Amongst the Clouds

Amongst the clouds (digital materialities in the 21^st century) profiles six pioneering Australian and international artists who explore the ways in which digital realms are determinedly tied to the physical world. The featured artists are Liu Chuang, Nina Davies, Archana Hande, Lawrence Lek, Sophie Penkethman-Young, and Liam Young. 

Today, the prevailing image of ‘the cloud’, data and the digital conveys a weightless, ethereal and frictionless existence that disguises technology’s material origins and its ends. In reality, this seemingly intangible cloud is the product of human labour, massive data centres, planetary infrastructures and sprawling cable systems. As the distinction between the digital and the material world becomes increasingly blurred, how we think about art, society and technology is radically shifting and evolving. 

The exhibition features an immersive installation of Jacquard loom punch cards referencing Ada Lovelace, industrialisation, and analogue computing; a film scripted and narrated by an AI chatbot trained on urban management systems; a fictional TikTok dance trend and equally fabulated podcast discussing its origins and the concept of techno-faith communities; a participatory video game that imagines a speculative world where a cyborg therapist saves other forms of AI from machine suicide; a cinematic journey through a history of minerals, technology, infrastructure and power; and a kaleidoscopic video essay on human relationships with programmable beings–from service robots to pedigree dogs.

Through these works, Amongst the clouds loops, rewinds and charts new imaginaries where the realm of the ‘cloud’ is in fact tangible and ever present. For these artists, the contemporary digital environment is, and has always been, profoundly material.

The Amongst the clouds program will feature several talks, performances and workshops commencing on Saturday 10 May. More details on the program to be announced.