https://ryankuo.net Ryan Kuo Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:56:57 +0000 https://ryankuo.net en https://ryankuo.net/Works Mon, 25 Oct 2021 04:22:49 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Works <img width="3360" height="2100" width_o="3360" height_o="2100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb6bbad500ef5294d8457d5a1b5126611811e3f5534e889698b16001d55d9251/critical.png" data-mid="209697423" border="0" alt="Downtime" data-caption="Downtime" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb6bbad500ef5294d8457d5a1b5126611811e3f5534e889698b16001d55d9251/critical.png" /> <img width="1500" height="1440" width_o="1500" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4cad90a0dd1a53ca8e91dc7f3908259dcf2c7ade724dd1838c69ae3cbccf9361/1.png" data-mid="189522489" border="0" alt="Puzzle" data-caption="Puzzle" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4cad90a0dd1a53ca8e91dc7f3908259dcf2c7ade724dd1838c69ae3cbccf9361/1.png" /> <img width="1080" height="1080" width_o="1080" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f004e9ae0903490c1c41beecd9f5ca9614256c3a59ab2b48880689e11fb59588/Real_milk_sample_page02.jpg" data-mid="189519704" border="0" alt="Real Milk" data-caption="Real Milk" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f004e9ae0903490c1c41beecd9f5ca9614256c3a59ab2b48880689e11fb59588/Real_milk_sample_page02.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2000" width_o="3000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/370e28e983027b6bf516a183c7a77fcdd51cedbedad9bd562f7a713982ab3eb3/8.png" data-mid="122546336" border="0" alt="Hateful Little Thing" data-caption="Hateful Little Thing" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/370e28e983027b6bf516a183c7a77fcdd51cedbedad9bd562f7a713982ab3eb3/8.png" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae156411b8a090d6a0ef97129cbd9baeb26d89674da9bcdfe62d67fd2cb72382/IMGP1902-v2a_sm.jpeg" data-mid="189522633" border="0" alt="Father Figure" data-caption="Father Figure" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ae156411b8a090d6a0ef97129cbd9baeb26d89674da9bcdfe62d67fd2cb72382/IMGP1902-v2a_sm.jpeg" /> <img width="1048" height="1570" width_o="1048" height_o="1570" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1485e993b79bee45339a9e6027b6991c3ef58d2d67963045e62a97e1631c9533/hell.png" data-mid="122546337" border="0" alt="Square Hole" data-caption="Square Hole" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1485e993b79bee45339a9e6027b6991c3ef58d2d67963045e62a97e1631c9533/hell.png" /> <img width="1825" height="1825" width_o="1825" height_o="1825" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ff9b4332b36c1ea853bb052e2e978750b7308c7775007d95bb1d3c00b41ae60e/2021-07-26_5.jpg" data-mid="122546398" border="0" alt="Talks" data-caption="Talks" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ff9b4332b36c1ea853bb052e2e978750b7308c7775007d95bb1d3c00b41ae60e/2021-07-26_5.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="1764" width_o="2500" height_o="1764" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b403cdf7e1db4c67d717dfe986a28b763bc45012a43c5cacec729be8ab685fc0/holo_web_4.png" data-mid="189525437" border="0" alt="The Truth of the Matter" data-caption="The Truth of the Matter" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b403cdf7e1db4c67d717dfe986a28b763bc45012a43c5cacec729be8ab685fc0/holo_web_4.png" /> <img width="1440" height="1440" width_o="1440" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/44d15446b45642bd35d4636e18b3c22f819ac66e04b9defb86a8814ddbb8780c/faith-5-sq.png" data-mid="122546356" border="0" alt="Faith" data-caption="Faith" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/44d15446b45642bd35d4636e18b3c22f819ac66e04b9defb86a8814ddbb8780c/faith-5-sq.png" /> <img width="1500" height="1159" width_o="1500" height_o="1159" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4242dd880b3dd5d6d76a96475b2530d80a9a86a2588cf5595cda965e0fce5d0d/faith-schema.png" data-mid="229596054" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4242dd880b3dd5d6d76a96475b2530d80a9a86a2588cf5595cda965e0fce5d0d/faith-schema.png" /> <img