I went to see the Lux exhibition which was presented at 180 The Strand. The exhibition displayed large-scale installations, immersive art and audio-visual technology that expand the boundaries of interactive and immersive art and blur the lines between the physical and virtual worlds.
The exhibition shows work of 13 different artists and what they all have in common is their focus on light and perception. The physical space of 180 makes the exhibition a little difficult to navigate around as each artwork is separated between red curtained fabric that you have to guide yourself through within the dark industrial basement.
Some of the artworks seem to be about technology themselves, including a walking figure whose surface erupts into different textures every 10 seconds. Then there are other art works which reveal the artists vision for or anxiety about the future.
Hito Steyerl is an artists work who stood out to me, as she explores the complexities of the digital world, art, capitalism, and the implications of Artificial Intelligence for society. This series shown at 180 The Strand was positioned around ideas of ‘power’. Beginning from the premise that ‘power is the necessary condition for any digital technology, the artist considered the multiple meanings of the word, including electrical currents, the ecological powers of plants or natural elements, and the complex networks of authority that shape our environments. The exhibition Power Plants, featured new video installations created using artificial intelligence trained to predict the future. The design was inspired by the idea of a ruderal garden: an ensemble of plants that grow out of waste ground, perhaps in the wake of human disruption or destruction. Predicted by Steyerl’s neural networks as a vision of the future this environment is a garden rich with plants that have various ecological, medicinal and political powers.
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