The Wrong Biennale 2019 – 2020 | The Hysterophimia Pavilion

The Wrong Digital Art Biennale, 4th edition 2019 – 2020
Exhibition: The Hysterophimia Pavilion

Opening: 01 November 2019
Duration: 01 November 2019 – 01 March 2020
Location: online
Curated by: Foteini Vergidou

The Hysterophimia (tr. posthumous fame) Pavilion is the Greek Pavilion for this year’s edition of The Wrong. Starting from Athens and representing a variety of Greek and international artists, Hysterophimia deals with the cultural product of the digital era: the image. The images are not just the ones that we produce and consume and the ones that represent us, but also they are the ones created by machines. The technological advance has made possible the creation of our consuming and behavioural image via Big Data collection and the image recognition of AI algorithms. A new visual grammar emerges and the deep digital texture of the image brings out new aesthetics and new ways of representing and interpreting the world.

Humanity is now more connected than ever. The whole world can be perceived as a single historical, economic and cultural unit. But connectivity doesn’t necessarily mean harmony and individuals are becoming more disconnected from their selves than ever before.

Everyday we are integrating more and more with the digital world, blurring the line between what is virtual and what is real. This integration with technology has allowed us to find new ways to augment ourselves, express our opinions and communicate with others, giving new potential to what we can achieve.

What does it mean to remain human in the digital age and how do we construct our image in the Internet era? In the Hysterophimia Pavilion for The Wrong Digital Art Biennale 2019 – 2020, the concept of the image as we perceive it today is being challenged and explored from different perspectives.

The exhibition attempts to examine through a variety of artworks our relation with our self, our self-awareness and our need to leave behind us a legacy, our hysterophemia. As a result we have the rise of selfie culture and the over production & consumption of images. The exhibition also challenges the idea of the offline VS the online representation of one’s self.

Though hysterophemia used to be a heroic and noble thing to aspire and pursue, does it matter today, where everything is recorded, monitored and stored in Big Data without our control and consent?

The rapid technological changes also form a norm that supports our constant sharing of our image through online platforms. Our image needs to be constantly evolving, in order to be relatable and updated to these fast changing social norms. Frequency is the key, because it creates a sense of urgency that may lead to social anxiety and trauma.

Last but not least, through this exhibition, we take a look not only on the images we produce and consume, but also on the images created by machines. Big data that portray us way better than a photographic lense and images created entirely by AI algorithms, manifesting their own need for posthumous fame.

Participating artists: Charlotte Eifler, Kyriaki Goni, For Cancel, Margarita Athanasiou, Jonas Lund, Erica Lapadat-Jazen, Maria Judova and Constantine Nisidis, Yorgos Papafigos, Shinseungback Kimyonghun, Spyros Aggelopoulos, Gertuda Gilyte and Kailum Graves.