width="772" height="924" width_o="772" height_o="924" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/13b1e4820cff93ad896412768543bcf83e72807ff44f51da886e260790b98539/Screen-Shot-2020-01-31-at-12.24.52-AM.png" data-mid="122546428" border="0" alt="Baby Faith" data-caption="Baby Faith" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/772/i/13b1e4820cff93ad896412768543bcf83e72807ff44f51da886e260790b98539/Screen-Shot-2020-01-31-at-12.24.52-AM.png" /> <img width="3000" height="2002" width_o="3000" height_o="2002" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c2a02ff67010eabe504988edc73ad2477e61900f094b58d9bc68fa79df9e48e4/bitforms_june2017_019.jpg" data-mid="122637324" border="0" alt="The Pointer" data-caption="The Pointer" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c2a02ff67010eabe504988edc73ad2477e61900f094b58d9bc68fa79df9e48e4/bitforms_june2017_019.jpg" /> <img width="1630" height="916" width_o="1630" height_o="916" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0cdd5cefaaac05e8f75c7f0216a8e3a1b0de1f37a0c3a869b2330e5751112536/DONT.png" data-mid="122546438" border="0" alt="I Don't See It" data-caption="I Don't See It" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0cdd5cefaaac05e8f75c7f0216a8e3a1b0de1f37a0c3a869b2330e5751112536/DONT.png" /> <img width="2048" height="3072" width_o="2048" height_o="3072" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7e0eb668955b82154177a0417041a6415e8e2e5727a3aaf80dde18e9f8254d27/Mackenzie_PerceptionsofWhite_070.JPG" data-mid="189517555" border="0" alt="File: A Primer" data-caption="File: A Primer" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7e0eb668955b82154177a0417041a6415e8e2e5727a3aaf80dde18e9f8254d27/Mackenzie_PerceptionsofWhite_070.JPG" /> <img width="3000" height="2002" width_o="3000" height_o="2002" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/51a77434f001fd44cbd16c8a447eeda38a28eb5e9e6920fe332b2b06360b4b07/bitforms_june2017_016.jpg" data-mid="122637322" border="0" alt="OK." data-caption="OK." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/51a77434f001fd44cbd16c8a447eeda38a28eb5e9e6920fe332b2b06360b4b07/bitforms_june2017_016.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="613" width_o="800" height_o="613" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9693edc64b5812415f8e07fbb3792fed0d5543a737eafdfb923095961412fae/fm_ps.gif" data-mid="189517644" border="0" alt="Family Maker" data-caption="Family Maker" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/b9693edc64b5812415f8e07fbb3792fed0d5543a737eafdfb923095961412fae/fm_ps.gif" /> <img width="734" height="837" width_o="734" height_o="837" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fbf90b0a024c91088707229999adc84ec9d775f57238e4f900f6245588d22989/table15d_web.png" data-mid="189523401" border="0" alt="Tables of Content" data-caption="Tables of Content" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/734/i/fbf90b0a024c91088707229999adc84ec9d775f57238e4f900f6245588d22989/table15d_web.png" /> <img width="1000" height="898" width_o="1000" height_o="898" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ad849f3f6db2335ef91dba74c1d01263e8985ab0b288cedcbbf6426ebea2561/filebox2_website.png" data-mid="122546388" border="0" alt="File" data-caption="File" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ad849f3f6db2335ef91dba74c1d01263e8985ab0b288cedcbbf6426ebea2561/filebox2_website.png" /> <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3c1873a671a82f0c9e85a3ee8f2d46e056a971827be9e381d22fd94382ef2813/dockstalackpile.png" data-mid="122546386" border="0" alt="The Way I See It" data-caption="The Way I See It" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3c1873a671a82f0c9e85a3ee8f2d46e056a971827be9e381d22fd94382ef2813/dockstalackpile.png" /> <img width="504" height="504" width_o="504" height_o="504" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ecc0f372dc495960f44d2ed08f1e7ee1ea3173f7f934cd231d0a0546825aad76/fuck.png" data-mid="122637464" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/504/i/ecc0f372dc495960f44d2ed08f1e7ee1ea3173f7f934cd231d0a0546825aad76/fuck.png" /> <img