Press Text
There are two worlds – the visible world and the invisible world. These two are not different by any means, yet they ignore each other with a thick boundary in between, imposed entirely by human intervention.
Like an immutable truth from the beginning of time, this boundary is continuously created in every corner of the world, even today.
Those within and outside of this boundary vanish and emerge, yearning for ‘a better tomorrow’ somewhere beyond.
They hope that if they can ascend the wall that reaches towards the sky and find a way to touch that ceiling, there will be a ‘new world, a brighter future.’
Since 1995, biennales in Korea have proliferated across major cities. Daejeon, too, joined this tradition in 2018, aligning itself with its identity as a ‘science city.’
As Korea’s only biennale dedicated to science and art, and Daejeon's first biennale, its exclusion from the list of major Korean biennales raises the question: does this biennale function as a platform that shapes and reveals the visual language of a generation? In this context, this year’s biennale seeks to reflect and reconsider its trajectory as a ‘spin-off,’ a moment of introspection and reuation.
What, then, constitutes a meaningful spin-off of the Daejeon Art-Sci Biennale that can reflect on the past and explore the future at this point in time?
It must go beyond superficial or peripheral approaches and delve into a more fundamental exploration of the relationship between science and art, laying the groundwork for setting new goals through this investigation.
In this context, this biennale reflects on whether the ongoing mechanism of the Daejeon Art-Sci Biennale has moved beyond theoretical proposals and settled into actual practice.
Through the museum’s new media collection, the exhibition revisits the past, sheds light on the present through the artists involved in previous projects, and seeks a conclusion that introduces the path forward.
The world that humanity built in pursuit of a golden, shining reality now faces an inevitable crisis.
The unbearable heatwaves, melting glaciers, homeless polar bears, and dying sea turtles represent the near future of humanity.
To be frank, there is no contemporary art exhibition today that does not address all of the seissues. Yet, the Daejeon Art-Sci Biennale still speaks to a sustainable future through the coexistence of oppositions under the premise of the creative potential of science and art brought forth by humans as gods.
Even if, upon ascending to the top of the Tower of Babel, the earth reappears in place of the sky, and the desire for transcendence is thwarted amidst the chaos, humanity will persist, believing that even in suffering,
they are approaching a greater value of happiness.
Because we are imperfect, we stand in solidarity, crossing boundaries from one beginning to another, from zero to zero—for we are all gods living beneath the ceiling of the sky on the earth.
