2023 SeMA-HANA Media Art Award Recipient Francois Knoetze. Courtesy the Seoul Museum of Art.
The Seoul Museum of Art has selected Francois Knoetze as the 2023 SeMA-Hana Media Art Award winner from among 40 artists/teams in the 12th Seoul Media City Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP, which was held at the SeMA Seosomun Main Branch until November 19, 2023.
His winning work, Core Dump (2018–2019), presented at SMB12, includes sculpture, video, and performance to explore the life cycles of discarded objects and the historical intersections between materials and societies. The four-channel video installation incorporates found footage, performance documentation, and interview transcripts, portraying a digital nervous system on the brink of collapse amid uncertainty and unsustainability.
Francois Knoetze, ‘Core Dump,’ 2018-2019, installation view at the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, “THIS TOO, IS A MAP,” Seoul Museum of Art, 2023. Photo: GLIMWORKERS. Courtesy the Seoul Museum of Art.The 2023 SeMA-HANA Media Art Award was decided by a five-member international jury. Core Dump was praised for its powerful and complex nature, utilizing multiple forms of media and approaches to mapping and locality, emphasizing the technological circuits and routes that constitute daily life. The work delves into the historical, economic, cultural, and political backgrounds of contemporary technological infrastructures.
Sponsored by the Hana Financial Group, the SeMA-HANA Media Art Award is presented to a participant of the Seoul Mediacity Biennale in recognition of their vision and artistic contribution. Knoetze, a South African interdisciplinary artist, joins past recipients of the award, including Eric Baudelaire, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Christine Sun Kim, Kearn-Hyung Ahn, and Hao Jingban.
