Exhibition Review: A Sarcastic Hit – By Qian Mengni 13 Jun 23

Opening：2023/05/06 18:00-22:00

Duration：2023/05/06-06/10

Address：-1F, No.4, Zhaohua Road 518, Shanghai

Preface

The exhibition “TECHNOLOGIC” will present Xia Han’s creative and thought processes on this topic over the past two years. A continuous focus on technological ethics runs through Xia Han’s creative thread. In 2022, a series of external environmental changes prompted him to rethink the way and meaning of his creation. He attempts to respond to absurd life through rough creative forms and ultimately condense into a dazzling virtual landscape.

As the final chapter of the “Post-Genitalia Fetishism” trilogy, Xia Han invites the audience to immerse themselves in a gamified space through video games, animation, installations, and paintings, experiencing what Fredric Jameson called “a cultural form of shallowness and aesthetic homogenization in a society where the market economy and consumerism dominate, under the highly developed productivity.” The exhibition seems like an inescapable game scene, where the giant beauty instrument that rises from the exhibition hall is like a butt plug covered in lumps, and humorous sex toys run back and forth in the arena attacking inflatable dolls with different textures. Sports enthusiasts perform high-difficulty circus acts while holding a globally best-selling beverage… Capital uses power to make everything into pan-entertainment and symbolism, cultivating thousands of “fetishists” who can get high from symbols. In the highly electronic modern society, pleasure is used to manage people’s desires, thereby achieving spiritual control over everyone. In such a world, everyone is a semiotics master.

As we watch the little people in the picture hurt and attack each other like a farce, we imagine more powerful forces binding all of humanity together to play the trolley problem. For a little virtual pleasure, those among it are “forced” to become players and act out an absurd drama in this national-level competitive game. The highly centralized electronic society is full of crisis, and there are no outsiders, only NPCs. Ironically, when everyone is enjoying themselves, as long as “I” am not a low-scoring player, isn’t this a beautiful “Utopia”?

How many points can “you” get?

Curator: Wang Lianyi