width="2520" height="1444" width_o="2520" height_o="1444" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6db02f82a72e802a4d09f42ad133cbbd9733344e6dd0973b2c5be4f3b1c7222e/nouns-matrix-wide.png" data-mid="122637470" border="0" alt="Nouns" data-caption="Nouns" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6db02f82a72e802a4d09f42ad133cbbd9733344e6dd0973b2c5be4f3b1c7222e/nouns-matrix-wide.png" /> <img width="1500" height="1250" width_o="1500" height_o="1250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/90d71355169bfa1f0e4f543d2618ce6eb646449527440c3ca468ff078ab3400d/flow.png" data-mid="189522859" border="0" alt="Enterlope" data-caption="Enterlope" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/90d71355169bfa1f0e4f543d2618ce6eb646449527440c3ca468ff078ab3400d/flow.png" /> <img width="1200" height="801" width_o="1200" height_o="801" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5fae51707a435fdc485c50d2eb86122aba388c30a943ad4c8354d3f669b31f50/olaph_install.png" data-mid="122546422" border="0" alt="Alibi" data-caption="Alibi" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5fae51707a435fdc485c50d2eb86122aba388c30a943ad4c8354d3f669b31f50/olaph_install.png" /> <img width="1200" height="869" width_o="1200" height_o="869" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d9317eaa55fbb9ae19ee3d8109d9c20e84a021edffc94a4a3454cf708b509b1c/volumes_exhibition.png" data-mid="122546427" border="0" alt="Queens International 2018: Volumes" data-caption="Queens International 2018: Volumes" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d9317eaa55fbb9ae19ee3d8109d9c20e84a021edffc94a4a3454cf708b509b1c/volumes_exhibition.png" /> <img width="1000" height="563" width_o="1000" height_o="563" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/642397e007a0b46520211e112c0c1bc14050d47d15c1297ad0cb1a8be0ecd728/loveyourbox.gif" data-mid="122637194" border="0" alt="Love Your Box" data-caption="Love Your Box" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/642397e007a0b46520211e112c0c1bc14050d47d15c1297ad0cb1a8be0ecd728/loveyourbox.gif" /> <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cada14949640353ca5fb5818de5c3f441d310175e31ed0ff26b020830f13c916/Screen-Shot-2020-12-05-at-4.14.41-PM.png" data-mid="122546343" border="0" alt="Dumb Desire" data-caption="Dumb Desire" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cada14949640353ca5fb5818de5c3f441d310175e31ed0ff26b020830f13c916/Screen-Shot-2020-12-05-at-4.14.41-PM.png" /> <img width="2340" height="1200" width_o="2340" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/155031544a47a0c409f93c51058e28201579db74e5ae325ca88a5ecfa4544e97/ok2a.png" data-mid="122546346" border="0" alt="OK2" data-caption="OK2" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/155031544a47a0c409f93c51058e28201579db74e5ae325ca88a5ecfa4544e97/ok2a.png" /> <img width="1345" height="758" width_o="1345" height_o="758" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/59a0d2c9005e12064628751eeb6357af1acfaf3cedb8762290de368011e0d2ed/cut_o.png" data-mid="189518116" border="0" alt="Separation" data-caption="Separation" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/59a0d2c9005e12064628751eeb6357af1acfaf3cedb8762290de368011e0d2ed/cut_o.png" /> <img width="720" height="480" width_o="720" height_o="480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f1dbd3fb11ec1533abc9285c2de725c3a2821d168b3f343e37e58b7108e61090/raver3.jpg" data-mid="189525649" border="0" alt="On and On and On" data-caption="On and On and On" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/720/i/f1dbd3fb11ec1533abc9285c2de725c3a2821d168b3f343e37e58b7108e61090/raver3.jpg" /> <img width="640" height="480" width_o="640" height_o="480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/efd15afcf87253ac3c38f24c5d3a1f16b0da8eb929cb4a0f3ea80ce1dc5d76e5/goodman_o.gif" data-mid="122638110" border="0" alt="Example" data-caption="Example" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/640/i/efd15afcf87253ac3c38f24c5d3a1f16b0da8eb929cb4a0f3ea80ce1dc5d76e5/goodman_o.gif" /> <img