Algorithmic Unconscious by UCL BA Media

1 Mar-3 Mar 2024

PV 29 Feb 2024,

Overview

Algorithmic Unconscious is a group exhibition by UCL BA Media students responding to arebyte’s current artistic focus on The Body, the Mind, the Soul, an exploration of the complex nature of humanity in the realm of technological progress.  

Developed with curatorial and production support from arebyte team and UCL tutors, students present new media projects that examine the impact of digital transformation on the mind, focusing particularly on unconscious processes such as emotions, addiction, and dreaming. 

In the non-traditional game by Aaron Wang, anger, fear, joy, and sadness provide the backdrops for quests. Emotions play a crucial role in decision-making, yet human decisions can veer off course, leading to addiction when addictive substances are introduced into the game. James Thom's installation serves as a cautionary message, urging us not to press the button of addiction, even though the only way to explore his work is by pressing the button repeatedly. The generated film 0714 by Ellena-Maria Kappos, Imogen Adeoye, Hany Radwan-Radulescu, Cara McDerment, and Daisy Lang - reveals how generative algorithms experience dreaming. Meanwhile, in Dream Diary by Eric Wei, Stephanie Lin, and Allison Zhong, the artists delve into the surreal landscapes of the human mind. In The Epoch's Elegy, Artificial Intelligence is portrayed as a malevolent force rather than a creative agent. Through this installation, Maria Mujib envisions a future marked by environmental degradation and societal collapse as a consequence of AI's rule.

The student’s projects unveil the impact of merging human consciousness with the digital and ethereal realm, leaving a lasting imprint on internal thought processes, shaping our perception, organisation, and expression. Their works question whether this evolution leads to increased autonomy or deeper entanglement with collective intelligence, and if humanity's aspirational concept of collective intelligence is being hindered by a detrimental and numbing collective algorithmic unconscious.

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