Silent Engine

Who really benefits from technological progress? In Silent Engine, Korean interdisciplinary artist Kahee Jeong uses image and sound to show how the digital divide and an increasingly exclusive future is changing our society.

In Silent Engine, Kahee Jeong explores the quiet but profound changes shaping technology and society. Inspired by thinkers such as Seneca, Alvin Toffler and Bernard Stiegler, Jeong reflects on the ‘inability to adapt’ to the rapid technological developments of our time. Jeong shows how these changes can lead to emotional consequences such as alienation, stigma and fear, especially among vulnerable groups such as the elderly, low-income people and those with limited educational opportunities.

Using a multidisciplinary approach, Jeong creates an experience that invites viewers to explore the psychological and social consequences of ‘digital deprivation’. Silent Engine asks critical questions about the assumption that technological progress benefits everyone. Instead, it exposes how these advances increase inequality and threaten diversity – a crucial element for a resilient society.

Like a ‘silent engine’ propelling change, Silent Engine reveals the subtle forces shaping our modern lives. The work invites reflection on the often invisible divisions in our hyper-connected world.

Kahee Jeong is an artist in residence at IFFR 2025. This residency is a collaboration with V2_Lab for Unstable Media, where artists are invited to explore the cross-fertilisation between film and media art.