In 2019, the world-famous contemporary art award Turner Prize made a historic, record-breaking decision, announcing for the first time that all four short-listers were winners of the prize. The decision was made after all four finalists, after agreeing among themselves, appealed to the judges for wanting to share the prize together on the ground of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity. Reading the news, the world seems to become a little bit different. Everything taken for granted can be overthrown once you adopt another perspective. Yet, overthrowing one perspective does not necessarily mean assuming an opposite position, it just means unlocking another door. The consensus reached by the four artists also achieves another artistic purpose. Despite focusing on different topics, their works share the intention to convey a symbolic gesture of cohesion. The award itself provides a platform for ethnic minorities to voice up and life in the past is a work of art as well as a gesture of art. In fact, our every word, our every action is an art in itself. Lawrence Abu Hamdan, one of the awardees, was commissioned by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture to interview the inmates at Saydnaya military prison. With the technique of “echo profiling”, he replayed an array of echoes to help witnesses recall parts of their memories in the prison, remap the main structure of the jail, restore and delineate the archetype and details of the prison with the descriptions of sound. The second door is open to show another facet of media art. Apart from communicating messages, documenting evidence, researching and awakening, it opens the possibilities of tracing and pursuing the truth. Because media art is not only about the practice of creative ideas, but is also characterised by science and technology. This year’s curatorial theme departs from this intention. When, in our daily life, a wealth of information exists on the internet in the form of documentation, we ride on some critical discussions and navigate between the threads of media art. Through which, we allow as many possibilities as possible and reject any certainty to weave together our “Sharp Chronicles.”

Founded at Goldsmith, University of London in 2010, “Forensic Architecture” consists of different professionals including architects, filmmakers, scientists, and software developers. The diverse team of spatial investigators is dedicated to looking into cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world with the use of architectural techniques and technologies, alongside interdisciplinary approaches such as animation, 3D modeling, interactive map to visualise information for evidence. Their exhibit “Triple-Chaser” was commissioned by the 2019 Whitney Biennial to analyse tear gas grenades manufactured by the Safariland Group, which was owned by Warren B. Kanders, the vice-chair of the board of trustees of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Presented in the form of video installation, the work explains how the team used machine learning and synthetic image generation to recreate photorealistic environments and examine grenades produced by the Safariland Group with millions of photos taken by protesters, activists, and their allies. It has truly transcended the framework of traditional art and conducted an “interdisciplinary investigation” to collect evidence while exploring the meaning of art and the possibilities of “interdisciplinary” in a public display. In response to the possible pursuit of “truth” set out by the theme of this year’s festival, “The Whole Truth” was created by sound artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, one of the awardees of the 2019 Turner Prize. In the hands of audio technology, “The Whole Truth” is an audio documentary that explores the “lie detecting technology” and the arbitrary impetuousness in its contemporary application.

In the face of “truth”, what are the elements that constitute technology and humans? When people are spectators or participants in present reality, will our “digestion”, “cognition”, “forwarding”, “dissemination” change the world in a siege of information, like the butterfly effect? In this light, there is no “truth” to the “truth”, not even a way to build it. Tactical Tech, an art team who believes that digital technology can contribute to a fairer, democratic, and sustainable society, use survey results to create practical solutions to materialise their belief. Their touring project “The Glass Room (Misinformation Edition)” is a collaborative project developed from their interactions with the public. What happens when people are increasingly dependent on social media and the internet for nearly all information? What information do people see, and what do they miss? And what can they do if they can’t be sure? These questions that are often on people’s minds are explored and practised in the project. Remember – despite the information explosion, everyone has his or her self-awareness to debate and distinguish what is trustworthy and what is not. In the grey area, “understanding” is allowed. Through the lens of individual analysis, we can then understand the operations of social media or even the media strategies of internet stakeholders and translate information into something we can hold onto. Knowing and understanding more is anyway better than “seeing” with your eyes closed. Speaking of audience participation, another exhibiting team Critical Art Ensemble departs from the concept of “triage”, a fundamental organising principle that determines who is treated and who is given up in a catastrophe. Such administration of life and death that is highly relevant to the year 2020 can also apply to environmental issues. How do people take part in the ecosystems? Inviting the public to participate, this experimental work triggers so many questions. Considering the close relations between humans and water, how can resources and facilities be assessed in a displaceable manner? Are there any other possibilities outside of our current reality?

Between truth and fabrication, the virtual realm does not necessarily mean the absence of truth. “Don’t Follow the Wind” is an on-going project about the exclusion zone of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster developed by a group of international curators and artists since 2015. The exhibit, first set in the forbidden zone where no one could enter, draws on the invisible existence characteristic of radioactivity. “A Walk in Fukushima” is a virtual reality installation that takes the audience into the exhibition located in the exclusion zone, to comprehend the world between the seen and unseen of what was actually experienced by local residents. As Taiwanese artist Tao Ya-Lun says, reality is what continues to exist even after you stop believing in it. It exists independently of your thoughts. Tao’s two virtual reality works “Wandering Ghost No.5” and “Technological Totalitarianism” see how the spectator’s body turns invisible or becomes virtual flesh under technology's thumb, through which the reality and everything in it is conceived in a constructed scenario. Everything is ineluctable, everything is everywhere, despite the virtual identity and form enabled by technology.

In response to the festival’s theme, another door opens to the Project Room Exhibition – “About Life and Death”. Daily life is, in fact, on the road between life and death. The curator departed from four original texts. The exhibition space is transformed into a female writer’s room by various images developed through visual creations by artists Joe Fang and Chung-Lun Wu, interactive installations by Jason Lam, spatial design by art director Jean Tsoi, and the original score composed by sound artist Edward Chiu. Audiences can participate on-site or online to navigate the story world constructed by multiple media. Perhaps a room of one’s own is about witnessing every moment within four walls. Spectators can be led to explore their inner selves when experiencing the exhibition, since everything is, as mentioned, ineluctable and everywhere. The English title of the exhibition is “Sharp Chronicles.” If we want to compile a chronicle of major events, how should every step, every arduous mile taken in view of worldly propositions be recognised and recorded? There is no answer, there are infinite possibilities, different pathways in and out, when you close your eyes. As the father of modern Chinese literature Lu Xun says, “There was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.” Let’s walk on.