Moving from global warming bunker to virtual highway, Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho situate their protagonist in a digital archival bubble that floats free of a future Venice inundated by warming seas. Revised from their 2015 Venice Biennale multi-channel installation, this version of The Ways of Folding Space & Flying explores an archaeological quest into human civilization by interweaving history with visions of the ecofuture. Within the gleaming, antiseptic pod of a complex digital interface, the surviving protagonist is empowered by access to an imbedded memory chip for entry into the data banks and virtual scenarios that constitute its continued existence. The title of the project stems from the Korean words chukjibeop and bihaengsul that reflect the human desire to surpass the physical and perceived barriers and structures that bind us, despite the apparent absurdity of such imaginings. Originating from Taoist practice, chukjibeop means a hypothetical method of contracting physical distance, while bihaengsul refers to a supernatural power to levitate, fly and travel across time and space. The stellar project is part of the artists’ ongoing inquiry into making future sense via fantasy, which they perceive as a fundamental function of art in our increasingly uncertain and precarious environmental and socio-political landscape.

View The Ways of Folding Space & Flying at the Picket Family Video Gallery in the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University from Oct 19-Nov 13, 2022 Tue-Sun 10a-5p.

2022 Cornell Biennial
Sponsored by the Cornell Council for the Arts and curated by Timothy Murray, the 2022 Cornell Biennial "Futurities, Uncertain" features exhibitions, installations, and performances by 23 international and 17 Cornell-based artists. Free and open-to-the-public events will rotate on the Cornell Ithaca campus and the Cornell Tech campus in New York City from July through December 2022.

Attend our Celebration Weekend from Sep 15-17, 2022 at the Cornell Ithaca campus. The full list of participants, along with the calendar of 2022 Cornell Biennial events, will be updated in real time at cca.cornell.edu/biennial.