This is the Best Era/What Elephant?
What Elephant?" is an installation that runs continuously for 24 hours. Inside the exhibition space, several metal wires are cut by a linear actuator at an extremely slow pace, almost imperceptible to the naked eye in real-time. Each cut points to a crisis silenced or normalized in reality. The wires are severed like this, one by one, in extreme quiet, mimicking the hidden unfolding of real-world crises—so quiet it is almost transparent.
The installation operates at a near-stagnant rhythm. Most visitors, during a brief stay, might not even realize any "event" is happening, let alone grasp its meaning. While that is precisely the key point and the state I want to capture—just as in reality, we often have to leave, look back, or wait until much later, only to suddenly realize that something has vanished forever, that certain lines have been irreversibly crossed.
"What Elephant?" does not offer answers; it does not even pose explicit questions. It functions more like an interface, an observation window where time has been deliberately slowed down. It attempts to materialize that "silent quiet," inviting the viewer to feel and contemplate: in our era, deafeningly loud with distractions, what are the truly important things being quietly cut away? And what, if anything, can we do before it is too late?
The work is centered on a robotic arm installation that is programmed to repeat a simple yet harsh process: to select and then eliminate. The arm continually grabs, moves, places, and most importantly, removes certain objects within its reach. It operates without emotion or hesitation, simply following its preset program. This creates a performance that is both dramatic and inevitably destructive.
From the moment we are born, it seems we are destined to be wedged between larger national powers, labeled with various identities that do not truly belong to us. On the international stage, our status remains uncertain, constantly shifting with the tides of global politics. But this feeling is not unique to us. In different countries and societies, people everywhere are experiencing turmoil, often finding themselves chosen—or excluded—by forces beyond their control. "This is the Best Era" transforms this abstract concept into a continuous, visible act.
The title "This is the Best Era" is deeply ironic. In an age defined by passivity, uncertainty, and hidden violence, declaring it the best challenges blind optimism and traditional ideas of progress. The work does not offer answers. Instead, it uses the unyielding machine to embody the paradox of our time, which is full of both potential and discomfort. It invites viewers to face a reality driven by relentless forces of selection and exclusion and to consider their own place and power within it.
