For more than three decades, Airan Kang has explored knowledge, memory, and human relationships through the central motif of the book. As a medium, the book transmits thoughts and knowledge accumulated through language across different times and places. Focusing on these qualities, Kang has examined the changing forms and meanings of the book in response to advances in digital technology. This ongoing exploration extends from her early *Bottari* series through *Lighting Book* and *Singing Books* to her virtual reality (VR) projects.

In her early *Bottari* series, Kang wrapped books in fabric to evoke the knowledge and personal memories contained within them. Concealing their contents from view, these bundles invite viewers to imagine what lies inside, presenting books as objects that preserve invisible layers of time and memory. In her subsequent *Lighting Book* series, Kang incorporated LEDs into physical forms resembling actual books, transforming printed text into the visual element of light. As multiple illuminated books came together to form bookshelves and libraries, her artistic interest expanded from individual books to the spaces in which they are situated.

In *Singing Books*, sound is added to light. When viewers approach the works, sensors detect their movements and trigger sounds emanating from the books. Reading, traditionally dependent on sight, becomes an experience involving hearing and bodily movement. Rather than remaining passive observers, viewers interact with the works through their own physical presence and actions.

This transformation becomes more fully realized in Kang's VR projects. Within virtual environments, viewers select books and encounter curated passages and sounds. Letters appearing in midair move around or pass through their bodies, while their choices alter both the paths they follow and the surrounding scenes. The act of reading thus evolves into an experience of physically navigating and exploring virtual spaces.

Another concept central to understanding Kang's artistic practice is Michel Foucault's notion of *heterotopia*. Referring to spaces that exist within reality yet operate according to principles distinct from those of everyday life, this concept is closely associated with libraries, where different historical periods, cultures, and systems of thought coexist. Through the medium of books, Kang brings together diverse temporalities and memories, intersecting physical and virtual realities while expanding the meaning of the library.

What matters most in Kang's practice is not technology itself, but the ways in which knowledge and memory are transmitted and shared through books. By employing light, sound, sensors, and virtual reality, she has expanded the relationship between books and human experience into visual, auditory, and embodied dimensions. Sustained over more than three decades, this exploration reveals an artistic practice that has continually evolved by embracing contemporary media and technologies while remaining grounded in the enduring subject of the book.