width="700" height="264" width_o="700" height_o="264" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aff7cd518d2f8a8ee7b7b0e6fa595f2f92eadf99f226cb8f24a6821093c93094/fastfuck7.gif" data-mid="189518111" border="0" alt="1/2" data-caption="1/2" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/aff7cd518d2f8a8ee7b7b0e6fa595f2f92eadf99f226cb8f24a6821093c93094/fastfuck7.gif" /> <img width="2560" height="1440" width_o="2560" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ab9dd301d18556a0fe247b322c66f3be91f35d7a783be3e604644eb858baa686/Screen-Shot-2014-05-20-at-7.37.23-PM_o.png" data-mid="189526966" border="0" alt="Fuckface: It's Your Birthday" data-caption="Fuckface: It's Your Birthday" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ab9dd301d18556a0fe247b322c66f3be91f35d7a783be3e604644eb858baa686/Screen-Shot-2014-05-20-at-7.37.23-PM_o.png" /> <img width="1843" height="1037" width_o="1843" height_o="1037" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/737e3400df8b91e8dc024eedb91ec1f46e150209244d639abb15c007a49eba73/Screen-Shot-2015-04-23-at-1.28.24-AM.png" data-mid="189526970" border="0" alt="The End" data-caption="The End" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/737e3400df8b91e8dc024eedb91ec1f46e150209244d639abb15c007a49eba73/Screen-Shot-2015-04-23-at-1.28.24-AM.png" /> https://ryankuo.net/Intercession Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:56:57 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Intercession Intercession Hessel Museum of ArtApr 5 - May 25, 2025Intercession,&nbsp;curated by Audrey Min, features a new 3-channel installation of Faith that has been restructured and rewritten for the times. &nbsp; &nbsp; <img width="6000" height="4800" width_o="6000" height_o="4800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/68149f5cdb0a0b8da3ddfe9f77d35e1acf484b2b41ffcd55dbcd27a7220e8d8b/2025_CCS_THESIS_MIN_INTERCESSION_001.jpg" data-mid="234236232" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/68149f5cdb0a0b8da3ddfe9f77d35e1acf484b2b41ffcd55dbcd27a7220e8d8b/2025_CCS_THESIS_MIN_INTERCESSION_001.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1159" width_o="1500" height_o="1159" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4242dd880b3dd5d6d76a96475b2530d80a9a86a2588cf5595cda965e0fce5d0d/faith-schema.png" data-mid="229378143" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4242dd880b3dd5d6d76a96475b2530d80a9a86a2588cf5595cda965e0fce5d0d/faith-schema.png" /> &nbsp; &nbsp; Intercession considers a spirit that seems to animate the digital devices that help us participate in pleasure, social life, ethics, and politics. Despite—or perhaps because of—the intimacy of this human-computer partnership, digital technology often seems to act as if by magic or prayer. &nbsp; ... Humankind has harnessed the profoundly expansive capacity of computers through touch interfaces such as the mouse and keyboard as well as AI assistants like Siri, trained to mimic human behavior. Intercession examines the spooky ways in which interfaces exert their presence on the functions they help articulate—the exhibition’s title refers to both the act of mediation and the Christian practice of praying on another’s behalf. Vacant architectures and virtual automatons haunt the exhibition: an antagonistic chatbot, a conversation with absent participants, a thwarted attempt at coherence by generative AI, and a megachurch seen through the eyes of its livestreaming apparatus. Their uncanny animacy recalls forms of religious or mystical thought and experience that existed long before the emergence of digital technology.