Installation view of 《Strange Loop for Marcel》 © Seongbuk Young Art Space

The first curated exhibition of Seongbuk Young Art Space in 2022, 《Strange Loop for Marcel》, addresses contemporary perceptions of positional awareness between the real self and the virtual self.

With the rapid development of science and technology and in the aftermath of the pandemic, virtual worlds increasingly resemble reality, while reality itself grows ever more similar to the virtual.

In particular, the expansion of social networks has allowed the digital self to extend beyond virtual space into the real world, exerting significant influence on the real self. Against this backdrop, the exhibition reflects on ways of achieving a balanced coexistence between the “self” in reality and the virtual self in an era when the virtual often surpasses the real.

Installation view of 《Strange Loop for Marcel》 © Seongbuk Young Art Space

The exhibition title “Strange Loop” draws inspiration from a concept by cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter, which encapsulates ideas such as an ending that returns to the beginning, truth containing falsehood, and entangled hierarchical orders. Through infinite loops of self-reference, the concept metaphorically points toward a path to genuine self-awareness.

The four participating artists guide viewers to reorient their gaze and senses toward things they thought they knew—or had never consciously perceived—by immersing them in acts of observing, sensing, and thinking about objects (Kim Kyungtae), space (Oh Jong), relationships (Cho Ho Young), and virtual reality (Park Dongjun).
 
Through these works, the exhibition seeks to synchronize the sense of positional awareness rediscovered through the physical body in the real world with the virtual self, exploring the continuity of the body that allows the digital self to maintain its center.

For Marcel—the dog whose identity was altered after eating a fig that turned dreams into reality and caused her body to switch with her owner; for the “self” that is easily swayed and fragmented by the desires of a reconstructed virtual identity; for “us,” who encounter artworks through smooth, shimmering screens; and for contemporary individuals conditioned by the gaze of others represented through “likes,” leading them to objectify themselves subjectively—《Strange Loop for Marcel》 hopes that, by synchronizing the bodily sense of position rediscovered “here” with the self that exists “there,” we may find an as-yet-undiscovered future within the familiar present.

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