Group Exhibition Jeonbuk Province Art Museum, Wanju County, South Korea
When we encounter something new or unfamiliar, curiosity and fear intersect. In particular, as science and technology develop, each time something new appears, humanity strives to become familiar with it, and we are witnessing materials and life forms that existed only in our imaginations being realized in reality. Today, when the scope of discourse is expanding not only to human life but also to the reorganization of species surrounding humans, 《I'm Sorry, Frankenstein》 is a glimpse of existence between expectations and anxiety about change in the post-corona era. It is with works that cause theoretical rifts.
This exhibition looks at the world as a network of intertwined beings like fabric. And by recognizing the world as a network of objects and their relationships, rather than as subjects and objects, they attempt to break down the dichotomous boundary between humans and non-humans. This is a different way of looking at the behavior of objects and organisms, material and immaterial, or the actions of beings that cross the boundary, from mechanical devices, picture frames, or flower pots commonly encountered in daily life to dogs and rivers. Furthermore, it is about looking at power in this network of relationships. It's about taking a deep look at how this works. Therefore, beyond simply humanistic or ethical reflection on beings placed in the position of others, it is also a matter of fundamentally different perceptions and practical sharing of responsibility.
The lesson left behind by the first science fiction novel, 『Frankenstein』 (Mary Shelley, 1818), is the fear of unfamiliar beings behind the enthusiasm for technological novelty and the tragedy of oppression resulting from it. However, if we leave aside the monstrous form that was considered a threat to humans, we see a being whose ‘being there’ itself was sufficient. Just as when you look at something, whether it is familiar or not, and you suddenly feel an unfamiliar and strange emotional sensation, isn't everyone in fact a little bit of Frankenstein?
When we look at existence as it is and willingly embrace unexplained emotions, here are works that aim to eliminate unnecessary fears and reorganize relationships. They become materials for translating the languages of each being, and they also become intermediaries that announce the beginning of a certain rift. They also suggest imaginations about the actions and mixing of different microcosms, from familiar objects or animals around them to still unfamiliar humanoid robots and virtual humans, and about collisions and dissolutions, and gestures of stimulation or reconciliation.
The actions of the non-human beings that make up this complex network of relationships are more familiar than you might think, sometimes humorous, and at other times pitiful. However, the most important premise is the belief that you will encounter a world different from the existing one just by looking at it as it is and willingly facing the emotional inspiration that comes from it. As Donna Haraway said, “To be one is always to be together with many things,” 《Sorry, Frankenstein》 questions the ways in which non-human actors, along with humans, construct the network of relationships called the world. So, I hope that we will break out of the tolerance and exclusivity of the word 'we' and that 'equality', which was vague, will become a clearer word in this network of coexistence, here and now.
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