Pop the Bubbles

A dialogue with the future manifests through various “bubbles.” We often imagine we inhabit a complete, expansive world, yet in reality, we exist within a vast chain of bubbles of information—meticulously designed and personalized for us, established in our perception a pseudo-reality. Sometimes we could be mistaken between the inside with the world outside of those bubbles.

At Science Fair 2026, the “Bubbles” art exhibition and performance space serves as a forum for artists to engage in dialogue through their own concepts and practices – in some senses – their “bubbles.” Artists could be considered as “social indicators,” swiftly reacting to the status quo. How have they navigated the phenomenon of artificial intelligence—through stages of questioning, rejection, experimentation, acceptance, or condemnation?

The “Bubbles” art space and experience at Science Fair is designed to invite the audience to engage with diverse artistic practices. The space is structured around two dimensions: Manual vs. Automated, and Artifactual vs. Non-artfactual. Each artwork occupies a unique coordinate defined collaboratively by the artist and you, the audience.

The Manual–Automated dimension visualizes the boundaries each artist sets for the AI’s role in their creative process. Works range from the entirely manual to the fully automated, with others employing hybrid formulas at varying ratios. Regardless of the degree of agency granted to AI, the defining constants of the work remain the artist’s intention and attention.

The Artifactual–Non-artifactual dimension reveals an intriguing observation. Most works we create in the knowledge and information economy are non-artifactual. These experiences often vanish quickly after emerging—much like performance art or published works—leaving behind only memories once the stage lights dim or the book is closed. To bring them back to life, we must constantly revisit them. We decide whether these non-artifactual experiences should endure by making a commitment to give them form and a physical existence, allowing them to share a tangible space with us.

Exhibited Works

Trixie Gia Hân’s *Truyen Kieu* (The Tale of Kieu)—featuring text embossed onto iron—is perhaps the most laborious method of generating text today: it requires three days of work, four to five hours daily, not counting the time originally spent by the poet Nguyễn Du on the composition itself. *AI Không Thể* (AI Cannot), a collaborative work by Thơ Thở and thou thou, emerged from the “dialogue bubbles” following the Thơ Tính ( (In)human ) creative workshop; it delineates clear boundaries regarding what we—as opposed to machines—create.

Hoàng Phạm Gia Khang attempts to envision a digitized human version through *Tình Trạng Con Người* (Human Conditions), examining how the austerity of our era can be fully translated into 3D-printed sculptures. The “Arm” by the Vietnamese-German University is a robot designed for a specific function, prioritizing efficiency over wholeness.

Performance Works

*Cừu Điện* (Electric Sheep), staged by Mar Studio, explores the boundaries between human and machine through a fusion of Popping and contemporary dance. Poet Chau Hoang expresses a desire to transform and revolt a reality deeply dominated and influenced by technology through a poetry performance titled “morphed into a machine.”

Huhu Comedy examines how humans interact with technology, others, and themselves in the AI ​​era through a humorous lens in the piece “If It’s Not You, Then It’s AI.”

Local Lầy delves deeper into the role and destiny of artificial intelligence in human life through the variety performance “Am I?”, which blends drag, movement, comedy, and live vocals.

The final segment shatters these bubbles, immersing the entire Science Fair 2026 in music and light created by Vietnam Media Lab and artists Wasawat Somno (TH), CRSRCRSRRR (TH), Đầu Mì × Trangtraitraicay (VN), and BANMAI × Hwang Hyu (VN).