{"id":29060,"date":"2025-12-29T12:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T04:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/benayoun.com\/moben\/2025\/12\/29\/__trashed-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T21:55:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:55:22","slug":"beijing-int-art-biennale-the-value-of-human-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benayoun.com\/fr\/2025\/12\/29\/beijing-int-art-biennale-the-value-of-human-values\/","title":{"rendered":"Beijing International Art Biennale –\u00a0The Value of Human Values\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beijing International Art Biennale<\/em><\/h1>\n

The Value of Human Values\u00a0<\/em><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction:\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A new interpretation of the\u00a0Value of Values<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0project, initiated by Maurice Benayoun, together with Nicol\u00e1s Mendoza Leal, as an extension of the\u00a0Brain Factory<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0artwork.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This new mutation of the extensive original project was presented during\u00a010th Beijing International Art Biennale, <\/strong>co-curated for its first media art exhibition, by the artist and curator Fei Jun, <\/strong>opening in Beijing on December 29, 2025.<\/p>\n

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\nThe Biennale venue: Beijing Exhibition Center, former Soviet Exhibition Center<\/em><\/p>\n

Team: 3AIL – Nanjing University\u00a0Art and Architecture Intelligence Lab:<\/em>\u00a0Dr. Wang Xiao, Philip Zhang, Sherry Lin, and Sam Chan.\u00a0Photos by Ann Mak and MoBen with the support of CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) and Osage Gallery.<\/p>\n

The Value of Human Values in 10 Steps<\/em><\/h1>\n

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The work invites visitors to become “Brain Workers”. Then, using EEG headsets, to shape 3D forms from their own brainwaves. Each form is linked to a chosen human value such as LOVE, POWER, FAMILY, or MONEY. These forms are minted as digital tokens on the blockchain, entering a living economy where values can be kept, gifted, sold, or bartered. Every transaction generates a piece of Transactional Poetry<\/em><\/strong>:\u00a0<\/em>an ethical statement that reframes the deal as a moral proposition. Through Crypto Calligraphy<\/em><\/strong>, an AI Reader<\/em><\/strong>, and the AI\u00a0Interpreters<\/em><\/strong>, the work bridges neuroscience, Chinese calligraphic tradition, and the language of contemporary markets. A final Periodic Table of 42 Values maps how human priorities cluster, travel, and shift, forming a collective portrait of what we, as individuals, citizens, nationals, truly care about.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

0 –<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>Morphogenesis of Values\u00a0<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

A filmed walkthrough of the project (recorded at Asia Society Hong Kong) introduces the journey: how a personal value becomes a form, a collectible, a trade\u2014and then a mirror of society.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/a>City Ads Values, <\/em>ph. Ann Mak<\/p>\n

1<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>The Value of Human Values<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re used to pricing objects. But what about ideas, beliefs, and principles? Here, \u201chuman values\u201d are treated as real forces that shape our decisions and communities. Can they be compared, ranked, or exchanged\u2014and what happens when we try?<\/p>\n

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\n<\/b><\/strong>The Value of Human Values.<\/em>\u00a0Team members: Sam Chan, Ann Mak, Philip Y. Zhang<\/p>\n

2<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>Neuro Design Station<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>Visitors become \u201cBrain Workers.\u201d With an EEG headset (a tool that reads electrical activity from the scalp), your brainwaves help shape a 3D form linked to a chosen value, POWER, LOVE, FAMILY, MONEY, and more. Your attention and emotion become a kind of sculpting tool.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/b><\/strong>Neuro-Design Station, <\/em>ph. Ann Mak<\/p>\n

3<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>A Token of Value<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>When the shaping ends, the new form becomes a digital \u201ctoken\u201d\u2014a unique trace of your encounter. It\u2019s released online and joins the growing Brain Workers collection.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/b><\/strong>A Token of Value<\/em>:<\/em>\u00a0the neuro-designed value becomes an NFT Token, minted on the blockchain, then added to the Brain Worker’s wallet via<\/span>\u00a0a QR Code, ph.<\/span>\u00a0Ann Mak<\/p>\n

4<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>Trading Human Values<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>To collect and exchange tokens, participants use a digital wallet. Tokens can be kept, gifted, sold, or swapped, for example: I offer MONEY in exchange for TENDERNESS.<\/i><\/em>\u00a0The artwork turns the language of markets toward the language of ethics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/strong>Trading Human Values, ph. Ann Mak<\/em><\/p>\n

5<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>Transactional Poetry<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>Every swap generates an \u201cethical statement\u201d, a short piece of text that frames the trade as a moral proposition, not just a deal. The transaction becomes a poem about what we\u2019re willing to give up, or ask for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/strong>Transactional Poetry, <\/em>automatically generated after a VoV owner barters a value for another one.<\/p>\n

6<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>Crypto Calligraphy<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>Owning a token also means owning a form you can use creatively. The 3D model can be turned into new artworks\u2014like a contemporary calligraphy where words such as MODESTY\u00a0or STRENGTH\u00a0are written in shapes born from brain activity.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/a>MoBen and Quayola, in front of the\u00a0Crypto Calligraphy<\/em><\/p>\n

7<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>The Reader<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>An AI called the Reader<\/i><\/em>\u00a0\u201creads\u201d this calligraphy-like form, searching for echoes and similarities with Chinese calligraphic traditions. It translates visual features into a chain of descriptive words.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/b><\/strong>The Reader, and the Interpreters<\/em>, ph. Ann Mak<\/p>\n

8<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/b><\/strong>The Interpreters<\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/strong>Two AIs respond to the Reader\u2019s words:<\/p>\n