Abstract: Updates on Hyundai Blue Prize Art+Tech 2023

In April of 2022, the Hyundai Blue Prize Art+Tech 2023 launched a new Call for Proposals with the theme "Decentralized Reworlding". It aims to encourage emerging Chinese curators to investigate the complexity of social systems through art and technology, reconsider the existing boundaries between social norms and the human sphere, and reshape the creative and critical forms of the world.

The Hyundai Blue Prize Art+Tech 2023 has received a multitude of exceptional submissions. An increasing number of curators from diverse regions and backgrounds have explored the possibilities and limitations, as well as the forms and meanings of curation, in a creative and dynamic manner. Notably, the emphasis on public engagement as a fundamental curatorial component has become more evident, and collective curatorial practices and interdisciplinary collaboration have become indispensable.

In alphabetical order by last name, the shortlisted curators are CHEN Jianghong & LI Zheng, TIAN Leiyuan & HE Qingyang, WEI Yifeng & Penny Dan XU, WU Jianru & ZHANG Sirui, and ZONG Xiao. The initial review by junior jurors and the semi-final review by senior jurors have resulted in the selection of the five groups of curators with outstanding proposals. The senior jury consists of Joel Ferree (Program Director of Art & Technology Lab, Los Angeles County Museum of Art), FEI Jun (Professor, Doctoral supervisor, Art + Technology program, School of Design, Central Academy of Fine Art), HOU Hanru (Writer and Curator, Artistic Director of MAXXI), Christiane Paul (Adjunct Curator of Digital Art at the Whitney Museum of American Art), and Stephanie Rosenthal (Director of the Martin Gropius Museum), and the junior senior jury consists of Nikita Yingqian Cai, DONG Bingfeng, HUANG Sunquan, JIANG Yuhui, LI Jie, Carol Yinghua Lu, Vivian Xu, and ZHANG Lie.

The Hyundai Blue Prize Art+Tech will also provide the five groups of candidates with research funds and professional development opportunities through a series of activities such as online seminars and expert mentorships to help them refine their curatorial proposals for the final review by the senior jurors. In December 2022, the final two recipients will be announced. Please find the latest updates on our official WeChat account " Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing ". For more information about the prize, please visit art-tech.hyundaiblueprize.com.

Hyundai Blue Prize Art+Tech 2023
The Finalists
(listed in alphabetical order by last name)

CHEN Jianghong & LI Zheng

CHEN Jianghong, Creative planner, design researcher (left)
LI Zheng, Techno-art curator, practitioner of innovative education for children, fashion designer (right)

CHEN Jianghong, graduated from Northumbria University with a Master's Degree in Design Management. Her research interests include urban revitalization, experience design, ecologically sustainable design, and design for social well-being. Since 2015, she has been engaged in the overall curatorial work of exhibitions including: “A Dream Journey through Panorama of Rivers and Mountains: The Immersive Art Exhibition of the Palace Museum” (2021), “A Journey Through Springtime Along the River” Hong Kong Exhibition” (2019), Collateral Event “Across Chinese Cities – China House Vision” (2016) and “Across Chinese Cities – The Community” (2018) at the International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, and Baitasi ReMade (2015-2016) at Beijing Design Week, etc.

LI Zheng, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) with a Master’s Degree in Design and Curatorial Studies. She was a visiting scholar at ENSAD in Paris, France and is currently working as the curator at Phoenix Digital Technology. She is a fashion designer and a member of Beijing Youth Art Development Promotion Association, and has also worked as the curator for multiple Children's Social Innovation Projects. In the field of digital art exhibitions, she worked as the curator of the "Asian Digital Art Exhibition" unit and the executive curator of the 2nd BMAB Biennale of Science and Technology. In addition, she also took part in the Forbidden City's "Gongxi" wedding-themed digital art exhibition, the collateral co-creation event for children in “A Dream Journey through Panorama of Rivers and Mountains: The Immersive Art Exhibition of the Palace Museum”, and served as the tutor of the project-based learning section at the Tongxing College, founded by science fiction writer Hao Jingfang. With multiple cross-border academic study backgrounds, she continues to apply the innovation of art and technology in exhibitions and has long been interested in topics such as ecological sustainability.

Comment by the judge : 
HOU Hanru : An ambitious project to explore and present a complex issue in a complex but experimental manner. Fresh but relevant selection of works, and a bold, spectacular but efficient spatial structure.

