Dear Block Chen
Group Exhibition
November 20th, 2021 to January 15th, 2022
Solid Art gallery
Taipei, Taiwan
Artists
Kevin Abosch, Lans King, Martin Lukas Ostachowski, Nai-Ren Chang, Tzu-Tung Lee + Winnie Soon, Yi-Chun Lin, lololo (Xia Lin + Sheryl Chang), Rexy Tseng, Aluan Wang, Jui-Lan Yao
Curatorial Introduction
“Dear Block Chen” is the first international contemporary art exhibition about blockchain/NFT technology in Taiwan. This show personifies blockchain and contemporary art with a brisk tone, depicting the story about these entities’ past and future encounters. The audience will switch between different characters in this letter-format metaverse, comprehending and reflecting upon the social phenomena and the impact caused by this new technology from other points of view.
By presenting this research and the artworks made by participating artists, this exhibition elaborates upon the values and spirit behind blockchain and NFT technology. It describes their potential developments and future applications and explores the various social issues this technology has triggered or manifested. Artists Kevin Abosch, Auan Wang, Tzu-Tung Lee, and Winnie Soon explore how the traditional concept of ownership–forged and shaped through the modern development of geopolitics and the emergence of a nation-state has been altered again in the decentralized NFT world. Yet what has been changed is the idea of ownership and our conceptualization of value on artwork and even on the artist. By merging an NFT registry and the artist himself into one entity, the work of Lans King is a radically brilliant artistic practice responding to this issue. Martin Lukas Ostachowski and Jui-Lan Yao take different perspectives on the issue of high energy and natural resources consumption by blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Rexy Tseng, Nai-Ren Chang and I-Chun Lin focus on the monetary system and themes of emotional economics, addressing issues such as the golden standard and the speculation and opportunism behind cryptocurrency investments. The artist group “lololol” deals with the idea of “crypto/encryption,” revealing the humane essence behind the digital world and the future metaverse.
“Dear Block Chen” is a love letter to blockchain/NFT technology, an innovative curatorial project aimed at blurring the boundary between technology and humanity. It is not merely an exhibition displaying NFT artworks, but a conceptual exhibition presenting contemporary physical artworks about blockchain and NFT technology.
Curator: Feng-Yi Chu
Sponsored by National Culture and Arts Foundation
Special thanks to Honggah Museum
