Wonwoori’s Impulse Response is a media art project that transposes a composer’s methodology of constructing and exploring sound into the realm of visual art. It interprets and reconstructs the traditional printmaking technique of silkscreening as a sophisticated sound synthesis system. The title, "Impulse Response," refers to a fundamental analysis methodology derived from the fields of acoustics and signal processing. When a reference signal with clear characteristics—specifically, a very short and intense "impulse"—is input into an unknown system, observing how the system modifies and outputs this signal allows for a complete understanding of the system's inherent dynamic properties. This is akin to clapping one’s hands in a pitch-dark cave to gauge the structure of the space through the timing and shape of the reverberation. Adopting this principle as his artistic methodology, the artist designs an audiovisual experiment to explore the inherent properties and temporality of the "silkscreen" system.
The fundamental starting point of this work lies in the dichotomous property of the silkscreen plate itself—its physical structure. A silkscreen plate consists of a fine mesh, clearly divided into parts where ink passes through and parts where it does not, determined by the photosensitive process. In this simple binary structure, the artist discovers a structural homogeneity with the operating principle of an acoustic filter, which passes specific frequency bands while blocking others. In sound synthesis, such filter effects—particularly sophisticated ones like the comb filter, which periodically weeds out specific frequencies—are implemented through feedback delay systems. In other words, as the original sound and a slightly delayed sound are added to or subtracted from each other, constructive and destructive interference occurs; consequently, some frequencies survive and are amplified, while others are extinguished. The artist identifies this very principle of the acoustic filter within the physical structure of the silkscreen and establishes it as the core concept penetrating the work.
Based on these acoustic principles, the artist views the multi-layered printing process of silkscreen as a visual implementation of feedback delay. If the initial print is the original signal input into the system, the act of printing the next layer on top of it is akin to the first signal returning to the system with a slight time lag, creating a superimposition—a first echo or feedback. As this process repeats, the image references the results of the previous layers, overlapping and interfering with them, gradually deviating from the original form to create a new shape. This precisely parallels the phenomenon where sound repeatedly references itself within a delay circuit, creating resonance at specific frequencies. Furthermore, this is analogous to the principle of the Karplus-Strong string algorithm. This algorithm creates a pitch from random noise by feeding a short noise waveform into a short delay line and looping the output back into the input. The artist discovers this principle of emergence in the repetitive printing process of silkscreen, laying the groundwork to reinterpret the mechanical printing process as a generative synthesis act that yields unpredictable results.
As the "impulse" signal to be input into this sophisticated system, the artist selected the "straight line"—visually the most simple and fundamental morpheme. In the world of digital sound, an impulse is often technically defined as "1 sample" of audio data, the smallest unit. While it is a fleeting moment that cannot be divided further in time, when analyzed through a frequency spectrum, it possesses infinite potential, containing equal energy across all frequency bands from low to high. Focusing on this paradoxical concept, the artist uses an array of straight lines, which seem to contain minimal information on the spatial axis, as his visual impulse. The core process of this work is to observe how this fundamental visual signal is modulated into complex and unpredictable patterns as it passes through the "silkscreen filter" and "feedback delay system" designed by the artist.
For an artist with the identity of a composer, the "static temporality" of printmaking—where everything becomes fixed once printing is complete—was a challenge to be overcome. While music is an art constructed and experienced within the flow of time, traditional visual media present a single moment, frozen forever. He sought to unfold this "compressed time," turning it into a fluid phenomenon that the audience could experience in real-time. The key devices used to realize this attempt are three transparent acrylic layers, a mechanical system controlling them, and the resulting Moiré phenomenon. The static patterns of straight lines printed on each acrylic plate take the form of dots; as their angles and positions (front-back, left-right) shift minutely, they continuously generate new visual interference patterns. This phenomenon, where fixed lines meet to create waves that seem to come alive, liberates the halted time of the print, transforming it into a "visual score" played within the flowing time. Just as a composer arranges notes and rhythms to design the structure of time, this is a compositional act where the artist controls spatial relationships to visually implement the flow of time.