Kinetic installation uses 384 fans and computer systems to explore control, turbulence, and technology.
The installation Liminal Ring, by the new media artist Jin Lee, was circulated through a series of international exhibitions between 2024 and 2025, including UnfoldX 2024, The Dark Rooms 2025 and Ars Electronica 2025. The work consists of a kinetic system composed of 384 laminar flow fans that interfere with turbulent air currents, making visible the clash between artificial order and environmental unpredictability through controlled fog.
Based in Berlin since 2013, Jin Lee build your practice based on computer systems, electronic circuits, and simulations of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). With previous training in engineering and design, the artist investigates complex patterns present in nature and translates these behaviors into perceptible phenomena. His work operates on the border between control and randomness, exploring how technology attempts to structure natural systems without ever fully mastering them.
Em Liminal Ring, each presentation is adapted to the specific conditions of the exhibition space. Ambient volume, ventilation, and public circulation alter the behavior of the installation, requiring adjustments to the programming and operating sequence of the system. The artist internally developed the hardware, electronics, and simulations that determine airflow. The fragility of the result is not treated as an error, but as a structural part of the concept. The work highlights the impossibility of fully stabilizing a dynamic system.
The international circulation of the installation coincides with a moment of intensification of discussions about materiality in a context increasingly mediated by virtual environments and artificial intelligence. As digital tools move toward increasingly accurate simulations, Jin Lee directs your research to the weight and limits of the physical world. The artist's current interest involves investigating what remains real when the digital becomes indistinguishable from the tangible, shifting the focus to systems that reveal tension between simulation and material presence.
Over the past year, the number of exhibition invitations led the artist to reorganize his research agenda and commercial collaborations. Even so, new projects are still under parallel development, maintaining interest in physical phenomena as carriers of meaning in a scenario dominated by immersive technology.