&nbsp; Artists: Lois Bielefeld, Ryan Kuo, Harris Rosenblum and Theresa Faison (for Transcendence Creative), Viktor Timofeev 4.5.25 https://ryankuo.net/One-to-Zero-Feral-File Thu, 25 Apr 2024 01:37:15 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/One-to-Zero-Feral-File One to Zero Feral FileApr 22 -&nbsp;<img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/856cec06dcb39c58fd955025824e4bd6f9ff910cfceeb0b86a22b5e143c93171/flyer5-finalfinal.png" data-mid="209694443" border="0" data-scale="74" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/856cec06dcb39c58fd955025824e4bd6f9ff910cfceeb0b86a22b5e143c93171/flyer5-finalfinal.png" />One to Zero is a group show on Feral File that I co-curated with Viktor Timofeev. The exhibition title One to Zero reverses the tech-startup concept of "zero to one," in which the entrepreneur charts a path from being financially empty-handed to monetizing the future. We all saw that big-boy bubble burst somewhere between a plague and an invasion, its soiled product narrowly missing the bin. Such a downturn is felt as a deflation in the air, the word smelling like austerity, spare means, a foul order breaking down. Rather than trying to reassemble the broken money machine, this show proposes slowing down—if not outright stopping—at the brink of a theoretical high. To take a deflationary approach is to manifest the contradiction of making and sharing digital artwork today. One must have technical literacy and artistic sensitivity to the technology—all while attending to a growing pressure to find the money hidden inside the medium. At times the artist’s effort may consist entirely of fighting to fit the format of their chosen platform. How does the market look today? Do the individual goods add up to a meaningful whole? ...Each work in One to Zero employs a mechanism—crossing symbolic, computational, and natural systems—whose jumbled output one can read, even as its viability to the money machine is unclear. Together, the works spell out an unspoken rule: that digital artforms today can and must answer to multiple callers, using means that can scarcely address their full meaning. Featuring 26 editions of work by Laura Brown, Mira Dayal, Ryan Kuo, Dirk Paesmans, Adriana Ramić, Laurel Schwulst and Sydney Shen, Viktor TImofeev, and Damon Zucconi. <img width="2452" height="1442" width_o="2452" height_o="1442" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e4342d7460c652361e922fd8ac60278361879242374c17d00c2b8f409f209333/Screen-Shot-2024-04-24-at-5.49.34-PM.png" data-mid="209783286" border="0" data-scale="74" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e4342d7460c652361e922fd8ac60278361879242374c17d00c2b8f409f209333/Screen-Shot-2024-04-24-at-5.49.34-PM.png" /> My contribution to the show is Downtime, a browser-based piece with a strong emphasis on audio. 4.22.24 https://ryankuo.net/Real-Milk-publication Thu, 13 Jul 2023 23:48:16 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Real-Milk-publication Real Milk publicationMy collaboration with Veronica Graham, who runs the art and design studio Most Ancient, is released today. Real Milk is an experimental comic&nbsp;inspired by real-life “smart” dairy farms where cows milk themselves and produce better milk because they set their own schedules. The book is screenprinted on Dura-Lar and acrylic and digital offset printed on vellum, making it translucent from front to back. <img width="1080" height="720" width_o="1080" height_o="720" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a8fd4dbf1504ec4b4000ec58ca6fa0aac9f4c98931e976466170daddac3569bf/real_milk_FC_720x1080.png" data-mid="189519382" border="0" data-scale="76" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a8fd4dbf1504ec4b4000ec58ca6fa0aac9f4c98931e976466170daddac3569bf/real_milk_FC_720x1080.png" /><img width="1080" height="1080" width_o="1080" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f004e9ae0903490c1c41beecd9f5ca9614256c3a59ab2b48880689e11fb59588/Real_milk_sample_page02.jpg" data-mid="189519644" border="0" data-scale="76" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f004e9ae0903490c1c41beecd9f5ca9614256c3a59ab2b48880689e11fb59588/Real_milk_sample_page02.jpg" /> Real Milk debuts tonight at SF Art Book Fair. It will also be present at Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair 2023,&nbsp;and is available at the Most Ancient shop. 7.13.23 https://ryankuo.net/Programmable-Life Thu, 13 Jul 2023 01:08:03 