“the future is not what it used to be”
An exhibition curated by Magdalena Sawon
Tamas Banovich
Kevin Bewersdorf
Mikolaj Dlugosz
Ursula Endlicher
Zach Gage
Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung
Kobas Laksa
Michael Mandiberg
Eva and Franco Mattes (aka 0100101110101101.org)
Joe McKay
JooYoun Paek
The Yes Men
Art has always been a transformative reflection of reality and a moment in time.
It is 2010. The screen is the window and the web is the tool to experience and engage in the world. Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, Chatroulette, YouTube, Second Life and ebay are not virtual, they are real.
“the future is not what it used to be” brings together artists engaged in the Internet shaped culture. Through photographs, sculpture, video, and online projects they explore new tenets of social interaction in a networked world.
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? – the grand troika of Paul Gauguin’s questions about existential doubt and one’s consciousness is always relevant, but this very moment, loaded with radical changes taking place, also calls for specific inquiries: How do new communication tools and smart technologies affect cultural and sociopolitical realm? What happens to contemplation in the times of speed? What are sustainable strategies for contemporary life? How does one navigate between connectivity and dis-connect, instantaneity and rapid obsolescence, and digital/analog divide. How does the Internet – the largest image depository and the largest data base ever – affects new forms of appropriation, means of production and delivery, and modes of political engagement?
The future may only bring more questions.
Einstein said “I never think of the future. It comes soon enough” This may be true, but – back to Gauguin – who we are and what we do today shapes our tomorrows.
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*The title of this show is a quote from Paul Valery (1871-1945)
