IM Youngzoo's "The Late" exhibition at Space ZeroOne offers a profound exploration into the confluence of spiritual beliefs and cutting-edge technologies. Through a sprawling 1,254-page book and an immersive seven-channel video installation, Youngzoo presents a multifaceted narrative that challenges conventional perceptions of reality and belief. The exhibition delves into themes such as the inherent mystery of existence, the evolving nature of digital and spiritual realms, and the disorientation experienced in an increasingly complex world. Visitors are invited to engage with a non-linear experience that blurs the boundaries between rigorous research, personal memoir, and poetic fiction, ultimately questioning how we construct meaning and navigate our sense of place in an age defined by both ancient rituals and new technological paradigms.
Central to Youngzoo's project is the motif of an obscured figure walking against parched asphalt, visible only through fragmented glimpses and distorted by an emanating blind spot from a VR camera. This imagery encapsulates the core inquiry of the exhibition: Is an 'empty hole' imbued with divine essence, or is it merely a void? Youngzoo's work traces a compelling connection between the intangible aspects of spirituality, such as the Korean folk ritual of empty graves (gamyo), and the belief structures forming around contemporary technologies, including NFTs, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. The exhibition's two main components, the video work and the extensive book, both titled "The Late," represent a decade of dedicated research into the convergence of ritualistic practices and technological faith.
Upon entering the exhibition, visitors are enveloped by a multitude of screens positioned at various angles, some requiring one to physically navigate confined spaces to view them. While some screens showcase individual video pieces, others collectively form the expansive "The Late" video narrative. Despite their distinct content, these screens collectively weave a cohesive story, albeit presented through diverse perspectives and temporal shifts. Accompanying these visual narratives are enigmatic 'viewing instructions' that resonate with a poetic invitation, urging the viewer to adopt different perspectives—as a spirit, a bird, a multi-eyed camera, or a human with limited vision—to engage with the artwork.
The accompanying book, also titled "The Late," is an overwhelming yet meticulously crafted work that defies linear interpretation, mirroring the disorientation experienced within the exhibition itself. This "ficto-research" methodology allows Youngzoo to explore ethnography, religious studies, and media theory, interlacing fragments of email exchanges, dialogues, histories of apocalyptic movements in Korea, and poetic reflections on time and the Tibetan Buddhist concept of Bardo. Mysterious character 'M' navigates these pages, embodying various roles and blurring the lines between the artist, a companion, or a metaphor for a lost migratory bird. Tales of intergenerational communication through birdsong and a personal anecdote of altered vision after prolonged sun-gazing are seamlessly integrated, making it challenging to distinguish between factual accounts and imaginative narratives. However, the profound authenticity emanating from Youngzoo's perspective makes it difficult to dismiss any part of the work as mere fiction.
Youngzoo's sculptural works, such as "Orientation" (2025/2026), further ground the exhibition's themes. This piece features a wooden block with a Go board etched into its surface, symbolizing a "micro-universe" with positions exceeding the number of atoms in the cosmos. A chaotically swinging compass hovers above the board, illustrating the precariousness of direction. This work draws inspiration from the pivotal 2016 match where Korean Go champion Lee Sedol was defeated by Google DeepMind's AlphaGo, highlighting a moment of profound human disorientation in the face of advanced artificial intelligence. The exhibition thus challenges us to contemplate how we find our bearings when familiar universal coordinates are radically reshaped by both technological progress and the erosion of traditional spiritual guidance, suggesting that the very act of seeking orientation is fraught with inherent risks.
The power of research to construct entire worlds is immense, and Youngzoo’s work exemplifies this by focusing on the 'shape of a question' rather than definitive answers. Her personal journey, marked by a significant financial and spiritual betrayal in her twenties, informs her art, making her exploration of belief and technology deeply resonant. The profound engagement with her subject matter, presented across the giant book and the exhibition, invites viewers to reconsider the foundations of their own convictions. Ultimately, "The Late" suggests that after all the intricate construction and rigorous inquiry, what remains at its core is a complex interplay of belief, challenging the audience to define their own understanding within this meticulously crafted, yet endlessly open-ended, artistic universe.