Exhibitions
《Autopoiesistic Life》, 2022.09.28 – 2022.10.01, Seoul Artists’ Platform
September 27, 2022
Seoul Artists’ Platform

Installation
view of 《Autopoiesistic Life》 (Seoul Artists’ Platform, 2022) ©Chanmin Jeong
An exhibition by young artists
questioning whether endless growth is truly the right direction for our time is
being held at the Project Room on the 5th floor of the Seoul Artists’ Platform.
Titled 《Autopoiesistic
Life》, the exhibition opened on September 28 at 5 p.m.
and ran until October 1.

Chanmin Jeong & You-na Cha, Parenting
Device for D-Tardigrade (detail), 2022, Mixed media, Dimensions
variable ©Chanmin Jeong
The exhibition 《Autopoiesistic
Life》 presents a report-style showcase of an ongoing
mid- to long-term project by artists Chanmin Jeong and You-na Cha. They
collaborated with artist Baejinseong (3D graphics), Koo Donghyun (sound), Lee
Jiwan (fiction), and Ahn Youngjun (film). This project was selected for the
“2022 Art and Technology Convergence Support Program” and was organized with
support from the Arts Council Korea and the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.
Together, Jeong and Cha explore
alternative directions for living that deviate from growth-centric and
capitalist systems, seeking new modes of existence relevant to their
generation. They describe themselves as part of a generation for whom phrases
like “this life is doomed” (i-saeng-mang), “let’s just get by,” and
“Hell Joseon” have become everyday realities. “Lethargy” and “instability”
represent the emotional temperature adopted in the gap between a stagnating
economy and the constant demand for growth.
This attitude may appear
colorless and indifferent—lacking grand aspirations, ambition, or rage.
However, it is instead a practice of navigating externally imposed anxieties
and pessimism to find one's own direction. Through expressions like “small but
certain happiness” (so-hwak-haeng) and “I lost, but I fought well” (jeot-jal-ssa),
the artists explore forms of self-observation and inner fulfillment at a
personal pace.

‘D-Tardigrade’ image ©Chanmin
Jeong
Rather than presenting a clear blueprint for how to live, the
exhibition offers a flow of attitudes and rhythms embodied in the project.
Through a kinetic device with repetitive and cyclical motion designed to
nurture a fictional organism called the “D-Tardigrade,” the artists present a
sense of temporality that feels alien amidst a world obsessed with
acceleration.
The exhibition further invites audience interaction with the
D-Tardigrade and develops a narrative around its care, providing a more
immersive experience. A dedicated website (https://www.autopoiesticlife.com)
was created to expand the project’s scope into the digital realm. This project
attempts to superimpose an alternative way of life—one that does not yet exist
but could—onto our present space and time.
Chanmin Jeong and You-na Cha state, “We hope that an introspective
attitude toward one’s own life and the pursuit of a sustainable way of living
will become a foundation for valuing coexistence over competition—especially in
this era where the side effects of quantitative growth are increasingly
threatening humanity’s survival.”