OVERVIEW | ARTWORKS | ARTISTS | DAC
The curatorial proposal for Speculative Futures positions artwork as a critical medium for addressing pressing social, political, and environmental issues. Art, particularly in its digital forms, has the power to illuminate the consequences of current trends and policies, provoking thoughtful engagement with the future. This contest attracted 96 students from every continent, demonstrating a broad and enthusiastic response to our call, and underscoring our commitment to social, cultural, gender, and economic inclusion.
In a world grappling with ecological decline, the rise of nascent technologies, and an increasingly polarized online environment, the future can appear daunting. Yet, Speculative Futures embraces this challenge, showcasing diverse student perspectives through twenty meticulously curated digital artworks. These works span mediums such as film, illustration, animation, and moving image, exploring future possibilities from the utopian to the dystopian.
Aligned with the prestigious ISEA2024 in Meanjin/Brisbane, Australia and SIGGRAPH 2024 in Denver, Colorado, USA, both renowned for their focus on the latest advancements in electronic art and technology, Speculative Futures underscores the experimental use of digital media in contemporary art. The participants, often termed ‘digital natives,’ are pivotal to this narrative. Their engagement with generative AI, speculative design, and virtual reality fuels the exhibition’s aim to provoke new thoughts and offer pertinent social and ecological commentary.
Today’s students, politically and environmentally engaged, present a compelling case study. This generation faces an uncertain future, evidenced by rising levels of climate anxiety which spans from constructive environmental activism to profound psychological distress. The advent of technologies like generative AI further complicates this scenario, presenting significant challenges to global economic and societal stability. In this context, Speculative Futures poses a profound question: what future will humanity inherit?
The exhibition seeks not only to envision potential outcomes but also to inspire reflective dialogue on our collective trajectory in an ever-evolving world. We look forward to continuing this vital partnership with future ISEA host cities and DAC ACM SIGGRAPH, fostering a global conversation about our shared future. In this dynamic space, we nurture emerging artists, celebrating their intellectual rigor and resilience in crafting digital works that challenge and engage with contemporary controversies. These endeavors create palpable realms of the future. Our exhibition modes serve as interfaces for digitally produced prints and video insights, illuminating the intricate production processes behind their work.
Collectively, these creations reflect the intertwined socio-environmental consequences of our world, presenting visions of potential futures that range from ideal to haunting. The aspiration for a utopian existence as a human species embodies an eco-political ideal, yet we find ourselves in constant contradiction to this idealism. The relentless progression of anthropogenic climate change brings about environmental extremes, highlighting the discord between our utopian desires and our ecological reality.
This exhibition partnership is co-curated by Rebecca Xu and Bonnie Mitchell (for DAC ACM SIGGRAPH), Rewa Wright and Claire Tracey (for ISEA 2024 Meanjin/Brisbane). This project was supported by QUT Creative Industries Project student curatorial team personnel, Doris Ligon and Isabella Cort.
Rebecca Ruige Xu currently teaches computer art and animation at Syracuse University. Her artwork and research interests include experimental animation, visual music, artistic data visualization, interactive installations, digital performance and virtual reality. Her recent work has been shown at: ISEA; Ars Electronica; SIGGRAPH Art Gallery; IEEE VIS Arts Program, Museum of Contemporary Art, Italy; Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, USA; FILE– Electronic Language International Festival, Brazil; International Digital Art Exhibition, China; Boston Cyberarts Festival, USA.
Rewa Wright (the University of Newcastle, UK) has been working with augmented (AR) and mixed reality (MR) since 2012, and has 20 years of experience in various aspects of photographic, moving, and virtual image creation. Wright weaves together theory and practice in philosophy, cyberfeminism, interaction design, technoculture, camera-less photography, and artificial vision technologies with living plants and custom built software to examine the conditions of our relationship to computation, ecology and the body. Rewa is Māori from Ngati Taweke/Te Rarawa/Te Uri o Hau hapu of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Indigenous practices are emergent in their mixed reality performances that incorporate and adapt gestures from traditional dance, and permeate an investigation of plant-data-body ecologies.
Bonnie Mitchell is a new media artist and Professor at Bowling Green State University in Digital Arts, in Bowling Green, Ohio, USA. