Rehearsing the Future

v/ Alien Art Centre, Kaohsiung, TW

d/ 2021.11.20 - 2022.05.29

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many impossibilities possible and has also turned many things that were taken for granted out of reach... Now that the ordinary has become a dream; the imaginary has come real instead; there seems to be nothing eternal in nature. Therefore, for modern people, the ability to adapt to changes has become an indispensable one in the face of an unpredictable future. Rehearsing the future will open your imagination and get a glimpse of the changes and the unchanged in the changing situation. The impermanence of heaven, earth, and human stimulates us to think about the future. Meanwhile, human beings are experiencing COVID-19’s impacts on their lives, but the outbreak of the epidemic only reveals the existence of other species in nature. When these species endanger the survival of mankind, one must urgently paint a picture of the future that one coexists with them, instead of showing or embracing an attitude of being isolated from the virus. The epidemic also forces one to face another issue, that is, the interaction between humans and technology. The epidemic seems to limit our scope of existence and temporarily liberate nature from the domination set by the self-righteous mankind. But at the same time, man is developing more technology, trying to control the epidemic, and further conquer nature's counterattack. This exhibition “Rehearsing the Future” chooses to expand the focus on the concern of the ideal realm of self to the compassion of contemporary issues. Rehearsing the life scenes of home in the near future leads the audience to rehearse a scenario that looks like the future but is actually the current reality of existence. The modern domestic space emerging from the surface of history is undoubtedly shaped by human beings transforming nature through the power of technology and therefore becomes a domesticated environment. The outbreak of the epidemic not only forces one to re-examine the contradictions in the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature but also accelerates the integration of technology into daily life. In today's highly developed society, the high-tech, dust-free, and sterile house has become the model of an ideal home. As a private domain that people desire, it is like a shelter from the crisis of survival. The design tone of this exhibition projects the imagination of the home space, leading the audience to experience the scenario, and reflect on the hidden sense of crisis in the safe protection which we regard as home. This exhibition invites ten artists from home and abroad to jointly draw the outline of the future. Performances, video installations, three-dimensional installations, digital paintings, paintings, games, and other diversified forms of works are included. The topics and issues involve smart appliances, myths, natural disasters, new resources, health, microbes, beliefs, AI, algorithms, digital clones, metagames... etc. Whether it is the panic caused by the virus or technology, it once again invites us to re-explore the various responses that mankind has taken to survive crises since ancient times. Claude Lévi-Strauss told us that mythical thought is not superstition, but rather the spiritual activity to pursue the order of the universe which leads to the future civilization by the pre-modern society. Nowadays, the technology has brought the belief in progress, changed our consciousness of time, and created the dimension of the future. Despite the anxiety and fear in the face of the incredible forces in the original nature, there always implies the ability to adapt to the changing environment in mankind’s imagination and pursuit of the future. This exhibition will re-examine the coexisting relationships among mankind, nature, and technology. Technology, as an intermediary between mankind and the environment, does not isolate man from environmental threats, but open a gap, so that human and all existing beings in their living environment may redefine each other. Artists｜ aajiao, CHOU Yu-Cheng, Jake ELWES, Nile KOETTING, LIU Yu, LU Yang, Kyle MCDONALD, Ana PRVAČKI, WU Chuan-Lun, Gary Zhexi ZHANG Curated by ALIEN Art Organizer: ALIEN Art Centre Co-organizer: Goethe-Institut Taipei Support by National Culture and Arts Foundation Supporting Partner: Hong Foundation, Panasonic Taiwan Collaborative Marketing: Silks Club, THE UKAI TAIPEI, Ukai-tei Kaohsiung, Room by Le Kief Advisor: Bureau of Cultural Affairs Kaohsiung City Government, Urban Development Bureau Kaohsiung City Government Special Thanks to YUIMOM GROUP, MERCEDES-BENZ

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