Resonance with weeds

The moment I faced The Cacophony of Unbalance for the first time, somehow it seemed harmonious, but soon enough I felt a wave of boundless energy. The exhibition manifests the relationship between humans, technology, and the environment on multiple levels. Bursting energy generated from collision among works created by Gijeong Goo, Goeun Park, SEO Sanghee, So Soo Bin, Shin Seungjae, the exhibition transcends mere enumeration of the outcome of convergence of art and technology. It traces the generative process itself with the potential energy, manifesting it as a vibrant exploration. Simultaneously, it delves into the intricate relationship between humans, technology, and the environment. The curator has continued to study the relationship building between humans and technological subjects. Her previous project, Boundless Gesture: Resonate With You, explored the possibility and limitation of ‘creative translation’ by artificial intelligence, the technological subject, and human as a creator of ‘gesture’. She now delves deeper in this exhibition, The Cacophony of Unbalance, visualizing the dormant potential energy with five artworks and revealing the crippling tension caused by interaction between the internal world and the external world of the artworks. Individuation theory of Gilbert Simondon (1924-1989) proposes that being corresponds to heterogeneous series which are organized into a system which is neither stable nor unstable, but rather metastable, endowed with a potential energy wherein the differences between series are distributed. The potential energy of a metastable state in the exhibition unveils not only the implicity of the artwork itself but also different ensemble depending on interaction between artworks.
     Coagulation (2022) by Gijeong Goo in the first section of the exhibition presents digital image created with 3D rendering technology after shooting real moss, forest, and grass. The video’s augmented image, which is far more detailed than the actual nature, induces a sense of cognitive dissonance in the audience. Goeun Park’s video work, Trio A (2024), reorganizes subtle movements data of a tree recorded by the terrestrial laser scanner into the graphic. The data scan file used in the work is an artificial information which was recorded as a scientific figure and data according to the tree’s movements, but deep dive into it allows the audience to find dynamic movements of the tens of thousands of point cloud like a living forest. Shin Seungjae’s Seeding Sound (2024) transplants microcurrent sensor to plants to convert physical contact with the audience to sound. The artist represents this sound as a ‘seed’, which is the microcurrent sound generated by the contact between the audience and the plant and the space itself where the audience experience the sound. Next, Vivisystem (2021) by So Soo Bin. The term vivisystem encompasses entities with life-like characteristics, regardless of whether they arise naturally or are artificially created. The audience make active interference with the ecosystem of the work by moving living and artificial plants. Lastly, Between_ (virtual) garden by SEO Sanghee showcases contrast between plants, the symbol of analogue, and projection mapping, representative of digital world, providing the audience with artistic experience.
     The exhibition invites a paradigm shift in our perspective on technology. It transcends the binary of technophilia and technophobia, seeking a redefined understanding of technology. Technology has been seen as a tool for human progress, and the art world has been no exception. Yet, the current discourse surrounding art and technology reveals a limitation in this viewpoint. Technology isn’t merely a new medium replacing canvas and paint; it’s a transformative force, upending traditional exhibition formats and reshaping the very way we experience art. Therefore, the modern art scene positions technology as a mediator, inextricably interwoven with the artwork itself. Technological and aesthetic subjects become inseparable entities. Under the premise, the exhibition proposes new way of thinking on relationship between humans and technology: an approach where technology and art are recognized as equal partners, not a hierarchical relationship. As Gilbert Simondon claimed that we should focus on the generative process to understand the essence of being, the exhibition highlights continuous interaction and dynamic relationship building between humans, technology, and art.
     The artists, Gijeong Goo, Goeun Park, SEO Sanghee, So Soo Bin, Shin Seungjae, have a common keyword, ‘plant’, besides technological aspects such as 3D rendering technology, terrestrial laser scanner, data, augmented reality, and projection mapping. It is shown in moss, forest, grass by Goo, Finnish maple tree by Park, various plants by SEO, So and Shin. While on the surface, plants may appear as a representative of nature at the antipode to technology, a closer look reveals that technology and plant have a lot in common. The artists’ choice of ‘plant’ as a medium is far from accidental. As the exhibition’s preface suggests, it raises a question about new relationship between humans and technology for their co-existence in the current era where technology works both as poison and medicine. Likewise, the value of plant hinges on our perspective, such as medicinal herb, poisonous herb, and weed. Weeds refer to various grass, plants not valued for use. Weeds are seen as a nuisance in a garden or farmland, but it plays a vital role in the ecosystem. Clovers anchor the soil with its roots to prevent soil erosion. Dandelions were used for inflammation treatment documented in the Korean traditional medicine book, Dongui Bogam. Reeds, silver grass, and ramie recently have emerged as a source of bioenergy, an alternative to fossil fuels. Weeds provide crucial habitat and food for insects and birds, contributing to the biodiversity as a member of ecosystem. Their undervalued existence unlocks the secrets of a complex web of interconnectedness. Weeds are undergoing an epistemological transformation, transitioning from a nameless nuisance to a new botanical player. The history of weeds can be a useful reference for redefining our relationship with technology as weeds have co-evolved alongside human for tens of thousands of years.
     The Cacophony of Unbalance suggests a new way of communication to human world coexisting with technology and leads us to go along with sentimental resonance. To that end, we must reframe our understanding of technology’s essence because the extremes of one-sided aspiration or unconditional fear on technology stem from fundamental misunderstanding of our relationship with the environment. When we truly understand the originality of how technological entities exist, we can foster a co-evolutionary relationship with technology. The exhibition invites us to delve into the artists’ works where art, intertwined with technology on different level, show the beauty of relationship building. I hope the audience, with the new perspective on technological subjects, face a moment of sentimental resonance in the exhibition where technological entities ensemble unfolds.
 

Radam Hong (Curator, Daejeon Museum of Art)