Seoul Mediacity Biennale 2025 Explores Séance as Metaphor for Mediation

The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, titled 'Séance: Technology of the Spirit,' runs through 23 November at Seoul Museum of Art and other Seoul venues. Curated by Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis following an international open call, the exhibition uses séance as both metaphor and method for exploring mediation between present and absent realms. Vidokle, an artist and e-flux founder with prior Korean exhibitions including Gwangju Biennale and MMCA, notes the biennale's name originated from Seoul's abandoned media city rebranding. The curators emphasize moving image comprises only 30–40% of the show, with diverse genres including painting, performance, and music. Ayres frames media as expanded exhibition methodology, while Brasiskis traces séance's evolution from 19th-century spiritualism through psychoanalysis to cinema. The subtitle 'technology of the spirit' references Greek techne (art) and philosopher Yuk Hui's cosmotechnics, proposing non-extractive technologies beyond AI's extractive logic. Historical parallels are drawn between current AI-driven anxiety and early modernist occult turn during industrialization. Deceased artists constitute 30% of participants, featuring Georgiana Houghton's 1861 abstract paintings predating Hilma af Klint and Onisaburo Deguchi's 1945 ceramic teacups created amid postwar ruins. The interview appears in ArtReview Korea Supplement supported by Korea Arts Management Service.