" Temporary Residence Permit "——To walk along a road
The first phrase people often remember while learning French is:"D'où venez-vous? " ("Where are you from? ") "Where are you from"is often one of the first questions asked in our communication with others. To that I'd like to respond: "We each lives in a very small corner of the world with diligence."
"Drifting" seems like an idealistic word, but if so, what kind of ideals has this society provided? The society is pragmatic, and it seems that "a sense of belonging" is also an idealistic phrase. What defines success for a drifter? Is it defined in economic terms or spiritual ones? Drifting is the quintessential movement through space and time.
In "Proust and Signs", Gilles Deleuze describes the concept of space in terms of perspective; that is, traditional methods of perceiving space depend both on the physical position and motion of the one perceiving. On the other hand, the claim is also made that differences in motion are not the result from temporal or physical differences, but "virtual" ones. It's important to note that "virtual"in this context does not mean the same thing as it does in the phrase "virtual reality." Rather, this philosophical idea of virtuality defines memory as "real without being actual, ideal without being abstract." Thus, "drifting" corresponds to ideality in reality.
Here are a group of young, drifting artists with an average age of thirty, who through their works, contemplate on the world in reality that they experienced, both ideal and realistic. Using the most ordinary materials and media, the artists touch on this very universal social question: Why do we wander? Why do we choose to live elsewhere? What kind of temptations do we get from the state of moving in time and space? Where else can we go if we leave here? This group of artists conveys to us myriad different perspectives and ways of thinking about the world, stemming from their varied backgrounds. Not only is this the first exhibition to be shown at the UCA, it's also the gathering of a group young artists seeking to express the idea of "drifting" collectively. Our hope is that the dia-logue on this theme will continue to develop and percolate. We propose that the present resonates with the past, therefore giving meaning to the future.
