Sea Art Festival Busan, 2025 – Jeewi Lee x Phillip C. Reiner

"Tidal Memories" brings the research of Field of Fragments to Dadaepo Beach, the point at which the Nakdong River discharges into the sea. Three sculptures present sand grains, enlarged 2000 times, with one grain sourced from Dadaepo Beach and the other two from different continents. Each grain's surface topography, captured through nano-CT scanning, reveals the record of geological time: patterns of erosion, composition of minerals, and histories of transport, written in microscopic detail. At nearly two meters in dimension, the sculptures register, not as scaled reproductions, but as geological objects in their own right. Located at the tide line, the works are subject to the daily rhythms of water's ebb and flow. High tides may shift their positions, and this movement becomes part of the work itself. Where Lee traces material memory through the detritus of the past, Reiner develops geometric structures latent within natural forms. The theme of the Sea Art Festival, "Undercurrents – Beneath Waves, Above Wind", connects tightly with the project's method: precision technology renders visible that which exists below the threshold of perception. In their placement at the tide line, the sculptures are grounded in the same coastal processes that shaped the source grains from which they are derived.

Research:
Nano-CT scanning with Zeiss equipment captures the sand grains at sub-micron resolution. The 2000x enlargement factor pushes the limits of what is computationally possible: mesh processing must preserve the microscopic detail of the surface while generating structurally viable forms at the scale of the sculptures. Each grain's scan data (originally 50-100 microns across) is expanded to sculptures nearly 2 meters in dimension. DICOM image sequences are translated into 3D geometry through surface reconstruction algorithms. Selective retention of detail is required in this process, balancing fidelity to the original surface geometry against the constraints of production. Coastal placement demands materials that can withstand the assault of salt water, UV exposure, and the mechanical stress exerted by tidal forces. The production workflow preserves topological accuracy while engineering forms stable enough to endure the forces exerted by the dynamic processes of the coastal environment.