I’m sorry -D-a-v-e- I’m afraid I can’t do that

Artists: Mok Jinyo, Blast Theory, Deekay, Bill Viola, OK Seungcheol, Yang Sookyun, Cho Youngkak, TAKA, Lee Seunghyun, Mario Klingemann, Universal Everything, Gavin Shapiro, Cho Hyunseo, Han Yoon Chung, Patrick Tresset, Seoso, Artistic Sense Innovation Factory, ChoWonji Architectural Office, Apostles of the Pantheon

BusanMoCA Platform, an annual exhibition initiated by the Busan Museum of Contemporary Art in 2023, is dedicated to sharing ongoing social reflections and concerns about the environment and ecosystems in the context of global transformation. This exploration connects to the evolution of collaborative processes among creators, researchers, and technologists across various fields. It aims to establish a “new consensus” among humanity, nature, the environment, and technology.

Building on the 2023 inaugural exhibition, 2023 BusanMoCA Platform: Ingredients Mining, which explored the primal relationship between “nature and humanity,” the 2024 exhibition, 2024 BusanMoCA Platform: I’m sorry -D-a-v-e- I’m afraid I can’t do that, extends this journey to address the sustainability of future environments. It explores the convergence of digital intelligence technologies and the tangible connections and interactions between people and their environment. Featuring new media art centered around interactive media, crypto art, artificial intelligence, data sculpture, gaming, and video, this exhibition integrates both open calls and invitations to domestic and international artists. It delves into the emotional resonance of the augmented human era, the perception of “actual reality,” and the creative coexistence and fusion of machine predictability with human sensitivity, thereby expanding the primary theme of “environment and ecology” and offering new forms of interaction and experience.

In the age of augmented humanity, we are redefined in our physical perception and emotional boundaries of “reality.” The creative coexistence and fusion of artificial intelligence’s mechanical predictability with human sensitivity expand the overarching theme of “environment and ecology” in the BusanMoCA Platform, presenting new experiences of connection and empathy.

In this era of “The Great Reset,” characterized by a hyper-connected and evolving network, the exhibition emphasizes the social significance of these unpredictable “new connections and empathy” on human relationships. Through dynamic, real-time experiences at the exhibition site, we invite intriguing inquiries into how we define the “reality” we physically sense, questioning what can be recognized as factual. It also explores whether the forms and meanings of empathy within that reality can be understood within physical boundaries.

The evolving relationship between scientific advancements and human civilization highlights a “new coexistence” that can expand into artificial networks simulated by algorithms, while also serving as a new beginning to reflect on the intrinsic meanings and values of human connections.

In Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the chilling and unflinchingly clear response of the AI HAL during the intense standoff with the protagonist Dave starkly reveals the dark side of advancing human technology and its environment, evoking the vast and silent void of outer space.

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

The theme of this exhibition can be symbolized by this single line. As seen in the exhibition title, the “strikethrough” on the name “Dave” is designed as a conceptual-driven creative element, indicating that anyone can be “Dave,” rather than referring to a specific individual. This design represents the most central and powerful message that drives a unified narrative throughout the entire exhibition.

Ultimately, the exhibition presents an embodied interaction that examines how the creative intent of art confronts and integrates with the evolving digital landscape. It leads to a profound exploration of inherent societal conformity and the underlying conflicts that emerge in the era of digital intelligence and technological convergence.