(re)understanding media stands as a checkpoint to revisit where we are at in the face of the ever-developing electronic age. As a reflection to re-examine the relationship between men and machines, we encourage visitors to rethink and reimagine how media arts rebalance and restore the benevolent aspect of technology in society and culture so as to foster and cultivate a more equitable and hopeful future through technology.

Marshall McLuhan published Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man in 1964. He posited that “the medium is the message”. Sixty years on, the mass public is still wondering about the meaning of this message. This exhibition serves as a checkpoint to revisit where we are at in the face of the ever-developing electronic age. As a reflection to reexamine the relationship between men and machines, we encourage visitors to rethink and reimagine how media arts rebalance and restore the benevolent aspect of technology in society and culture so as to foster and cultivate a more equitable and hopeful future through technologies.

Counteracting the dystopian media injustice, artists challenge the status quo to regain agency for users of media tools. Through interactive multimedia installations, Sam Anthem, Benjamin Glass, Patrick Glennon, Yuwen Huang and Liang He invite visitors to explore regained agency through arts and technology. Examining blockchain, video games, man-versus-machine, AI-generated contents, bioart and motion-capture, artists create an immersive space where visitors re-learn media tools to build a better and more hopeful world.

Read more on the Ars Electronica website