[Culture Interview] Can the Living Room TV Become a Picture Frame?

Interview with ArtToken CEO Hong Jisuk

A platform CEO who looks at environments, not transaction volume

In the age of AI and NFTs: "Technology is not the goal"

"Policy is not a switch": how convenience reshapes art consumption

Archiving as a "condition for survival," not mere storage

"Can the TV in the living room become a picture frame?"

Hong Jisuk, CEO of ArtToken, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the ArtToken Gallery in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Reporter Cho Yongjun.

Hong Jisuk, CEO of ArtToken, launched the digital art platform "2R2" from this very question. Her first decision was not to build a technology-driven business, but to treat technology as a means, not an end.

In a recent interview with The Asia Business Daily, Hong introduced herself as both the CEO of ArtToken and a convergent content producer. However, she said she does not attach much meaning to the order of her titles. What she emphasizes is attitude rather than role: a principle of not being overly optimistic about technology and not trying to hasten changes in art.

She explained that although the technologies in the spotlight have changed over time, from blockchain to intellectual property (IP) and artificial intelligence (AI), none of them has ever been the ultimate goal. Her stance is to respond to change but not to pursue technology itself as a belief system. This approach is directly reflected in ArtToken's platform strategy.

The digital art platform 2R2, operated by ArtToken, recently released an application for Samsung Electronics smart TVs. The company is now in the experimental stage of exploring how the environment for art consumption can be expanded through TVs.

However, the first metrics Hong looks at are not trading volume or monthly active users (MAU). "At this stage, we do not regard sales or MAU as our key indicators," she said. Instead, she focuses on the environments in which users access and consume artworks, in other words, changes in access channels.

Screen of 2R2, a digital art platform operated by ArtToken. Hong Jisuk, CEO, explained, "Users do not merely consume artworks; through voting and participation they help shape the artworks' context and provenance." Photo by 2R2

Her priority is to first read how the shift in access environments from mobile to desktop and then to TV will change the structure of art consumption. Although Samsung Smart TV does not provide user data directly, ArtToken is indirectly analyzing usage patterns through Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud traffic. When TV-based access increases in a particular region, cloud costs rise accordingly.

Hong does not see this simply as an increase in expenses. "We interpret rising cloud costs as a signal that the environment for art consumption is shifting," she explained. It is an approach that prioritizes checking the direction of structural change over short-term expansion of transactions.

The strategy remained the same even when the NFT market contracted sharply. Rather than prioritizing trading activity, ArtToken chose archiving. This was based on the conviction that "even if the platform disappears, the artworks must remain."

The decision to migrate the blockchain network from the Klaytn (KCT) base to the Ethereum chain was made in the same context. "We comprehensively considered the decentralized structure, open-market compatibility, and long-term sustainability," she said.

Currently, about 130 artists and more than 400 works are registered on 2R2. The pace of expansion is not fast. Hong views this as an intentional process, believing that artists are now in a stage of adapting to the digital environment and building up their track records. It is a growth path different from that of transaction-centric platforms.

Hong Jisuk, CEO of ArtToken, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the ArtToken Gallery in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Jo Yongjun, Reporter

Even though NFTs are recognized as a means of authenticating originals of digital files, she believes the reason the general public does not feel a strong impact lies more in user experience than in a lack of technological understanding. "It is difficult to create a sense of ownership through technical explanations alone. Meaning emerges when something is used naturally in everyday life."

This is why she strategically focuses on the TV platform. She believes that a screen repeatedly encountered in the everyday space of the living room can reinforce the ownership experience. "If the screen you face every day when you come home displays a work you have chosen, that moment is a real experience of ownership," she said. ArtToken is also considering ways for users to appreciate artworks via TV in a manner similar to listening to music.

Her standards are also clear regarding copyright disputes over AI-generated content. "AI does not take responsibility. Responsibility must remain with humans." Accordingly, ArtToken has adopted source indication and notification of terms of use throughout the AI training, generation, and minting processes as basic principles. However, she does not believe that institutional mechanisms alone can solve every issue. "The final decision ultimately lies with humans."

She is also wary that the democratization of technology could create new forms of exclusion. Referring to the structure of the global art market, she said, "Artworks alone are not enough." Her point is that there must also be an explanatory structure and context that answer the question of why it has to be this particular artist.

Hong Jisuk, CEO of Art Token, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the Art Token gallery in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Jo Yongjun, Reporter

She also drew a clear line, saying that the industrialization of art cannot be driven by policy alone. "Policy is not a switch that instantly creates change," she said, emphasizing that "the turning point for the market comes when users actually feel a sense of convenience." The same standard, she explained, applies to technology.

Even in an era of widespread AI, she believes that ultimate competitiveness lies with humans, because the ability to select what has value and to assign meaning remains a human domain.

Technology is in constant flux, but art endures based on sustainability. Hong operates her platform in this gap. As for why she continues to stay in this field, she put it this way:

"I am holding on. Because it is still a fascinating realm."