Stony Brook University Faculty of Sciences and Humanities

Professor Sun Park published a book "Camera Somatica" and the book was selected as an Excellent Academic Book by the National Academic of Science Republic of Korea.

Abstract

The book Camera Somatica: Painting and Cinema in a Post-Cinematic Age talks about how movies, which are a kind of copying technology, are still important even though they challenge traditional paintings in the modern age of cinema. It explores how movies connect paintings with today's media consumers.

In the past, people just watched movies without participating much, but now, in the post-cinema era, the audience becomes more involved. They not only watch but also interact with the content, actively shaping its flow and changing its sequence. People use their whole bodies, not just their eyes, to engage with the movie's reality. Nowadays, we experience virtual images with our bodies and senses, blending them with our real-life experiences. The book calls this experience of embodying replicated images "camera somatica," using the word "soma" that means "body" in English.

The book looks at how movies that include elements of paintings can be understood from the perspective of an engaged audience. It explores how original paintings may change when they are turned into films, with characters speaking and moving, like in the movies The Mill and the Cross (2011) and Shirley: Visions of Reality (2013). It also questions whether painters can transform from being seen as artistic geniuses to becoming social communicators in movies like Yumeji (1991).

Additionally, the book raises questions about the meaning and intentions behind ancient cave paintings represented by Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) and how museums can show different aspects when they target visitors, not just the exhibitions themselves, as seen in movies like Museum Hours (2012), Francofonia (2015), and National Gallery (2014).

The movies discussed in Camera Somatica challenge our usual understanding of paintings, artists, and how they are exhibited. They create independent worlds beyond the painter's control. The book shows how painters listen to unintended subjects in their paintings and question who the true subject of their artwork is. Viewers complete the meaning of the paintings themselves, ignoring traditional critiques and even the painter's intentions. Camera Somatica aims to explore new meanings in how artworks are created, appreciated, and exhibited, using the lens of cinema.