Enter into a cavern of intrigue and secrets where you can’t necessarily trust your own eyes – an all-ages wonderland where creation and artificial intelligence collide.
That’s the magical script for three ground-breaking mind-warping exhibitions set to star at the City of Coffs Harbour’s Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM).
The first exhibition, Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness is an immersive new media installation by multi-award-winning art and technology studio ENESS.
Visitors to the gallery will navigate past giant glitchy trees and animated stick insects before facing the Modern Guru, a translucent ovoid with four digital motion-tracking eyes. Take his photo and he spits out a message printed just for you.
ENESS Founder Nimrod Weis says Modern Guru is a statement about the strangeness of artificial intelligence and its carnivorous appetite for human creative output.
“As AI trawls through the history of human cultural endeavour mapping and mimicking human artistry, what does it create but outcomes that currently appear hollow?”
“By contrast, human-made creativity resonates on a different level and as humans, we can feel the authentic hand of the artist irrespective of how strange the intention is,” says Weis.
“This tableaux is an accessible mash-up of art and technology that explores modern paths to happiness through a warped world of digital technology.”
Weis says their team is excited the exhibition at YAM will be the first time Modern Guru has been exhibited in Australia.
The first showing of Modern Guru and original spark for the concept was in a Romanesque 12th Century Cathedral at Le Centre d’art Les 3 CHA Châteaugiron near Rennes, France.
“The religious history of the space inspired thinking around whether technology is a modern god or something that steals the intention from our lives, whether art is the new religion,” says Weis, “and also how, in the digital age, we might find our way to true and lasting happiness.”
This version of the artwork was developed especially for the Coffs Harbour community with the ENESS team being deeply influenced by the exhibiting space and it’s broader context.
“While we’re always maintaining the overarching message we re-shape, adapt and refine the iteration of the work to be site specific, learning from previous exhibitions and trying new things,” says Weis.
“We also rework aspects of the story so that it remains accessible to the audience in each new location. For the Coffs Harbour exhibition Modern Guru is surrounded by his protective stick insects.
“Given that the local environment is subtropical, we loved being able to create these custom characters for this exhibition knowing that there is a connection to the local ecosystem.”
All three exhibitions at YAM, including the group show Electric Dreams, featuring three leading Australian artists working with light—Taree Mackenzie, Jason Sims, and Brendan Van Hek—and Serendipia by artist collaborators Kathryn Cowen and Gareth Jenkins, have been curated to celebrate the first year of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
“All three play with light and have been selected to mark the first year of our new cultural space as Yarrila is the Gumbaynggirr word for illuminate or brighten,”
says City of Coffs Harbour City Planning and Communities Acting Director Ian Fitzgibbon.
Electric Dreams is a maze of shape-shifting optical illusions, while Serendipia combines moving images with futuristic plant-like forms that glow in the dark.
“Each visitor will have a unique experience as they move through the exhibitions and engage with the works,” says Fitzgibbon.
“The exhibitions are accessible, interactive and for all ages and will be free to experience.”
“All three exhibitions at YAM, including group show Electric Dreams, and Serendipia by artist collaborators Kathryn Cowen and Gareth Jenkins, have been curated to celebrate the first year of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
“All three play with light and have been selected to mark the first year of our new cultural space
WHAT : Modern Guru and The Path To Artificial Happiness
WHERE : Yarrila Arts and Museum, 27 Gordon Street, Coffs Harbour
WHEN : 24 Aug – 10 Nov
FREE ENTRY
Writer: Anna Dowd
Originally published in Mid North Coast Arts Guide