“Preliminary Study: RSI – T” is a group exhibition that will take place at SLAG Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. The show which will open to the public on May 16, 2014, and will be comprised of art works that relate to today’s technological challenges and the evolution of the body in relation to these rapid changes.

The title of the exhibition originated with a preliminary research of the subject matter, which is an initial exploration via medical and scientific researches. In the last decade, technology has appeared in our lives in an extremity. We notice an accumulation of long hours sitting in front of the computer screens, I-phones and I-Pads, social media accounts, and other operating devices (more recently google glasses, Wii, and more). As in ancient days, when man was physically built to hunt and gather food, today our bodily operating systems are being adapted to the increasingly growing technological demands. This very recent evolution has not only influenced our bodily functions and physical attributes but has also an overwhelming affect on our thinking process and perception of time.

RSI – Repetitive Strain Injury, is a clinical term for “injuries to the musculoskeletal and nervous systems that may be caused by repetitive tasks, forceful exertions, vibrations, mechanical compression, or sustained or awkward positions.” The “T” in the title refers to “Technology,” and the current exhibition will examine the awkward state of recent and future change in a contemporary tech-savvy reality.

The Artist I-Ting, Hou Built with all the benefits and functions of smart phones, as well as an audio-video camera, it keeps receiving instructions regarding what the owner should do next. Armed with what we call the “technological eye”, the device is surrounded by smart phones and ipads, each of which runs a different app function , GPS of various road systems, voice secretary apps, etc., recording or organizing every step of the owner’s everyday routine from the indoor activities to the outdoor, public sphere. Where the owner should go, which direction or route the owner should take, is informed by information gathered from various sources by the “technological eye”. This piece of multi-channel video recording sets out to record, at various locations, how the subject, wearing the technological device while at the same time having to follow instructions given by various GPS systems which almost inevitably leads to recognition and interpretation errors, is driven into a neurotic state by modern technologies.

Intriguingly, what our state of being or mindset will be when our innate sensory systems are being interrupted, rerouted and replaced entirely by information that is calculated and processed by means of technology? Nokia, the Finnish communications and information technology corporation used to perceive or brand their products as “human technology.” In reverse, this project attempts to explore the consequences when one retreats from humanity, the “conventional” relationship between our five sense and the brain that affects our judgement and behavior, and immerse oneself in the information system provided by technology completely and methodically. And what are the possible struggles when one is gravitated toward the information system in light of this gradually digitalized world.

I Ting Hou graduated from the Fine Arts MFA program at the National Tainan University of Arts in Taiwan, in 2008. She has had numerous solo shows in Taipei, Taiwan and participated in group shows in Italy, China, Germany, and New York. Her works are in the While Ribbit Museum in Sydney Australi, National Taiwan Arts Museum and the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan.