slow dance

slow dance
forthcoming

co-curated with Sela Lin

Slow dance examines the excess of everyday culture and its toll on individual and collective well-being. It presents chronic inflammation as a site for dysfunction in both biological and social systems under sustained stress. Through “slow dance,” the exhibition unearths the inflammation that pervades contemporary life.

In any body or system, there is a constant cycle of absorption, metabolization, and release. Chronic inflammation disrupts this equilibrium, as the prolonged inflammatory response begins to fail, leading to dissonance and numbness to the pain source. In this exhibition, chronic inflammation manifests in information excess. We are incessantly inundated with external stimuli, leading to sensory profusion and an insatiable desire for more. This excess of data overwhelms our capacity, creating an unstable cycle where our mental and emotional states become overheated, leading to burnout.

The exhibition offers “slow dance” as a form of relief and resistance against the chronic inflammation produced by excess, rigidity, and orderliness. The act of dancing with an inflamed body illustrates the choice to confront discomfort rather than avoid it; it is a response, a mode of resistance, and an act of care. Instead of merely self-soothing, “slow dance” seeks the uncomfortable process of mining the wound to expose the source of pain.

Inspired by Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, one episode features a diving contest where eager goats compete for high scores—except the lazy goat, who drifts down like a falling leaf. It made me reflect on the obsession with achievement: perhaps a slow dance is an overlooked choice.