Exhibition: electronic erotica

Living within surveillance capitalism, we often find ourselves in a vulnerable condition, incapable of resisting the seduction of digital prostheses or escaping the gaze of the internet void. As both observers and the observed, we intend to examine, enforce, and enhance our bodies for display on screens. Entangled in the system formed by web spectacle, we are in constant pursuit of instant pleasure and willingly contribute to the data machine that powers the global economy.

Similar to how erotica exploits the interplay between selfness and otherness, our physical and digital bodies also engage in an ongoing dance of desire, alluring responses from the other through provocation and flirtation. Tethered to our human-computer interfaces, the border between reality and simulation becomes indistinct. This prompts several critical questions: How does this form of stimulus control recast our digital selves into productivity? How can we reclaim our autonomy and agency in the digital wonderland despite its temptations?

In his art exhibition titled electronic erotica, Adam Hsieh navigates the ambiguous intermediate space between physical and virtual realms through artistic experiments spanning video, still image, performance, human-computer interaction, and generative AI. With his affective and playful approaches, Hsieh appropriates digital creativity to place our bodies within a dynamic relational network, where we may fantasise about our complex and obscure relationships with the geographical, political, social, and cultural forces that form the backdrop of our existence.