Adorable Big Brother: On Never Being Alone Again

The heated argument against the surveillance and infringements on personal life by the government under the name of the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to gather pace. The 2021 ACC Gwangju & Asian Artists Exhibition Adorable Big Brother: On Never Being Alone Again delivers the light and shade of our life where the panopticon and synopticon co-exist from the perspectives of an Asian artist. This exhibit is expected to seek out the possibilities for inspiring a new standard for public interest and the personal dignity of today’s society, where it is inevitable to co-exist with COVID-19, and provide a forum for public discussion to think of a reality where no one will be able to be alone again.

Asia Culture Center (ACC)—acting president Choi Won-il—and the Asia Culture Institute (ACI)—President Lee Gi Pyo—present a meaningful exhibition that can contemplate the light and shade of surveillance in the COVID-19 pandemic era from the perspectives of art and humanities.

The 2021 ACC Gwangju & Asian Artists Exhibition Adorable Big Brother: On Never Being Alone Again held at Space 6 of ACC Creation from August 13 to November 14, 2021, is part of the projects by the ACC related to the region to plunge into the mutual growth of the regional cultures. Since its inception in 2017, the ACC Gwangju & Asian Artists Exhibition delivers contemporary social issues and discourses through the projects by artists from Gwangju and Asia from the perspective of art and humanities.

Proposals for the 21st-century surveillance society by Asian artists
The digitalization of daily life in the fourth Industrial Revolution in the 21st century has changed the methods, purposes, and styles of surveillance from oppression to temptation, from production to consumption, and from control to exclusion. The pandemic that broke out in the corner where Big Brother and Little Brothers come together has accelerated the journey of the post-panopticon. The pandemic sweeping across the entire world has ignited discussions from every walk of life with respect to the need for the surveillance of the central government and the transparent sharing of personal information to prevent the epidemic and made the danger of the infringement on private life and human rights visible. In this era, this exhibition provides an open platform where people can contemplate the shared and different perspectives on the light and shades of surveillance society through the works by contemporary Asian artists.

Artists from Gwangju, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila, and Rangpur
Yeon Sook Lee, Lim Yonghyun, the two artists from Gwangju or working based on the city, and six artists (teams) from/working based on Asia—Deng Yufeng (Beijing), aaajiao (Shanghai), Chim↑Pom (Tokyo), Eisa Jocson (Manila), Hasan Elahi (Ranpur), and Zheng Mahler (Hong Kong)—participated in this exhibition. The exhibition consists of ten works, including four new works commissioned by the ACC in 2021. This exhibit is expected to seek out the possibility for a new standard for public interest and the personal dignity of today’s society, where it is inevitable to co-exist with COVID-19, and provide a forum for public discussion to think of a reality where no one will be able to be alone again through various works by artists from Gwangju and Asia.