In his first U.S. museum exhibition, Samson Young premiers a trilogy of animated music videos that explore varying concepts of social progress and utopia.

Loosely taking the idealism displayed at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago as a point of departure, this multimedia exhibition asks how do people adapt to societal changes that they have little control over. For Young, “progress” as it was defined in the 1933 fair’s subtitle “A Century of Progress” represents a specific variant of aspirational thinking. From cars to shopping malls and houses designed for the future to political change, progressive thinking has had contrasting consequences as it made its impact felt across the globe in the decades that followed.

The exhibition is the culmination of a year-long research project undertaken by the artist that commenced during a residency co-sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum and Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society. In addition to the video installations The Highway is Like a Lion’s Mouth, Da Da Company, and Houses of Tomorrow it includes archival materials related to the 1933 World’s Fair and “sound drawings” by the artist.

PUBLICATION

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays on Samson Young’s recent video work. Available fall 2019.

Photos by Jonathan Loïc Rogers.