Yang Du @ Art Central 2022 : The Price of Immortality

26 - 29 May 2022

This group of works by Yang Du reflects her thoughts and questions about the consequences of mutual promotion between human society and the rapid development of science and technology. Since ancient times, humans have made numerous attempts to live forever, but they all failed. According to the current level of our knowledge, envisioned immortality may require humans to give up flesh and blood or drastically alter their fundamental organisms. This implies that we may be at a key juncture, breaking with thousands of years of tradition: transforming from the physical to the virtual. People who perceive this are like driving a car for the first time, yearning for beautiful scenery and high speed, but uneasy about unknown dangers. Whether the tools created by humans for convenience will become the shackles on their journey, and whether the challenges we strove to avoid in the past will become the touchstones that are hard to find in the future.

 

In recent years, many people have become entrenched in this money-worship culture as a result of social turbulence and the advent of new virtual industries. They are eager for quick success and "trendy" stuff. Yang, as an observer, admits that every viewpoint is reasonable. She is, however, still contemplating whether she should accept all the amusement and ease brought by technology, or whether she should be self-disciplined and refrain from doing certain things. Or, try to maintain the balance between the two and absorb the nutrition from both sides. The artist intends to illustrate all kinds of questions and insights one by one, documenting her current state of mind.