Ayoung Kim’s “Delivery Dancer’s Arc—Inverse” Explores Time and Cultural Narratives

The inaugural ACC Future Prize exhibition features Ayoung Kim’s thought-provoking project, Delivery Dancer’s Arc—Inverse, on display from August 30, 2024, through February 16, 2025, at the National Asian Culture Center (ACC). The interdisciplinary award recognizes artists pushing creative boundaries, and Kim’s work stands as a testament to this ethos. Blending historical narratives with speculative futures, the artist delves into complex themes, from imperialism’s effects on traditional timekeeping to modern-day challenges linked to capitalism and globalization.

Kim’s distinctive approach, seen through her lens of speculative archaeology and futurism, uses storytelling to explore the intersections between fact, fiction, and state ideology. In this exhibition, Kim centers around forgotten calendar systems from diverse cultures, emphasizing how Western modernization has erased many indigenous methods of measuring time. Her work reintroduces these ancient systems into contemporary art discourse, connecting time, space, and cultural identity.

A Collision of Time and Space

The exhibition’s narrative unfolds through Delivery Dancer’s Arc, a continuation of a speculative series involving two protagonists—Ernst Mo and En Storm. In this part of the story, Ernst Mo’s delivery of an ancient artifact, long thought to be lost, leads to a clash of different time periods and alternate worlds. The title itself, Arc, references sundials and calendars as symbols of human history, while Inverse suggests a reversal of traditional views on time, playing with the concept of time as the inverse of speed in physics. This invites viewers to contemplate alternative times and spaces, opening the door to a multiverse where indigenous traditions reclaim their place.

Kim’s installation also draws attention to how indigenous worldviews, often marginalized, offer vital perspectives on modernity and time. Her work illuminates the evolving relationship between cultural heritage and the modern world, suggesting that the loss of traditional practices is not only a result of modernization but also imperialism. This raises a crucial question: how can contemporary societies integrate indigenous knowledge systems into the present while respecting their cultural integrity?

The Role of AI in Speculating the Future

Ayoung Kim’s collaboration with artificial intelligence adds a futuristic layer to her work. In Delivery Dancer’s Arc—Inverse, she explores the potential of AI systems to shape the future. These computational outputs, derived from her narrative, represent an ongoing calculation of the possibilities that the future holds, engaging with ideas of cosmic time and shifting modernities. Through this, Kim navigates the tension between tradition and modernity, suggesting that both can coexist and create new life possibilities.

The ACC Future Prize recognized Kim’s ability to tackle critical socio-political and ecological issues, connecting them to broader conversations about time, history, and culture. By reflecting on the consequences of modernization, her work offers a vision of a non-Western, Asian future that reappropriates the past while embracing modern technology.

Exhibition Context and Significance

Delivery Dancer’s Arc—Inverse can be viewed as part of a broader narrative about the transformative power of time. By intertwining history with speculative fiction, Kim poses questions about humanity’s collective future, offering both cautionary and hopeful outlooks. In many ways, this exhibition reflects on how cultural memory and knowledge are subject to change but can also offer solutions to contemporary challenges.

The exhibition is a significant addition to the ACC’s efforts to support and showcase boundary-pushing artists. It creates a space where conversations about cultural preservation, indigenous knowledge, and modern challenges can flourish.