Exhibition - Yehwan Song: Are We Still (Surfing)?

About the Event

Are We Still (Surfing)? is the first institutional solo exhibition by Yehwan Song, a PW resident alum known for creating websites which critically reshape the ‘user-friendly,’ yet ultimately hostile, interfaces that have overtaken the internet at the expense of genuine agency or freedom.

Through a disorienting installation comprising video projections and kinetic sculptures that have been placed within clusters of grid-like structures, Are We Still (Surfing)? suggests that the internet is no longer a space designed for users or attentive to their needs. Instead, it has evolved into a closed, self-reinforcing system fueled by corporate interest while imposing surveillance and control upon individuals. Song explores the transformation facing modern internet users, who now rely heavily on platform-driven algorithms and looping, targeted content as opposed to exercising genuine agency. This interface contrasts starkly with earlier iterations of the internet that were less obviously shaped by state and corporate interests, which allowed users to more freely ‘surf’ the web.

Fascinated by the way water is often used as a metaphor for the internet, Song investigates how terms such as ‘web surfing’, ‘port,’ ‘stream’ and ‘cloud’ work to mythologize the technology while perpetuating illusions of anonymity, freedom of speech and limitless exploration as well. Unlike traditional user-interactive installations, the artist’s work is self-driven and autonomous. Are We Still (Surfing)? generates its own inputs, materializing the stagnant and confined experiences beneath the idealized surface of the web. Whirlpools—holes where water is trapped without forming waves—appear here in conglomerations of screens. Water drips from copper pipes, while projected websites trigger the movement of the two, creating a dizzying, closed feedback loop.

The intentional flow of the whirlpool, designed to serve commercial interests, mirrors the web’s disregard for individual agency. This installation does not listen to or rely on the user—it is neither user-built nor user-controlled. Instead, it embodies the self-sustaining, algorithmic system intentionally designed to immerse, stagnate and overwhelm.

About the Artist

Yehwan Song is a Korean-born web artist who specializes in the creation of anti-user-friendly, non-user-centric, unconventional, and diverse independent websites. Her work—spanning virtual spaces, physical installations, web tools, and user interfaces—satirizes and critiques the overgeneralization of users and the prevalence of templated websites. The primary focus of Song's artistic endeavors lies in exploring the discomfort and insecurity experienced by marginalized users hidden beneath the facade of technological utopianism, excessive comfort, speed, and ease of use. Her practice attempts to address digital discomfort stemming from a lack of consideration for diversity and a dearth of empathy. Through the act of exposing this discomfort and crafting non-generic web interfaces, Song aims to shed light on the inequalities pervasive within the digital environment.

Yehwan Song: Are We Still (Surfing)? is curated by Gabriel Florenz. It is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

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