The Signs of Doubt

Artists: Kwon Byungjun, Moon Joon Yong, Kim Hyun Ju (ex-media), Oak Jungho, Lee Zune, Chun JiYoon, Moon Hyungmin 

Curators: Kim Jyeong Yeon, Lee Seungah 

VT Artsalon is honored to invite Korean curators Kim, Jyeong Yeon & Lee, Seungah to co-curate The Signs of Doubt. The exhibition focuses on the creations of outstanding Korean contemporary artists.

Since modern science and technology were introduced, humans have neglected to protect themselves through various blind faiths. They believed that high-tech science and technology would bring about a bright future for humans; diseases disappeared and human life prolonged. It was believed that everyone in the world would benefit from technology and science, contributing to human development.

But there were constant signs that required doubt. Social, religious, and political conflicts in the world are more common than ever before, and now epidemics threaten humanity worldwide. The outbreak of COVID-19 is the result of human overlooking signs of doubt in such blind faith. The number of the signs was innumerable: demeanor of life, destruction of nature, pollution, refugees, racism, reckless faith in religion and future, and technological development. We have overlooked the consequences that such signs will bring, and we, facing the consequences, are experiencing a more severe global panic than ever before.

And for the first time, humankind has come to doubt the belief that the future is not always a human’s side despite any advancement of development. The belief that the future would protect humanity and provide a better life is now in crisis. Therefore, what we need is imagination facing the future. No matter what the imagination brings value or form, it is the role of artists of our time to sense the signs of doubt and to imagine an unpredictable future.

The exhibition, The Signs of Doubt, explores unforeseen and unpredictable futures through artists’ eyes. Human activity to predict the future is not just an assignment for the contemporaries living in the age of digital media. In predicting the future, we have witnessed the absence of imagination regarding what is happening around us. We now understand that the future cannot be told by the predictions and suggestions of a group of experts or scholars with the help of Delphi technique, trend analysis or scenario & simulation planning. It also stresses the possibility of overturning all the values we protect and believe today because of the emergence of situations that we believed were impossible or nonexistent.

The artists’ works of our time began with a few questions that imagine the ‘unpredictable future’ and ask what it means or how it will affect our lives. The development of technology has undoubtedly brought a wide range of opportunities and choices to human life, different from the past. Still, it also creates other unforeseen problems, situations, and events for us living in the present. If we can’t imagine our future, how should we prepare for the future? The exhibition, the Signs of Doubt, would like to investigate the future through the works of the artists who explore and imagine the future through technology-based works of art.

Text by Kim, Jyeong Yeon & Lee, Seungah

Organizer：VT Artsalon
Co-organiser：Ubran Art Lab in Seoul
Sponsors：Ministry of Culture (Taiwan), National Culture and Arts Foundation, Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism of Korea, Korea Arts Management Service, Fund for Korean Art Abroad, Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government.