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Programmable-Life Programmable LifeThe final piece of the Puzzle commission is this interview on&nbsp;M+ Magazine with the co-curators, Kerry Doran and Kate Gu. Doran: Language, (mis)translation, and (mis)understanding are central to Puzzle. How did conversations from your life inform the dialogue in the work? Kuo: Many of the dialogues are (mis)quoted directly from memory, but others only ever happened in my mind. All were written from a bilingual mindset, with valuable help from Zhong Yuling, the editor at M+. For me, each dialogue is already broken, as I lost fluency in my mother tongue very early on. Like many immigrants, my family and I communicate across more than one language. This is why the displayed text is a combination of Chinese and English, no matter which language is selected. In either case, the language is not complex. More meaningful than what the words signify is how their intentions move against or past each other, and get caught up in ever-tightening knots or completely bypass mutual understanding. The feelings in that sense are more complex and vividly recalled, and they necessarily exceed syntax. This work wants to communicate the feelings that remain after language is gone. [...] <img width="2100" height="2100" width_o="2100" height_o="2100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ca2cc8f03f4e2f6616620509195dcd8ff3ffb9dc5893a9bb6544abeeed488cc/Screen-Shot-2022-10-19-at-11.40.10-PM.png" data-mid="184922244" border="0" data-scale="62" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ca2cc8f03f4e2f6616620509195dcd8ff3ffb9dc5893a9bb6544abeeed488cc/Screen-Shot-2022-10-19-at-11.40.10-PM.png" />Read the interview. 5.3.23 https://ryankuo.net/Artist-Profile-American-Artist Thu, 13 Jul 2023 01:08:23 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Artist-Profile-American-Artist Artist Profile: American ArtistI interviewed&nbsp;American Artist for Rhizome, continuing a conversation that began in 2018 at our talk Black Stroke, White Fill at Bitforms Gallery (a closing event for my show, The Pointer). RK: What's unsaid but apparent in Sandy Speaks is that Sandra is speaking from someplace beyond the logical frameworks of AI and user interfaces, where cause and effect hold no water. In what ways are the incongruities between a work's format and premise, its reality and ours, instrumental to you? AA: I’m trying to do a bit of alchemy, or make more than what appears, become present. The art object is something to hold onto, but there’s an additional thing that goes on inside you when you encounter the work. Sometimes to create that feeling, or to arouse that concept, the thing in front of your face has to be mostly unfamiliar. It’s interesting that you bring up causal relationships, because they are so central to computer programming. I often teach Wendy Chun’s essay On Software, Or the Persistence of Visual Knowledge which draws a connection between programming and ideology. Part of what she describes is the way computer users believe that when they click their cursor on a folder, the folder will open. There is a causal expectation that each time you do an action there will be a specific outcome. The pleasure attached to that expectation is what makes people invested in using digital devices. But there’s actually no reason for us to have such an expectation with our actions on a computer. She equates it to pure faith. I think there is a similar thing that goes on in society and politics. Many people believe if you follow the law, if you pray to God, if you do things in a particular way you will live a good life. But I think what comes out of Afropessimism is this particular contradiction, it reveals that that is not the case, you can do all those things and still be killed just because you’re Black. And for that reason I think many Black people don’t subscribe to that logical reasoning that you described. [...] Read the profile. 