Inspired by an aesthetic combining the cabinet of curiosities and the ultra-tech laboratory of cinematographic works of science fiction, “Prémisse”, by the artist Sophie Perry presents an ironic vision of the processes of anthropomorphization of new technologies.
In this digital age, the exhibition raises a series of ethical issues stemming from the fantasies of popular culture concerning the saving promises of a better future assured by technological evolution. Cybermedical drawings, strange android organs under glass bell jars and pseudo-documentary videos come together and humorously transport us into a cyberfeminist mythology. Everything is a simulacrum, nothing relates to the real faculties of the machines, but only to the fantasies that are projected onto them.
“Premise” explores the constitution of a collective imagination relating to scientific and cybernetic advances, encouraging us to perceive our own behavioral attitudes in the face of the increasingly advanced machines that occupy our living spaces. The objects presented by Perry playfully reveal our propensity to imbue these machines with a form of intentionality, even an agency that echoes that of the human.es. Why and how do we come to develop empathy or compassion for these forms of artificial intelligence?
This projection of anthropocentric values onto machines raises a series of issues that echo those experienced by contemporary societies. Through the video Artificial Maieutics, the artist tackles the theme of the deconstruction of gender by staging a childbirth performed by an androgynous robot.
By interacting with the QR codes, visitors meet Miss Byte Me who performs the robotdrag while indicating the gestures to be made to activate the objects in the exhibition. The use of the smartphone necessary for this interaction underlines the omnipresence of mobile technologies in our lives. The machine that emulates the human is itself imitated. This ironic mise en abyme raises an important question: how can we believe that technological advances hold the promise of a brighter future when they contribute to perpetuating forms of social and political inequality?
At the border between visual, digital and performative arts, Sophie Perry articulates her work around the creation of systems that question identity and issues of power. His multidisciplinary approach invites sculpture, drawing, electronics and installation in the exploration of a mythology of relations between humans and new technologies. The artist recovers the representations of digital techniques in popular culture and stages them playfully. Humor is an important lever, which allows him not only to embrace and explore disturbing or revolting concepts, but also to divert them and transpose them into benevolent reflective spaces.
Springboard programming. Atoll | current art is proud to promote the development and support of emerging artists. It is with a view to offering the opportunity to artists in the process of professionalization to develop and know their artistic approach that the center plans a program of springboard exhibitions in parallel with its regular program. The “springboard” type exhibition responds to a need for space and networking expressed many times by the community.
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