Chaos and Hope

Chaos and Hope: A Playground for Change is a presentation of selected works that interrogate the interplay between moments of disturbance and hope; positing play as a pivotal yet frequently marginalised construct that underpins the emotional resilience essential for sustained activism. This exhibit transmutes the gallery space into an arena of creative defiance, facilitating an embodied conversation via the convergence of still and live, performance and spectator, community and participation; a critical examination of play’s ontological role as a transformative agent – one that can catalyse profound social change and collective empowerment. i-dont-have-an-art-history-phd translation:

Marginalised artists are TIRED of constantly being expected to centre suffering in their work, & of feeling like their pain is being commodified. Yes, struggle is real, but so is ݁ ⟡ ݁ joy ݁ ⟡ ݁., and this exhibit is a celebration of that.

Joy and play are often overlooked, but they’re essential for keeping movements alive and sustainable. This exhibit is a protest, challenging the typical gallery experience by breaking down the barriers between artist x viewer, and the traditional white-box art world. It asks, who gets to decide what art is, and who art is actually for? By making space for play and joy (!!!), these artists are taking back control and reshaping the narrative.

Vroom Lab. Artwork Statement:

In 2024 LettersExchange We thrive on imaginative conversations and anti-storytelling, where ideas derived from reality blurs with fantastical imagination. Our minds are playgrounds for tales that reflect our inner monologue, exploring who we are and who we are evolving to become as queer women in the 20s. The theme of fluidity is to us, a methodology. Our artwork is primarily digital, unfolding in a space which is inherently transient. Our process often begins with emails, before being recrafted as 2D and 3D visuals. We use text to capture the flowing motions of subconscious ideas, and it’s then handed over from Erin to Isabel (yes, we are an artistic collective consisting of two people), to be selected, reworked, communicated, misunderstood and shaped into visual images. These exchanges aren’t our attempt at escapism, they’re acts of creation, shaping new realities where fluidity is celebrated, rigidity is rejected, and every form of love and identity is attended to and embraced. Our art and words echo the theme of ‘Play’ and ‘chaos’, weaving together our collective memories and we are each other’s neuroqueering muse. We aim to create an anti-capitalist production, by working to create and record the beauty of everyday philosophy.

Vroomlab Artist Bio:

Vroom Lab is founded by Erin Guan and Isabel Sun, is a London-based multidisciplinary creative duo. Their artistic process is often driven by a critique of the simulated human experience online through visual storytelling and meanderings.

Before 2024LettersExchange, our journey took place in other digital playgrounds including VR and Video design. Vroom Lab created Chamber404, a VR performance in 2021 in response to the lone human experience living in covid. This was exhibited internationally across Taiwan and the UK (trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES0oEQ_Lhd4). Their performance work Salmon On Feet has been shortlisted by YCP21 Young Company Programme Shanghai. Their recent video designs were featured in The Dao of Unrepresentative British Chinese Experience at Soho Theatre and Your Lie in April at Harold Pinter Theatre.