Undo

In this model, where expansionary policies and revenue growth are embraced as goals at both state and corporate levels, the criteria for being a developed country and achieving a certain level of prosperity have become tied to attaining a specific economic magnitude—to produce and consume everything in greater quantities.

This fundamental role of production and consumption necessitates the active involvement of individuals, the smallest but most essential link in the economic chain, and encourages their continued participation. An immense amount of investment, labor, and capital is funneled into offering countless products and services to individuals, meeting their needs, or ostensibly improving their lives—or at least persuading them of such improvements. While this system portrays itself as "human-centered," claiming that everything is created for human needs, comfort, or satisfaction as part of a value-creation process, this is, ironically, merely a façade. The actual return of this production and value creation as real benefits to individuals or meaningful improvements in their lives remains ambiguous. The system's perception of progress is quantitative, its criteria numerical. This numerical façade obscures a reality where human-centeredness masks a material-centered ethos. In this intricate system, commodities infiltrate human lives at an immeasurable speed and quantity, becoming equated with human satisfaction and benefits, ultimately shaping the human definition of value.

However, this human-commodity spiral has only superficially succeeded in delivering the promised benefits and prosperity to humanity. While this system tries to showcase progress with increasing numbers of buildings, expanding cities, advancing technology, and ever-changing product ranges that never grow outdated, its tangible contributions to the quality and security of human life are questionable. Certainly, global average incomes have risen, GDPs have grown over time, and processes have accelerated with globalization and digitalization. Yet these developments have failed to provide equally positive and sustainable contributions to true human prosperity, economic and social equality, and the relationship with nature. Instead, they have undermined these areas. Despite growing incomes, developed countries with the largest economies still grapple with income inequality; despite rapid urbanization and construction, housing problems persist. Furthermore, accelerated production processes and advancing technology have not rendered the world adequately prepared or resilient against global crises such as resource shortages, natural disasters, or unexpected pandemics. Thus, behind these developed economies lie deeply ingrained costs beyond material terms, encompassing increasingly disparate societies and exploited resources, and these costs are only now being felt.

As the human species, striving for progress and development through the maximization of utility from available resources, becomes both the manager and pawn of this absolutist system, its very definition of value becomes artificial. With each short-term, utility-driven action, humans collectively reinforce this perception. Programmed into this short-term and benefit-focused cycle, humans, within the narrative of the dominant system, grow increasingly disconnected from themselves and the nature with which they are intrinsically unified. Under the hands of the anthropocentric individual, nature is transformed—gradually surrendering its intrinsic meanings and values to packaging, new technologies, speed, and comfort. Nature becomes not only a resource for this production-consumption system but also its commodity. Widespread industrialization and urbanization destroy forests and habitats; fundamental natural resources like water are privatized, resulting in inequitable access; and uncontrolled production and consumption pollute air, water, and soil, threatening biodiversity and exacerbating the climate crisis. Viewing nature through the lens of economic opportunism starkly reveals humanity's alienation from the interconnected systems that sustain it.

The realization of being part of this holistic balance is slowly emerging as humans face the destructive consequences of their exploitative and self-serving actions. It appears that individuals, driven by short-term interests, have lost their sense of connection between their decisions, behaviors, and the world they inhabit. Isolated from broader systems such as society and nature, humans, habituated to collective blindness driven by immediate gratification, are only now beginning to understand the long-term, cumulative destructive impacts of their normalized actions.

Confronted with an unfamiliar sense of insecurity, humanity begins to re-evaluate what is truly essential and valuable. This confrontation ignites the need to redefine the foundations of existence and to explore alternative ways of being beyond materialism. It opens the door to the possibility of something not yet consumed—to go back, to start anew. Standing at the threshold of a breaking point due to a chain of human and ecological crises, humanity is faced with a pressing question: Is it too late to undo everything?

The exhibition "Undo" examines the outcomes of the unbridled production and consumption cycle ingrained in the dominant economic system through the lens of value and time, addressing its consequences on individual, societal, and environmental levels. It critiques the trajectory of today's world by questioning the outputs of the growth-based economic paradigm, emphasizing not what was once desired but what has actually been achieved. It positions the individual as both an independent consciousness and part of a collective awareness, aiming to move beyond the illusions of norms and confront individuals with what they have lost—both materially and spiritually—as both contributors to and victims of this cycle. Capturing the individual at the moment of longing to "undo," the exhibition also explores the possibilities of finding new existential grounds amidst the created and the lost.

 Featuring works by nine artists, including sculptures, paintings, photographs, collages, installations, and videos, "Undo" delves into whether there is a possibility to "undo" in the face of the corruption caused by a growth-oriented, human- and commodity-centered narrative. Searching for the potential to rediscover values, reconnect with the planet, and genuinely create the sought-after prosperity, it invites visitors to reflect on where they stand in this story—on the fine line between "too late…" and "never too late!"—while providing a space for contemplation on their assumptions and behaviors.