Many predictions are that we are living at the end of days. The Mayan calendar, Kalki Bhagavan, The I Ching, Dresden codex and many others all point to the imminent and immediate apocalypse. But this impending doom also brings with it a demented sense of curiosity, elation, dismissal and relief from the conundrum of contemporary reality. I mean just what is it about the end of the world that makes it so appealing?
Furthermore the Apocalypse has been anticipated since the birth of humanity. In fact all religions have their own eschatological vision, as if a collective death wish is just part of being human. More recently Hollywood films, books, media spectacle and general public chatter have anticipated the end of days. Is it even worth considering anymore? Has it already happened and we aren’t aware of it? Shall we celebrate it? Is it something that we will watch from the comfort of our living room couches via satellite TV, much like we watch the films that portray it or newscasts of man made catastrophes, or the world cup? For a global culture spinning further towards the secular with every hamburger sold and so-called fundamentalist war fought, does it really matter?
The title of the exhibition riffs off Richard Hamilton’s seminal work Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? which was ironically produced for the exhibition This is Tomorrow, an early cross-disciplinary exhibition that explored pop and consumer culture’s impact on the world. Today, in a global culture fully swayed by popular, media and consumer trends how do we confront the final spectacle? This exhibition presents some artistic responses to this query.
Artists: Made In Company (CN) Zhang Ding (CN) Ouyang Chun (CN) Liu Jianhua (CN) Gao Weigang (CN) Zhou Xiaohu (CN) Zhang Lehua (CN) Li Jinghu (CN) Double Fly (CN) Ma Daha (CN) TOF (CN) Zhang Lehua (CN) Li Jinghu (CN) Gao Weigang (CN) Wang Jiaxue (CN) Gabriel Lester (NL) Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung (US) Olaf Breuning (CH) Heidi Voet (BE) Christoph Draeger & Reynold Reynolds (CH/NL) Jean Christian Bourcart (FR) Marc Lafia (US) Dana Levy (IL) Girolamo Marri (IT)
