NEW INC Y12 Creative Science: Gim Chaek

Abstract

RationaleGim Chaek-a transliteration combining the Korean words for "seaweed" (gim) and "book" (chaek)-is a multimedia project that investigates the entanglement of natural substrates, living bodies, and data transmission.Through layered natural and cultural cross-references, the project brings together natural science and the cultural repositioning of matter, using food, metabolism, and data streams as its primary conceptual and material frameworks.The project is inaugurated through the fabrication of a bio-printed circuit board (bio-PCB, Soon et al. 2024), in which kelp extracts are used as conductive and structural material for wiring electronic components (Figure 3, Figure 5).From this initial prototype, Gim Chaek unfolds through multiple stages, including kinetic sculptures, speculative storytelling, and performative works.These successive forms function both as experimental platforms and as narrative devices through which the project materializes its hypotheses.While seaweed has been investigated and developed across multiple areas of materials engineering-such as bioplastics, textiles, and architectural materials (Amandolese n.d.)-seaweed-based electronic components remain underexplored and are still far from widespread application.This project argues that the key challenge-and opportunity-is to co-utilize the durability demanded by electronic conductors with the flexibility characteristics of seaweed-based materials.(Aljarid et al. 2023) Central to this project are gim (Porphyra), dashima (Saccharina japonica), and several other sea algae-seaweeds that have long been cultivated (Figure 2A)and consumed within Korean culinary traditions ('K Gim Revolution' 2026).Drawing on inspirations from history, natural science, and technology, the project begins with gim's physical resemblance to thin black paper (Figure 2B).This material analogy speculatively links the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897)'s extensive documentation of governance and cultural protocols (Royal Historian 472 AD) with contemporary technologies of data storage and transmission (Figure 2C).By combining sea-farming practices, material engineering, and historical models of information technology, the project proposes a new approach to computer architecture that explores the potential for large-scale data inscription within organic matter (D'Onofrio and An 2010). Outcomes and Future PerspectivesThe inauguration of Gim Chaek is a kinetic installation presented at the New Inc DEMO2026.This large-scale sculpture-installation (Figure 1) demonstrates that a seaweed-based interface-specifically a bio-PCB-can wire and operate the key components of a robotic system (Figure 4), while still retaining the fragility and flexibility inherent to natural materials.