Peter Cho,
Wordscapes, 2008, Interactive installation, Dimension
variable, Installation view of 《Code as Canvas: Creative Graphics in the Age of AI》 ©G.MAPGwangju Media Art Platform (G.MAP) is presenting the
collaborative exhibition 《Code as Canvas: Creative Graphics in the
Age of AI》, in collaboration with Art Center Nabi, through August 31.
This exhibition draws inspiration from the 2025 International
Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), hosted by Art Center Nabi. Expanding the
convergence of technology and art into the field of visual expression, this
exhibition highlights the aesthetic potential of code by showcasing the work of
seven artists who treat code as a language of artistic expression rather than a
mere tool. The exhibition is structured around two themes.
The first section, “Form as Code,” explores how code can act as
a structural language for organizing form, a foundation for visual composition,
and an artistic grammar that builds conceptual order—going beyond its role as a
purely functional language. Artists Peter Cho, Bob Faust, Zach Lieberman, and
Omid Nemalhabib use diverse media such as typography, gesture-based
interaction, and algorithmic repetition to explore how code shapes rhythm,
movement, and image structure.
These works not only reveal the aesthetic potential of code but
also extend it into a sculptural language, rather than merely a medium of
function. The viewer witnesses how invisible code is made visible, meaningful,
and sensorial through the hands of the artist. Here, programming functions as a
kind of pre-linguistic order and pre-formal structure.
Peter Cho,
Hangulscapes, 2025, Animation, interactive installation,
Dimension variable, Installation view of 《Code as Canvas: Creative Graphics in the
Age of AI》 ©G.MAPThe second section, “The Poetic Machine,” focuses on the sensory
and emotional dimensions of code. Artists Susan Detroy, Renata Janiszewska, and
Karen Lafeur explore themes such as femininity, selfhood, ecological
sensibility, and cosmic vision using generative algorithms, AI, mobile devices,
and digital drawing techniques.
In these works, technology functions not as a tool, but as a
medium that holds emotion, recalls memory, and reflects identity like a digital
mirror. In other words, the machine is reborn—not as a mere calculator of data,
but as a sensorial structure shaped by the artist's hand, capable of evoking
memory and feeling.
Some of the works are displayed not only in Gallery 3 but also
in the immersive black cube of Gallery 4 and on the exterior Media Wall. These
expanded spatial presentations emphasize the multilayered emotional resonance
of digital work and the expressive potential of code-based art.
Bob Faust,
We Hold These Truths, 2019, Wallwork and bench, printed
vinyl wallpaper (bench), Tiff still image (wall), 200x200x40 (bench),
Installation view of 《Code as Canvas: Creative Graphics in the Age of AI》 ©G.MAPThis exhibition suggests that code-based art is not merely a
technical tool for producing visual effects, but a creative practice that
compels us to reconsider how language and perception are constructed. It is
also a testament to how contemporary artists engage with technology to invent
new artistic languages.
At the same time, the exhibition redefines the relationship
between humans, machines, and language, serving as a site of experimentation
where new modes of communication and perception can emerge. In that context,
when we treat code as a canvas, what is drawn upon it becomes a language, a
form, and an emotion.
Participating
Artists: Peter
Cho, Susan Detroy, Bob Faust, Renata Janiszewska, Karen LaFleur, Zach
Lieberman, Omid Nemalhabib
