Memory in Transformation — Bodies and Posthuman Imaginaries

Memory in Transformation — Bodies and Posthuman Imaginaries

More than two thousand years ago, when the ancient Roman poet Ovid wrote Metamorphoses, he drew on Greek and Roman mythology, using transformation as a thread to link together a wide range of stories—from the creation of the world in the Western tradition to the Rome of his own time. Throughout the book, characters are transformed into animals, plants, stars, and stones for various reasons. It also includes demigods born of unions between gods and humans, endowed with abilities beyond ordinary human capacity.

As we enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century, technology and machines are altering human genes, enhancing physical and cognitive abilities, and continually redefining the boundaries of the human. At the same time, new kinds of robots are entering our everyday lives: self-driving cars, conversational delivery robots, and caregiving robots capable of providing emotional support. They are moving into areas of work and creativity traditionally assumed to belong exclusively to humans. Meanwhile, a growing volume of AI-generated content permeates and influences our direct and mediated experiences, transforming experience itself, as well as how it is perceived and remembered.

All of this suggests that when we return to the ancient Delphic injunction “Know thyself”—later taken up by Socrates and Plato—we must place it within a broader framework. The human, the humanlike nonhuman, the posthuman: where do the boundaries lie? These terms make our thinking more complex. More importantly, they compel us to reconsider what it means to be human—and what humanity itself might become.

Memory in Transformation — Bodies and Posthuman Imaginaries emerges within this broad historical and technological context. The exhibition confronts a particular condition: artists working today may belong to one of the last generations whose memories of childhood or youth had already taken shape before generative AI became pervasive in everyday life. Back then, life was slow. They carry the imprints of that earlier life; at the same time, the entirely new technological way of life is unfamiliar and challenging, requiring them to remain highly sensitive.

From this perspective, Memory in Transformation — Bodies and Posthuman Imaginaries carries a certain melancholy. Facing the future, we continue to move forward with imagination and longing, yet we may also look back, summoning memories and ghosts. Under the illumination, stimulation, and inspiration of the posthuman, imagination and memory continually pull against one another, generating new forms of transformation and new visual languages.

Memory in Transformation — Bodies and Posthuman Imaginaries does not seek answers, but understanding. The exhibition brings together artists’ critical, imaginative, and questioning responses—articulated through visual language—to the posthuman condition. At the core of the participating artists’ practices and works is a form of cognitive self-awareness: the artists genuinely perceive the reality around them, recognize these influences, attend to the multidimensionality, heterogeneity, and randomness of experience and memory, and acknowledge their own reflections, questions, and changes. This awareness may manifest subtly in some works and boldly in others. We present works created by artists’ hands—hands carrying salt, sweat, and bodily warmth. The body is the interface of perception and the primary site where perception and creation take place.

This exhibition is not a complete panorama, but a slice.

Let us enter this fluid, divergent, and interconnected exhibition together.

Co-curators: Kira Wu and Zelene Jiang Schlosberg

September 18, 2026

变形的记忆——身体与后人类想象

两千多年前，古罗马诗人奥维德写作《变形记》时，他取材古希腊罗马神话，用变形这一线索串联各类故事，从西方的“开天辟地”，一直到他生活的罗马时代。关于变形，书中的人物大多由于某种原因被变成动物、植物、星星、石头等。书中也包括神和人结合后出现的、具备某种超越普通人类能力的半神半人。

进入21世纪的第二个四分之一，科技与机器正在改变人类基因，增强人的体能和智能，不断重新定义人的边界。与此同时，新型机器人广泛进入我们的生活：自动驾驶汽车、可以说话的送餐机器人，以及能够提供情感支持和护理服务的机器人，正在进入那些传统上只属于人的工作或创造领域。此外，越来越多由人工智能生成的内容，浸润并影响人类的直接经验和间接经验，从而改变经验本身，以及经验被感知和被记忆的方式。

这一切提示我们：当再次面对德尔斐神庙“认识你自己”的古老箴言——这一箴言后来为苏格拉底与柏拉图所继承——我们需要将它置于一个更为广阔的框架之中。 人，似人的非人，后人类：它们之间的边界究竟在哪里？这些词汇使我们的思考变得更加复杂。更重要的是，它们迫使我们重新思考：成为人意味着什么，而人类本身又可能变成什么。

 《变形的记忆——身体与后人类想象》正是在这一广阔的历史与技术背景中产生。展览面对一种特殊的处境：今天仍在创作的艺术家，也许属于最后几代在生成式人工智能全面进入日常生活之前，便已经形成童年或少年记忆的人。 那时，生活是慢的。他们带着旧生活的印记；另一方面，全新的科技生活对他们而言又是异质而充满挑战的，要求他们保持高度敏感。

从这个角度，《变形的记忆——身体与后人类想象》带上了一种忧郁的气质。面对未来，我们会不断前进，带着想象和憧憬，但同时也许会回望，召唤一些记忆和幽灵。在后人类的光照、刺激、启发下，想象和记忆不断拉扯，产生出新的变形和视觉语言。

《变形的记忆——身体与后人类想象》不寻求答案，而是寻求理解。展览汇集艺术家以视觉语言对后人类状况作出的批判性、想象性与提问性的回应。参展艺术家和作品的核心，是一种认知上的自觉：她/他实实在在地感知到我们的现实，注意到这些影响，注意到我们经验和记忆的多维性、异质性、随机性，然后承认自己的思索、反问和改变。这种自觉在作品中的实现，可以是微妙的，也可以是大张旗鼓的。我们呈现的是艺术家用带着盐分、汗水和体温的手创作出来的作品。身体是感知的界面，也是感知与创作发生的第一现场。

这场展览并非一幅完整的全景，而是一个切片。

让我们一起进入这个流动的，发散性的，连接性的展览。

联合策展人：吴倩、蒋贞蕾

2026年9月18日

Curators

Kira Wu and Zelene Jiang Schlosberg

Exhibition Information

Exhibition: Memory in Transformation — Bodies and Posthuman Imaginaries

Exhibition Dates: September 18–October 11, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, September 18, 2026, 6:00–9:00 PM

Venue: The Research House for Asian Art

Address: 3217 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60608

Artists:

Arthur Yuan（亚瑟·袁）、Beile Hu（胡贝乐）、Brielle Stein（布里埃尔·斯坦）、David Lozano（大卫·洛萨诺）、Nick Fury（尼克·弗里）、Cherry Yung（董卓恩）、Richard Hull（理查德·赫尔）、Xinmo Li（李心沫）、Zihan Cui（崔子翰）、Xinyu Wo（沃欣雨）、Zihan Mo（莫籽涵）、Olivia Lee（奥利维娅·李）、Wei Lin（魏琳）、True Markham（特鲁·马卡姆）、Violet Yin（奥莉维亚·尹）、Xinlyu Wang（王昕雨）、Zhang Ming（张明）、Zelene Schlosberg（蒋贞蕾）