Horizontal Conversation (2020)
Single Channel Video, 1 minute 44 seconds
There are no borders in internet surfing. With a keyboard and a monitor, we can gain real-time information about what is happening in any part of the world. It seems like nationalism was growing weak in the digital era. Due to the recent outbreak of an infectious disease, chauvinism and nationalism are becoming reinforced but on the other hand, digital stood out as a medium of inevitable communication so I witnessed the integration of all mankind. The forms that surround us like objects, place, time and streets, are gradually becoming more dematerialized, so we faced digital degradation and such interest led to the cosmology in the aspect where individuals are substituted with materials based on the viewpoint that ‘all mankind is one of the creative elements of the universe’.
Since long ago, cosmologists perceived humans as one of the creative matter of the universe and also that historical risks like infectious diseases and war are closely related to the activity period of the sun. Accordingly, the ideology called ‘Integration Project of All Mankind’ was taken as a basis to express an optimistic and futuristic tendency to advance to space and dream about a wakeful world. They saw all mankind equally, and meanwhile, it is similar to the ideologies of communism, socialism, and totalitarianism where it is believed that individuals exist for the nation.
With the topic, I want to refer to the infinite horizon that is implied by cosmology. At this point, technology is gradually becoming more developed and digital communication is stepping up. With all of this, I become absorbed in an alternative reverie of space as B of digital format. As the boundary between cyberspace and body becomes vague and only half of it is left, how will human interaction unfold? What exactly is the definition of organic relations?
This project derive from the concept of artificial biosphere. Cosmologists did an experiment where they built an artificial biosphere to head to space and checked whether humans can survive in the artificial ecosystem. However, the result was a failure. It was because humans were cliquey and could not manage to survive self-sufficiently. Meanwhile, there was a living organism that survived. It was ants. Ants were the only organisms that cultivated communal survival through organic cooperative process. In the digital society dotted with an infectious disease, the concept of artificial biosphere was applied and an alternative future will be searched by focusing on the fight for survival, ideology of equality, and organic relations.
Since long ago, cosmologists perceived humans as one of the creative matter of the universe and also that historical risks like infectious diseases and war are closely related to the activity period of the sun. Accordingly, the ideology called ‘Integration Project of All Mankind’ was taken as a basis to express an optimistic and futuristic tendency to advance to space and dream about a wakeful world. They saw all mankind equally, and meanwhile, it is similar to the ideologies of communism, socialism, and totalitarianism where it is believed that individuals exist for the nation.
With the topic, I want to refer to the infinite horizon that is implied by cosmology. At this point, technology is gradually becoming more developed and digital communication is stepping up. With all of this, I become absorbed in an alternative reverie of space as B of digital format. As the boundary between cyberspace and body becomes vague and only half of it is left, how will human interaction unfold? What exactly is the definition of organic relations?
This project derive from the concept of artificial biosphere. Cosmologists did an experiment where they built an artificial biosphere to head to space and checked whether humans can survive in the artificial ecosystem. However, the result was a failure. It was because humans were cliquey and could not manage to survive self-sufficiently. Meanwhile, there was a living organism that survived. It was ants. Ants were the only organisms that cultivated communal survival through organic cooperative process. In the digital society dotted with an infectious disease, the concept of artificial biosphere was applied and an alternative future will be searched by focusing on the fight for survival, ideology of equality, and organic relations.
인터넷 서핑에는 국경이 없다. 키보드와 모니터를 통해 세계 어느 지역에서나 일어나고 있는 일에 대한 실시간 정보를 얻을 수 있다. 디지털 시대에 민족주의는 무력해지고 있다. 최근 전염병 발생으로 애국주의와 민족주의가 강화되고 있지만 반대로 디지털 기술이 필연적인 소통의 매개체로 부각되며 전 인류의 통합을 목격하게 되었다. 이처럼 사물, 장소, 시간, 거리 등 인류를 둘러싸고 있는 형태들은 점점 더 비물질화되고 있다. 이러한 관심은 ‘모든 인류는 우주의 창조적 요소’ 중 하나라는 관점에 근거한 우주론으로 이어졌다.
오래 전부터, 우주론자들은 인간을 우주의 창조적인 물질 중 하나로 인식했고 또한 전염병과 전쟁과 같은 역사적 위험은 태양의 활동 기간과 밀접한 관련이 있다고 생각했다. 따라서, '전 인류의 통합 프로젝트'라고 불리는 우주론 이데올로기는 인류를 동등한 물질로 치환하고 우주로 진출하여 깨어있는 세상을 꿈꾸는 낙관적이고 미래적인 경향을 표현하기 위한 근거로 받아들여졌다. 그리고 그것은 마치 개인이 국가를 위해 존재한다고 믿는 공산주의, 사회주의, 전체주의의 이념과 유사하다.
이 시점에서 필자는 우주론이 암시하는 무한한 지평을 언급하고 싶다. 기술은 점차 발전하고 있고 디지털 커뮤니케이션도 발전하고 있다. 이 모든 것들과 함께 디지털 포맷의 B로서 대안적인 공간 몽상에 빠져든다. 사이버스페이스와 신체 사이의 경계가 모호해지고 그것의 절반만이 남았을 때 인간의 상호작용은 어떻게 펼쳐질까? 유기적 관계의 정의는 정확히 무엇일까?
이 프로젝트는 인공 생물권 실험으로부터 기인한다. 우주론자들은 우주로 향하기 위해 인공 생물권을 건설하고 인간이 인공 생태계에서 살아남을 수 있는지를 확인하는 실험을 했다. 결과는 실패였다. 인간의 파벌로 인해 무리가 자급자족할 수 없었기 때문이다. 반면, 한 유기체가 살아남았다. 개미였다. 개미는 유기적인 협력 과정을 통해 공동 생존을 배양한 유일한 유기체였다. 전염병으로 점철된 디지털 사회에서 인공 생물권의 개념을 통해 생존을 위한 투쟁, 평등의 이념, 유기적 관계에 초점을 맞춰 대안적인 미래를 모색할 것이다.
Jisoo Jit Seo ‘Horizontal Conversation’
CAN Foundation, 2020