Collusion 2019 // An exploration of emerging technology through extraordinary art - Collusion

Collusion 2019 // An exploration of emerging technology through extraordinary art

April 2019

From the 12th to 22nd of April 2019, visitors to the area outside Cambridge Junction found a series of specially built pavilions designed by architect Charles Holland. Inside these structures, they encountered six interactive and immersive artworks that explore our relationship with emerging technology.


Collusion 2019: an exploration of emerging technology through extraordinary art

Pieces include 2030, a party set in a 2030 home hosted by a virtual assistant; Datacosm, a multi-narrative film driven by live music and artificial intelligence; Doomsday Blockchain, a memorial to the 21st century that broadcasts hidden messages excavated from the Bitcoin blockchain; TEO, an interactive AI-driven artwork exploring the digital potential to design personalised avatars; Above the Surface, a look at our relationship with material consumption through the lens of augmented reality; and immersive film My fingers distended as honey dripped from your lips and we danced in a circular motiona dance recorded and performed in 360° video that reorients and disorients viewers in relationship to others’ bodies and their own.

The artworks explore the impact on society of such technologies as artificial intelligence, data culture, and augmented reality. They incorporate live theatre, music, dance, sculpture, film, and animation as well as making use of a variety of the emerging technologies they seek to interrogate.

Participating artists Jo Lawrence, Crowded Room, Adham Faramawy, DDBC (led by Christian Nold & James Stevens), Above&Below, and Henry Driver & Barbara Dougan were all commissioned by Collusion to create these pieces for the April 2019 showcase as the culmination of our three-year in_collusion programme of work. After being selected in November 2017 from more than 120 applicants, they took part in a 12-month research and development programme, working with Collusion’s technology and innovation partners Cambridge Consultants and Arm to explore relevant ideas, themes, and technological solutions.

The works also touch on concerns raised by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, engaging with such themes as consumption and social justice.

Watch our short film to find out more – see Media section of this page.

Artists

Artists

Above&Below // Crowded Room // DDBC // Henry Driver & Barbara Dougan // Adham Faramaway // Jo Lawrence


Associates

  • Arm

  • Cambridge Consultants

  • Anglia Ruskin University

  • Leverhulme Centre for Future Intelligence

  • The Fusion Works

Partners

  • Arts Council England
  • Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority
  • Arm
  • Cambridge Consultants
  • Anglia Ruskin University
  • Cambridge Leisure
  • Cambridge Junction