The ‘Past Futures’ Exhibit - Venice Biennale 2015.

The ‘Past Futures’ exhibition is a look through time, from beginning to end to beginning. Our proud collection of artworks have been arranged beside each other in a circular room, organised as to move forward in time, delving into the past, present and future of art and society. Our wide range of artists have been selected based upon their respective time periods. ‘Past Futures’ sees the present as the turning point, the end of the line in regards to new and innovative art movements – for the post-modern view of art will disintegrate into ambiguity, and the yearning for a more solidified definition of art will call society back to traditional art forms. Thusly, we have assembled prior pivotal movements to then be followed by similar styles, yet are subjected to humanities future. Subsequently the ‘Past Futures’ exhibit will exude the future of art and society, and how familiar it feels.

There’s no reason why we need to replicate ourselves in our image… in some cases, the future may be in how far we augment ourselves from our original form.  - Case in point; octopus arm

these things becoming self-aware seems quite possible..

DFKI Bremen’s AILA humanoid robot

perfect piece to exhibit in our Past Futures exhibition

My Halloween project for GAMETEE this year is a commentary on Ghosts… In the Machine. Based on the neglected, little known work of Pre-Raphelite Frederick Sandys, I was overjoyed to breathe (artificial) life into these works once again. With whispers of A.I. presenting the greatest threat humanity might yet face, presenting a new type of horror seemed appropriate. With my long history of malicious Siri-teasing and Tamagotchi welfare crimes, I’ll be enemy number one when the robots eventually and inevitably rise - AJ

Beautiful sci-fi designs by artist Flavio Montiel.

MIT’s new shapeshifting display can build miniature buildings    

Kinetic Blocks works by feeding spatial information read by a Microsoft Kinect into the display, allowing it to respond to physical objects. The new project is extremely fast and finely tuned to detect, orient, and stack blocks to make and even disassemble structures. 

Assessment 2: The Human Illusion of Perfection.

While working through and researching human evolution in the first assessment, I learned a lot of things about how humanity acts as a whole. I looked at this through retrospect, marking historical events and tendencies that humans are known for in the past, motivated by discontent. I’m continuing this study of “what defines a human” by considering the present and how it leads into the future.

I arrived at this by exploring deeper into various other tumblr blogs, searching up key words that may incite some inspiration. I found some interesting views on the present as well as the future - most of which were concerned with humans rigorous strive for perfection at any cost, which in itself is complaining about a lack of perfection. Improving technology has undoubtedly become the key aspect of contemporary human nature, some might say at a rate that is too fast for society and culture to keep up with. Thus, my body of work explores the inherit desire to improve and perfect, which could prove to be detrimental. Furthermore, a common theme amongst my works is the self glorification of people, whom regard themselves above all other forces of nature; as somewhat angels that walk the earth - hence the angelic auras that surround the humans.

Having done my first assessment by hand, I wanted to explore a medium that was slightly more advanced, as well as used heavily in modern society. I have experimented with editing in the past and found it to prove rather successful in reappropriating images in order to convey a message. My pieces attempt to juxtapose modern ideals with traditional ones. This is done by taking classic Renaissance paintings and editing them through photoshop, replacing elements with contemporary iconography. This also, in a sense, desecrates such works as they are notably revered by society, by replacing familiar elements with unsettling imagery. Whilst being developed digitally, I decided to bring about the physical form by printing the images on parchment card and framing them, as the frame incites a more traditional display of art. The size is also important, as traditionally, larger was considered better - it exerted more power and inspired awe; however, modern society values small, even micro sizes as they prove to be more efficient, showing off the change in values. In addition to this, when I originally created the pieces I gave them names (much like the works themselves) that were similar to the original but with slight altercation to further convey the message. However, I later started to look at them under their original names and realised that they were a lot more powerful as such - as they further contrast traditional values to contemporary behaviours. I also discovered my chosen artworks through browsing popular renaissance works that I believe would exude connection with most audience members due to familiarity with the works as well as their values.

My first piece ‘Madonna and Child’, was a product of what I initially thought of when asking myself what maternal figure current society has. Not a Terminator per se, but machines, computers; performing all sorts of tasks that previously were never thought possible - particularly at such speed. The development of such technology has been a product of making everyday lifestyle easier. As a result of this, we have machines completely surrounding us, and even to an extent taking care of us. For the machine provides, as mothers do.

My second piece has many original interpretations, but is overall parodising the depiction ‘Michael slays Lucifer’. Michael is the righteous, doing the Lord’s work; and Lucifer is the evil who must be slain for there to be peace. This piece attempts to satirise this arrangement by placing a deer (representing nature) at the mercy of a construction worker (representing industrial progress).

My third piece is based off Primavera, which is Latin for spring. Most of this work has been removed and is rather crowded. I’ve done this to exude a desolation of flourishing nature. The people have been replaced with industrial developers, and the natural scene has been discoloured and distorted. This piece deals with the consequences of such aggressive progress, as well as exemplifies the God-complex of people over nature - regarding it as a mere resource for exploitation.

My fourth strongly contrasts the differing values between the Renaissance context and modern ones. Many Renaissance works were dedicated to that of God as well as biblical stories/mythos, yet in this piece (being the Creation of Adam) I remove God entirely and prioritise the stars, representing exploration, experimentation and the investigation of science.

Before coming up with my final piece I found some images that I found interesting when searching “exploration”, of small figures traversing a naked body. This inspired the need to appropriate a piece that shows contemporary ideals that strive and promote the “perfect” body. This piece is satirising the Birth of Venus, which was originally the symbol of pure beauty - to which I appropriate to a modern audience.

As a collective, my body of work is designed around the notion that whilst humans consider them above all else, they still strive for perfection at any cost, which is becoming more clearly to be a catastrophic trait in human evolution.

Birth of Venus.

Creation of Adam.

Primavera.

Michael slays Lucifer.

Madonna and Child.

searched “exploration” and found this. I feel that human exploration is just as internal as it is external.

editing can make a flourishing painting vacant - and in my opinion, serene.

editing can be strenuous, even if it’s to make merely the slightest change. I find that subtlety is harder to accomplish in this form of production rather than drastic altercations.

looking back on previous works I remember how much you can recontextualise an image through a few slight edits.

With this experiment I didn’t only wish to alter an image, but a common perception. I’ve edited an image of Adolf Hitler in photoshop in order to depict him shaking hands with a Jew - which is contradictory to his reputation. In this experiment I liked how simple it was to alter an already existing subject by only making a few edits. I also found how impacting it is to use pictures/photos in order to make a deceptive piece.