The Principle of Uncertainty

24 May - 9 October 2017
MMCA Seoul (Galleries 6)

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA; Director: Bartomeu Mari) will present The Principle of Uncertainty at MMCA Seoul from May 24 to October 9, 2017.

Inspired by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, a key principle in quantum mechanics, The Principle of Uncertainty builds on the premise that it is impossible to measure the variables of a particle precisely, because in the time it takes to measure one, others have changed. The works displayed are by artists who call into question historical records, personal memory, and the very act of creating art in a process of continual deliberation and analysis that this exhibition brings to light.

The featured artists-Walid Raad, Ho Tzu Nyen, Hayoun Kwon, and Zachary Formwalt-are four of the fastest-rising contemporary artists in the world today. Through works that repurpose both memory and material, they illuminate the realm of uncertainty as they have experienced it in the process of creation.

Lebanese media artist Walid Raad (b. 1967) attracted attention with a long-term project titled The Atlas Group, a part-archival, part-fictional documentation of the complicated and uncertain history of the Lebanese wars. His new project Preface to the Ninth Edition: On Marwan Kassab–Bachi (1934–2016) consists of frames, hung backwards, that look as if they were discovered in storage, making up a display that prompts reflection on what constitutes art.

Ho Tzu Nyen (b. 1976), a major media artist in Southeast Asia, was the only Singaporean artist to be featured at the 2011 Venice Biennale. He creates video art that explores historical and philosophical themes, including religion in Southeast Asia and the legacy of colonialism in the region, as well as their underlying contradictions and ambiguities. His latest work, part of a series titled The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, poses the question, "What is Southeast Asia?"

Hayoun Kwon (b. 1981), an up-and-coming artist based in France and England, was highlighted in 2017 by the contemporary art magazine Art Review as one of 12 artists to watch ("Future Greats"). Her new work, the virtual reality-based installation Bird Lady, is both an exploration of the relationship between reality and fiction-conducted through a close examination of the concepts of individual and collective memory-and an aesthetic statement on the possibilities for virtual reality within contemporary art.

The new work of Netherlands-based American artist Zachary Formwalt (b. 1979) notes that photographer Eadweard Muybridge created his panoramic shots of San Francisco in the same year that the world’s first corporation was born. Through analysis of these events, the artist symbolically points to the presence of hidden stories within the narrative of capitalism's development.

In addition to the artists' new works, the exhibition will feature showings of the artists' video projects, to begin in July at MMCA Film and Video. A total of 15 video works will be screened, including Walid Raad's We Can Make Rain But No One Came to Ask (2006); Ho Tzu Nyen's Here (2009), which was screened at Directors' Fortnight at Cannes; Hayoun Kwon's 489 Years, which was screened at the 2017 MoMA Doc Fortnight; and Zachary Formwalt's In Place of Capital (2008). The screenings will be accompanied by artist talks, lectures, and other public programming to be held in conjunction with the exhibition.


※ For general enquiries, please call +82-2-3701-9500 (Seoul Branch, MMCA)
※ For more information on the exhibition, please contact Curatorial Department 2 of MMCA at +82-2-3701-9575/9584
※ Please check the link below for images and further information: http://webhard.mmca.go.kr id : mmcapr1 / pw : 0987 (guest > 2017 > MMCA 2017 Exhibition)