TIAN Leiyuan & HE Qingyang

TIAN Leiyuan, Curator (left)
HE Qingyang, Curator (right)

TIAN Leiyuan is a senior student majoring in Media and Arts at Duke Kunshan University. Her research explores ways of understanding new media and digital communication with a focus on online fandom culture and marginalized communities.

HE Qingyang is a junior student majoring in Media & Arts at Duke Kunshan University and a curatorial practitioner. In October 2020, she founded Beauty and Beast Studio, an independent curatorial team. Her research topics mainly focus on human-computer interaction and new media arts.

Comment by the judge : 
Joel Ferree : A hearty critique of decentralization and its proponents. Very clear and well positioned. A strong connection is drawn between the concept, artists, and exhibition scheme.

WEI Yifeng & Penny Dan XU

WEI Yifeng ,New media artist, art theorist, doctoral candidate in Visual Culture studies at Ireland National College of Art and Design, Bachelor and Master in Experimental Art at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (left)
Penny Dan XU, Independent curator, PhD in art history, writer and translator (right)

WEI Yifeng’s work and research show a wide spectrum of media, including interactive installation, live exhibition and performance, photography, and video. While reflecting on the legacy of cybernetics and system theory in the 20th century, his current research interests lie in digital colonization and liberation, resistance against algorithm bias and surveillance capitalism, as well as strategic anonymous practice. His works have been exhibited internationally at museums and festivals such as the University of Chicago's MADD Center and the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.

Dr. Penny Dan XU, she is a “questioner”. She explores answers via curating, writing, and researching. Her research interests span from contemporary to traditional art history. Her essays are published by prestigious institutions such as the Oxford University Press and LMU Munich. She has participated in and curated various exhibition projects in major art institutions, such as the Venice Biennale, The Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR), CAFA Art Museum, Today Art Museum, etc. As a translator, her solo-translated book, Peggy Guggenheim: Confessions of An Art Addict, was published in 2014, which was listed on the reading lists for art history undergraduate students by various universities.

Comment by the judge : 
Christiane Paul :  The exhibition concept is both original and very poetic – from using “the Unknowing” as a strategy for decentralization to the subchapters of the Anonymous, the Undefinable, and the Voiceless. The themes are overall well-articulated, but it would be better to tease out the differences between the qualities represented in the three chapters. The design is thoughtful and engaging.

WU Jianru & ZHANG Sirui

WU Jianru, Curator, editor, writer (left)
ZHANG Sirui, Curator, writer, architect (right)

WU Jianru is a writer, editor, and curator, who currently works as the Media Lab Director at the Guangdong Times Museum. Her research interests concentrate on the intersection of feminism, the philosophy of technology, nontraditional kinship, and creative institutional practice. She joined the Times Museum and founded the Media Lab in 2019, which is designed within the framework of institutional critique to respond to the current ossification of art institutions. As a writer and editor, she has edited books and publications for artists and museums. In 2017-2018, she worked as an editor for “One Hand Clapping” exhibition publications at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. She worked as the senior editor of LEAP magazine from 2012 to 2017. Her writings have appeared in Artforum China, Ocula, The Art Newspaper China, among others. Wu Jianru received an Asian Cultural Council fellowship in 2017, and Jane Farver Arts Foundation curator fellowship at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (New York) in 2019. She has been a member of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Advisory Board since 2020.

ZHANG Sirui is a curator, writer, and architect. She received her Master of Science degree from the Critical, Curatorial, and Conceptual Practices in Architecture program, GSAPP at Columbia University, and since then has worked in art and architecture with a special interest in everyday urban life. Her writings have appeared in T+A magazine, LEAP magazine, and artforum.com.cn. She has co-curated the exhibitions with Wu Jianru “Plant Time” at 69 Campus Art Center in 2021, and "Forget Sorrow Grass: an Archaeology of Feminine Time" at Guangdong Times Museum in 2019.

Comment by the judge : 
Christiane Paul : Compared to the previous proposal, this one very successfully traces network evolution. The concept is strong and anchoring it in a personal story is intriguing. The choice selection of works is excellent, the design could use a bit more work.

ZONG Xiao

ZONG Xiao, curator

ZONG Xiao is a curator currently based in Shanghai. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts and obtained a Master’s Degree in Curatorial Practice. Zong has curated several exhibitions, including Narratives, Stories, Algorithms: Rethinking Independence in Digital Times, 2022, at the Pfizer Building, Brooklyn, New York, and LovingHatingLand, 2021, at the SVA Gallery, New York.

Comment by the judge : 
Stephanie Rosenthal : Interesting concept and good selection of artists. Good combination of media and the presentation is well thought through.