4.20.23 https://ryankuo.net/Family-Atlas Fri, 24 Mar 2023 21:51:23 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Family-Atlas Family AtlasMaryam Monalisa Gharavi writes an epistolary response to Puzzle for&nbsp;M+ Magazine. But if before I had marveled at the effect of advances in mobile phone technology on long-distance family communiqués, I now felt awed by the sense of openness and safety of that correspondence. The child’s congruency between what he felt and how he expressed it was an advancement all its own. The securely attached child, to use a phrase from the psychodynamic relational model, retains assurance that you will be there. A superior emotional infrastructure has quietly emerged. No one should take it for granted.[...] Does puzzle then mean to obfuscate deliberately, for the sake of the ruse? Or does puzzle imply that obfuscation is inherent and constitutional, as inviolable as genetics? 3.10.23 https://ryankuo.net/Interlude-Docs Fri, 24 Mar 2023 21:45:49 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Interlude-Docs Interlude Doc 091A short piece about File, my proto-NFT for (the now-defunct) left gallery, is published at Interlude Docs. I had a poor grasp of the stakes and mostly disregarded the blockchain and how the provenance of my work could be inscribed upon it. I balked at consigning a digital file that really wanted to be modified, moved, copied, or deleted; to trace the steps of its creator. But this presented a motivation for the work. I decided that I could start by writing about what was happening, and what that could mean to me. I would write as long as there was a problem to discuss, and the underlying problem was that I could not relinquish the file to unfamiliar hands. This understanding would remain between me and the work and comprised a digital stack of hyperlinked pages, each documenting one facet of the problem and together forming an unsolved picture.&nbsp;<img width="754" height="753" src="https://interludedocs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ryan-Kuo_003.png" style="width: 486.04875px; height: 485.4041230106101px;" data-scale="44">Thanks to Rebekah Weikel for the invitation! 1.25.23 https://ryankuo.net/Puzzle-M Mon, 24 Oct 2022 04:35:31 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Puzzle-M Puzzle M+Oct 24 - ongoing<img width="2400" height="1600" width_o="2400" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/58b31be5e9cdf463c79e33e59b1664a38ffe552a4df169ef3276a01be7d7fc92/puzzle.png" data-mid="156763473" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/58b31be5e9cdf463c79e33e59b1664a38ffe552a4df169ef3276a01be7d7fc92/puzzle.png" />Puzzle is a new work commissioned by M+. It is a program that places interlocking graphical tiles, accompanied by circular dialogues, endlessly in a browser. The work is intrinsically bilingual and its single interactive feature is a language toggle that permits different views of the situation. The situation travels forward and backward in time, accumulating a picture that enables one to glimpse the forces that govern certain beliefs and breakdowns. Inspired by role-playing video games, Ryan Kuo’s Puzzle rebuilds conversations from his personal history as a first-generation Taiwanese American growing up in rural America. In looping, disembodied encounters, themes of diaspora emerge. Chinese values such as Confucian patriarchy and filial piety encounter American idealism and self-preservation. Instead of viewing these as opposing forces, Kuo attempts to piece them together across the barriers of memory and language. Puzzle is durational and is intended for desktop and even larger displays. Access the project here. The work was co-curated by Kate Gu and Kerry Doran. Translation by Yuling Zhong. Web development by Tommy Martinez. 10.24.22 https://ryankuo.net/Center-for-Afrofuturist-Studies-residency Fri, 27 Jan 2023 20:10:21 +0000 Ryan Kuo https://ryankuo.net/Center-for-Afrofuturist-Studies-residency Center for Afrofuturist Studies residencyI was a resident at the Center for Afrofuturist Studies in Iowa City in October 2022. I used my time to read and research material for my book project File: A User’s Manual. Thank you to An Duplan for the invitation! 10.17.22