Populated by new worlds that bring alternative mythologies to life, Feedback Loops playfully invites audiences to question preconceived structures within society.
Born in the eighties, these six artists grew up during a period of major technological shift. Drawing upon this context, the curator of the exhibition, Miriam Kelly, says “The idea of the feedback loop comes from the way that images and ideas of the past, present and future are circulating within our current time, and are sampled and mashed up in the works and worlds of these artists.”
Subversive characters, including Uterus Man and Cancer Baby, inhabit Lu Yang’s video games, while Sahej Rahal’s love of Star Wars manifests in digital and physical science-fiction environments filled with reconceived found objects. Sampling from social history, philosophy, anthropology and popular culture, Madison Bycroft’s videos question human desire to understand and create meaning.
“An interest in the intersections between mythology and technology in much contemporary practice was the basis for thinking about this exhibition,” says Kelly. “The show is also rooted in thinking about the alternative or speculative worlds that artists have the capacity and creativity to propose, drawing from what they find and how they interpret the world around us.”
A number of the exhibiting artists incorporate performative elements within their immersive universes, including Justin Shoulder, who will workshop and present new episodes from his theatrical piece Carrion. Tianzhuo Chen navigates constructs of spirituality through animated projections and parties, while Zadie Xa imbues videos and handmade costumes with a new personal mythology that references matrilineal power in Korean shamanism. The artists’ interdisciplinary practices expand definitions of reality by converging digital, physical and spiritual worlds . Shedding technology’s often standardising and alienating effects, Feedback Loops creatively embraces this resource – bringing artists, ideas and visitors together.
Feedback Loops
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA)
7 December 2019–22 March
This article was originally published in the January/February 2020 print edition of Art Guide Australia.
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