Experience three exciting new works in virtual and augmented reality and learn more about these new artistic technologies from their creators.
Curated by Aja Q. Evans
Project: Psalm for the Mismemoried
Psalm for the Mismemoried is a story of an ancestor named Future who travels across time & space to take mismemoried* ancestors home from historical sites of medical harm. She is arriving at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia, to meet Hattie, a former patient and worker who was left behind. The future has come to take her home. Filmed in 360° video, this experimental and historical drama takes place on the actual campus of the Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, GA. *Mismemoried is a new word meaning-the missed and the lost memory of ancestors when they disappeared and were taken from generations.
Creator: Cara Page
Cara Page is a Black Queer Feminist cultural memory worker & organizer. For the past 30+ years, she has organized with LGBTQI+, Black, Indigenous & People of Color liberation movements in the US & Global South. She is founder of Changing Frequencies, an abolitionist organizing project that designs cultural memory work to disrupt harms and violence from the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC). She is also co-founder of the Healing Histories Project; a network of abolitionist healers/health practitioners, community organizers, researchers/historians & cultural workers building solidarity to interrupt the medical industrial complex and harmful systems of care.
Project: The Algorithm?
The Algorithm is an interactive experience simulating algorithmically-curated video feeds (such as TikTok and Instagram reels) to break down and demystify the algorithms powering our digital ecosystems. The user interacts with a video feed of creative coding animations that vary in color, shape, and template based on the user’s preferences and engagement signals (e.g., likes, bookmarks), allowing them to see and understand the process of personalization in real time. Throughout, key concepts and debates on algorithmic recommendation and amplification are explored, as well as associated dilemmas and trade-offs.
Co.creators: Alia ElKattan & Lujain Ibrahim
Alia ElKattan is a researcher and creative technologist examining the sociopolitical implications of emerging technologies. As an NYU PhD candidate, Alia researches the sociopolitical implications of the design & development of emerging technologies. She is a two-time winner of Mozilla’s Creative Media Award, and has worked at The Washington Post and Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center.
Lujain Ibrahim is a researcher and creative technologist examining interaction-specific harms, such as those from anthropomorphic AI systems. She is a PhD candidate in social data science at the University of Oxford. She has been a fellow at Centre for Governance of AI, Digital Asia Hub, and The Montreal AI Ethics Institute. She has also worked on AI ethics research at Google DeepMind and trust and safety at OpenAI.
Project: The Portal’s Keeper
The Portal’s Keeper is a new site-specific commission for the exterior video façade of the Mandeville Art Gallery. Building on the artist’s interest in stewarding spaces for liberated Black realities and the Black imagination, McMillian conducted a movement and meditation workshop with UC San Diego students using extended reality and physical computing to translate participants’ movement data into visuals for this new artwork. In the artist’s words, “The Portal’s Keeper is a reminder that movement not only represents our individual experiences, but it also represents our collective memory, transcending space, time and oppressive social structures. It allows us to connect to each other, our ancestors, our deepest selves, and gives us space to communicate to our future. Movement is a technology, holding the stories of our existence globally.”
Creator: LaJune’ McMillian
LaJuné McMillian is a new media artist, and Creative Technologist creating art that integrates performance, extended reality, and physical computing to question our current forms of communication. McMillian has shown and spoken about their work at Pioneer Works, National Sawdust, Leaders in Software and Art, Creative Tech Week, and Art && Code’s Weird Reality. The artist was previously the Director of Skating at Figure Skating in Harlem, where they integrated STEAM and Figure Skating to teach girls of color about movement and technology. They have continued their research on Blackness, Movement, and Technology during residencies at Eyebeam, Pioneer Works Barbarian Group, and Barnard College.
Ticket price: Free with RSVP
