In collaboration with the Power Station of Art’s Emerging Curators Project 2018, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel is proud to present 'Bad Code', an exhibition curated by the three Chinese curators Ningjue Lyu, Jingqiu Li, and Xinyi Ren.
Bad Code is a new media art exhibition that examines the cohabitation of human and machine in the post-Internet age, taking the concept of “bad code” as its starting point to discuss the various possibilities posed by this idea that strides between practical tool and mutating virus. It consists of two parts, one internal and one external – the external layer looks at the “bad code reality” by presenting artworks that use programming languages or new media plans to reproduce or involve the world, while the internal layer focuses on the “real bad codes” that collectively form a space of absurdity to resemble “bad codes” in our real life.
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Set against the backdrop of big data and artificial intelligence, the exhibition attempts to question the relationship between human beings and code in an age where machinery and algorithms are omnipresent, by utilizing tricks with space setting and artwork presentation. It also believes that bad codes are not just virtual goblins that hide behind screens, but rather a phantom that has long penetrated our “reality.” The twisted attachments that are exclusive to our post-internet age fill the spaces like code smells.
It is noteworthy that Bad Code is not another paranoia-driven fantasy of a digital dystopia. Rather, it looks at its surrounding world with a detachment that comes close to indifference, and ponders on the new rules that this world provides. Eventually, Bad Code poses a question to all artists and viewers: what is the form of art or language that can hack into this world’s neural center like a virus in a computer?
About the Curatorial Team
A Bachelor of Engineering from Tongji University and Dual Master of Architecture from Politecnico di Milano and Tongji University, Ningjue Lyu has participated in various architectural exhibitions since 2013. Her main research directions are architectural history & theory, architectural media, publishing and curating.
A Bachelor of Fine Arts from China Academy of Art in Hangzhou and Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Jingqiu Li now works for Tencent as a visual designer. Her main research directions are visual design and motion graphics.
Having graduated from the Tsinghua Academy of Arts and Design and currently pursuing a Masters degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Xinyi Ren is a curator and writer based in New York City. Her main research directions include new media art and post-Internet art.
Practical information
Exhibition: November 2, 2018 to February 24, 2019
Venue: Power Station of Art, Hall No.7, 5F, 200 Huayuangang Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11:00-19:00 (Free admission)
