David Altmejd in Art and Industry
6 October 2022—29 January 2023
Group exhibition at Ulsan Art Museum, Ulsan, South Korea
The revolution of digital technology and the late capitalism at the end of the 20th century have caused art and industry to merge in different ways; the accelerating socialization and industrialization of art have opened a new era where culture—not product—is being produced, and consumed in the economy.
In the past, the main driving force of the industrial economy was capital, technology, and labor. Over the digital and post-digital age, information (big data) was added as the main force, and art has finally become the core element of economic growth. After passing the Third Wave, described by Alvin Toffler as an ‘information society,' now we are encountering the Fourth Wave which was noted by Jim Dator that art (dream) is centered in social and economic life.
In fact, in contemporary times, we can find many companies that are merging actively fusing art into their administrative management, with the objective of creative administration.
This exhibition is a research project to explore and describe, from a cultural history perspective, the cases of horizontal convergence between art and industry. It aims to present the successful collaboration cases that achieved two needs: the economic value of companies and the artistic one of art. Thus, this exhibition would like to unfold the past, present, and future of the horizontal convergence where art and industry are in symbiosis.