HOW OUR PSYCHOLOGY HAS WARPED IN THE POST-INTERNET CONTEXT? MY PRACTICE SURVEYS THE FETISHES, PHOBIAS, MANIAS, AND NEUROSES THAT AROSE FROM OUR EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP WITH MEDIA TECHNOLOGY. I INTERPRET THESE CONDITIONS WITH CRAFT, CONSTRUCTION, STAGE TRICKS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS INTO ARCHITECTURES THAT UPEND EXPECTATIONS ON HOW WE USUALLY INTERACT WITH MEDIA PLATFORMS AND COMMUNICATIONAL/INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.
WITH MY BACKGROUND IN MEDIA STUDIES, JOURNALISM, AND FASHION MAGAZINE EDITORIAL, I’VE WITNESSED, SINCE THE 2010S, THE INDUSTRY CONFLATES MEDIA PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION; VOYEURISM AND EXHIBITIONISM; EMPATHY AND APATHY; THE IDEAS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE; TRUE AND FALSE; REAL AND VIRTUAL, AND OUR MEDIA DIET MORPHS AND FOLLOWS SUIT. IT’S A LOT LIKE SADOMASOCHISM OR STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, IN WHICH PLEASURE IS TAKEN FROM THE BIND AND THE DEPENDENCY. EACH PROJECT IS THUS MY ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE HONESTLY AND CRITICALLY WHAT I EXPERIENCED IN ORDER TO MAKE MY AUDIENCE MORE AWARE OF THE WAY WE INTERACT WITH THESE DEVICES.
I'M INTERESTED ALSO IN THE BUILD OF THINGS AND THEIR ARCHETYPES. FROM CONSTRUCTION, BOOKBINDING, CARPENTRY, ELECTRONICS HACKING, THE FABRICATION OF WORKS ACHIEVES A LEVEL OF SUSPEND BELIEVES THAT STRIPS THE CONVENTIONAL PASSIVITY IN SPECTATORSHIP. THE WORKS THUS UNNERVE AND TRIGGER ON A PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL, TO EXAMINE THE VALIDITY AND SOURCE OF THE VIEWER'S FEARS AND FETISHES, AND TO SHED LIGHT ON THE LONG-TERM EFFECT MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY HAS HAD ON THE USER'S MENTAL HEALTH AND SELF-IDENTITY.
ALEXANDER SI IS A NEW YORK-BASED MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST, CURATOR, AND PUBLISHER.
Lives and works in New York, NY
EDUCATION
2021 MFA Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, New York
2018 BA in Architecture Studies with High Distinction, University of Toronto, Canada
BA in Book and Media Studies with High Distinction, University of Toronto, Canada
EXHIBITIONS
2021 "Consuming Entities", SVA Gallery, New York, NY (upcoming)
2021 Tutu Gallery, Brooklyn, New York (upcoming, solo)
2021 “The holder, the story”, Pfizer Building, Brooklyn, NY (group, upcoming)
2021 “Postcards From the Edge”, Visual Aids, New York
2020 “Atlas”, BOND International Performance Festival, New York
2020 “Performance Anxiety”, curated by Ventiko, Chinatown Soup, New York
2020 “red pulses”, SVA Flatiron Gallery, New York
2020 “SVA Spring Open Studio Exhibition”, New York
2020 “http://localhost, #abundance router", Spring/Break Art Show, New York
2019 “SVA Fall Open Studio Exhibition”, New York
2019 “http://localhost, #abundance router", Spring Break Art Show, Miami
2017 “Us Against the World”, 187 Augusta, Toronto (two-person)
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2020 “Reclaim Her”, 24EBroadway, New York
2020 “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Staying Afloat”, Tutu Gallery, New York
2017 “Midnight Hunger”, 187 Augusta, Toronto
PUBLISHING PROJECTS
2020 “Whiskery Squid (Memoirs)”, lyrical poems collection by Olakiitan Ade, published by 24EBroadway, New York
2017 “Midnight Hunger”, a curated magazine, self-published, Toronto.
AWARDS/FELLOWSHIP
2021 Dual Program Fellowship, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
2021 Alumni Scholarship Award, School of Visual Arts
2019 - 2021 MFA Fine Arts Award, School of Visual Arts
2014 - 2017 Merit Scholarships, University of Toronto
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020 Art-handler, “Abortion is Normal”, curated by Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Jampol, Arsenal Contemporary, New York
2019 Editorial Intern, Monocle Magazine, Toronto, Canada
2018 - 2016 Editor, i-D Magazine China (Vice media), Toronto, Canada
2016 - 2014 Contributing Writer, Demo Magazine, Toronto, Canada.