As technology evolves, so does the landscape and context in which we create and view art. The global reach of the internet makes distant communities feel close. We can feel a level of intimacy being created within the constructs of social media and digital culture. The use of zoom and interviews and talks happening in people’s homes has broadened the perspective of some skeptics that have remained averse to converting to new mediums of communication. In short, it isn’t all bad. However, society has changed. We are a microwave insta-culture that wants all of our options on display like the dollar menu before we decide to purchase—well, anything.
You Need To Be Careful With Me: I Fall In Love and I Fall in Love Fast, 2019
In her solo exhibition Lov-Lov Shop, at the DeSarthe Gallery in Hong Kong, Beijing based artist Lin Jing Jing, explores the effects of technology on our personalities, how we interact in society and the infiltration of artificial intelligence (AI). According to her bio on the gallery website Jing Jing’s work, “explores the depths of social and personal identity in the context of modern society, often examining themes such as confusion and quest, existence and absence, constraint and resistance through a lens of paradox.”[1]
In her six screen video installation,” You Need to be Careful With me: I Fall in Love and I Fall in Love Forever, 2019 challenges the viewer to look deeply into their choices. On the various screens we are given choices to experience perfect unbothered love through images of what is pleasing to our senses. For example, there is the image of the singing paramour who is pledging unconditional love through song.
On another screen the woman dancing appears to be available to perform at any given moment. Just for you. There is a plate of food and man exuding power and intellect inside of a television screen. JinJing calls these images the menu. You can have your choice.
On another screen the woman dancing appears to be available to perform at any given moment. Just for you. There is a plate of food and man exuding power and intellect inside of a television screen. JinJing calls these images the menu. You can have your choice.
On another screen the woman dancing appears to be available to perform at any given moment. Just for you. There is a plate of food and man exuding power and intellect inside of a television screen. JinJing calls these images the menu. You can have your choice.
I was drawn to this work because of my friends of mine that are dating in the age of the app. There interaction is based on what is being displayed visually. What is being displayed visually is usually only part of the truth or not true at all.
In Jing Jing’s Lov-Lov shop she creates an ephemeral world that gives the feeling of being transported to an alternate universe. A world that is close yet faraway. These are the personal yet impersonal interactions of the times.
While exploring her work, I began to understand how culture could forgo the headache of dating a human being or interacting with them at all. If we are on the search for perfection, we will only find it within artificial intelligence.
In her upcoming show for the gallery titled “Take Off” the artist creates a dreamworld that investigates privacy, technology and the role we play. The images evoke a frightening feeling that we all need to wake up and notice what is happening around us.
More of artist Lin JingJing’s work can be seen here: https://www.linjingjing.org/interdisciplinary-project/take-off-project/
In her upcoming show for the gallery titled “Take Off” the artist creates a dreamworld that investigates privacy, technology and the role we play. The images evoke a frightening feeling that we all need to wake up and notice what is happening around us.
As the artist says
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