Digital spaces are key to the creation and display of art for many artists, curators and producers. From websites utilised as gallery spaces, to online residencies and Instagram takeovers, new technologies have afforded cultural practitioners a raft of new opportunities in addition to some stark limitations. We'll consider some of the different practices of artists, curators and institutions in online spaces, and ask tough questions about the realities of art mediated through the internet, laptops and phones.
For this event we're partnering with guest speakers including online exhibition space Off Site Project for a deep dive into some of the contemporary practices of art on the internet.
Off Site Project was founded and programmed by Pita Arreola and Elliott Burns. Established in January 2017 it has expanded in a manner consistent with IRL spaces. Beginning with homepage exhibitions it now includes a series of monthly micro-ZIP-file-exhibitions and a Google Maps Residency program. Since launching they have worked with 70 artists, designers, curators and cultural practitioners.
SPEAKERS
Keiken, meaning experience in Japanese, is a hybrid practice. Through an intersection of moving image, new-media installation, virtual/augmented reality and performative lectures they test-drive impending futures in the realms of the “phygital”; physical and digital. They reflect on the contemporary as though now is history, exploring the strands and interrelationships of our world; inequality, techno-capitalism, climate change, politics, popular culture and science.
When working collectively they become part of a fluid entity, an open-source ecosystem; with interchangeable roles, collaborators shape, challenge and transform projects. Taking elements back into their autonomous practices, this exchange nurtures both themselves and Keiken.
World-building is both our creative methodology and technique to grow collaboration. By merging multiple voices and mediums with collective critical thinking they create immersive experiences. Simulating new structures and ways of existing, we explore how societal introjection governs the way we feel, think and perceive.
Raffaella Fryer-Moreira is a British-Brazilian anthropologist based between London and Rio. She is currently completing a PhD at UCL, where her ethnographic research explores Guarani Kaiowá experiences of climate change, and contemplates amerindian futurisms. In 2017 Raffaella co-founded the UCL Multimedia Anthropology Lab, and is currently experimenting with film, projections, VR/360 video, and spatial audio in an effort to develop innovate methods for conducting and presenting anthropological research.
Moderated by Elliott Burns.
Curated by Jake Charles Rees in association with Somerset House Studios