The Imitation Game

A new body of work in progress for a show this fall in Vancouver @ Mira Malatestinic’s Boxspace https://www.instagram.com/boxspace_artinaboxinanalley/.

The Imitation Game is an installation that examines the traditions, terminologies and technologies we use to describe our self to ourselves. The work explores concepts of semantic memory, sensory memory, virtual subjectivity, real-world entities and knowledge representation. In our data driven culture, where Artificial Intelligence is increasingly used to source, state and specify our humanness, I’m curious about who, or what, will determine the parameters of personhood?

The work is roughly figurative and involves wrapping myself in layers of mylar and plastic to create semblances of body. The simulated body parts are then attached to illuminated wooden structures housing texts, drawn from, or inspired by the writings of Leo Tolstoy, James Baldwin, Mary Wollstonecraft and Clarice Lispector, which consider the timeless struggle of being both true to one’s self and kind to others.

I continue to wonder about the internal and external systems that we use to gauge the worth of ourselves and others, and whether we will be able to integrate the hard-won lessons of our analogue bodies into the fabric of our evolving digital entities…

You’ll find some install shots immediately below and if you keep scrolling, some of the work in progress documentation. Thanks to everyone who made it out for a look, in person and online.

I’ve really appreciated all your feedback! xs