In 2018, an article titled “An ancient virus may be responsible for human consciousness” was published on a science news website, which covered two papers published in the scientific journal, Cell, in the January 2018 issue. The article detailed research that claims that the very root of human consciousness is a result of a viral gene known as Arc. It does the very viral task of packaging up genetic information and sending it from nerve cells to their neighbors in little capsules that look a whole lot like viruses themselves. The researchers believe these little packages of information could potentially be a critical element for higher-order thinking.
While this is a debatable and controversial point of view by a small number of scientists, it reminds an undeniable discussion that the history of viruses is part of human history and a mirror for humanity. We have struggled and coexisted with viruses from the beginning of our history and each plague has brought cultural, economic and political and social changes that outlasted the presence of viruses.
We invite ten artists to participate in this collaborative exhibition, SMART-59, and bring our viewers to the year of 2059 when a new type of imaginary virus, SMART-59, breaks out. This project requires one’s imagination for an unknown pandemic of the future, presenting a new way of thinking about what virus and pandemic mean in human history and what moral and social-political questions arise with it. Each artist creates a work of art in this imagined context of the future, but raises questions based on what they are experiencing in the present time, their real lives and experiences, and explores further to see what the future will hold.
With our acknowledgment of and respect for people who have been severely affected by the pandemic of COVID-19, we do not explore the project on the future impact of COVID-19 on human history and individual lives. Instead, can we create a virus in the imaginary world to think about the profound impact of the virus on human society from a different perspective?
