 스마트아줌마
Kakao Talk & Wash Place (Ppal-let-ter)
In the post about ‘Kakao Talk vs Wash Place‘, I wrote what wash place worked as women’s communal place in Korea and how Kakao Talk and wash place could be similar with each other even though these places are located in dissimilar space and time. Kakao Talk’s group chat room of ajummas is located in the mobile space where we cannot do actual visit, whereas wash place was the actual place where village women could visit. In other words, wash place is a physical space and Kakao talk’s group chat room is a non-physical space that is located in the third space.
However, I think these two different places are very much alike with each other. In my research, I found six similarities between Kakao Talk’s group chat room in 2016 and wash place in 1960s. One of those similarities is both Kakao Talk’s group chat room and wash place act like a bridge between pre-meeting to post-meeting. Here is what one of my interviewees told about Kakao talk’s group chat room during having focus group interview. She explained how Kakao talk’s group chat room works for meetings with her friends.
R Hwang:
Chatting in group chat room is also like an epilogue. After the actual meeting we can review about the meeting. And we suggest ideas for next meeting as well.
Like Kakao Talk’s group chat room, wash place in 1960s was also a bridge that connected previous meetings to following meetings. When village women came to wash place, they continued to talk about stories last time and they maybe meet again for the next time again in this same wash place. They probably didn’t make a confirmed appointment of meeting in wash place, but they could meet with each other again in wash place for the next time because these village women had to come to wash place for doing their laundry regularly. For this reason, Kakao Talk’s group chat room among ajummas and wash place in 1960s among village women are like a bridge that connect to the previous meeting to the following meeting.
스마트 아줌마 Smart Ajumma 