(Archive) A Bite of Void

A Step to Face the Void Beyond the Excess of Positivity

After an era of seemingly endless material production, the graph of economic growth is flattening. Resources are depleting, goods are unstable. As technology advances, industries become more complex, and personal lives change at a rapid pace. Social media, the platform for modern relationships, only allows "likes" and only highlights moments that "look" happy. In the pressures and paradoxes of the times, many individuals seem to be exploiting themselves by chasing tangible accomplishments, the pinnacle of their lives. But to what end? Referring to the modern excess of positivity inherent in over-production, over-mobilization, and over-communication, philosopher Byung-Chul Han warns that violence can come from positivity as well as negativity. Therefore, we take a lingering step to face the void, the meaningless moments after all the achievement and positivity and design a practice of well-being.

Confronting and Digesting Void

How do we face and nurture a sense of emptiness for true well-being that embraces both the positive and negative aspects of life? From the beginning to the end of our existence, we encounter emptiness at one point or another in our lives. However, the shape, color, and frequency of emptiness varies from person to person. Feeling of void arises from the finitude of life, the gap between ideals and reality, wavering faith, or the cyclical nature of existence. In the upcoming exhibitions, artists and designers confront and digest their own kinds of void through writing essays periodically about the self realization of individual void and their relation to the culture we live in. By granting shapes and colors to the impalpable existence, the artists invite audiences to various types and contexts of voids and offer reassuring moments in the sympathy of the time. Through the exhibition, the collective also hopes to introduce the self-inquiring attitude on the cycle of constant affirmation, allowing us to contemplate the potholes of one’s life and therefore question what a ‘better future’ truly is.