Lyco Curatorial Practice: National Juried Show: Impending Future (I.F.)

Lycoming College recently opened its second national juried show, Impending Future, at the college's downtown gallery on December 2nd.

Gallery address: 25 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA 17701

Exhibition dates: December 2nd, 2016 - February 18th, 2017

IMPENDING FUTURE (I.F)

Mission Statement

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” - Abraham Lincoln

The artworks exhibited in Impending Future (i.F.) touch on various aspects of change from the mundane to the monumental, reflecting the perceptions, visions, and, in some cases, the uneasiness of the featured artists. Their personal and unique visions open thoughtful dialogues that reinforce our uncertainties and concerns about the post-modern condition.

In creating User History, Coalfather Industries carried out an “ethnographic survey” of the contemporary human history as seen by machines of the post-human era. Their work addresses the current state and trends of society’s consumption, ultimately bringing to attention the envisioned yet highly probable demise. Factual and objective remarks, so far the limit of artificial intelligence’s capability, are brilliantly employed to provoke thoughts and realizations.

Abbey Hepner’s Caretaker Robots series, on the other hand, is concerned with how technological development may change human society. Her fictional white robot, a clear emblem of technological advancement, appears to accompany humans in daily-life situations. In one photograph of the series, the robot looks down at Hepner as she stays afloat in the swimming pool. This reminds us of our psychological need to care and be cared for, at the same time suggesting our growing dependency on technology. Nonetheless, the lack of human interaction (replaced instead by the human-technology relationship) by no means concludes whether technology will help or hurt us.

Coalfather Industries and Abbey Hepner are only two of over twenty artists selected from around the United States. These artists challenge our notion of the future by projecting imminent impacts of current technological, social, economic, and political changes. While some of the exhibited artworks have relatively negative outlooks compared to others, each of them constructs its own version of our world’s future. In reading i.F., it is vital to remember that no interpretation reflects the state of future, but mere imaginations of such. We should instead consider which current state or trend constitutes the artist's vision, and how the anticipated changes may motivate human behaviors in the present society.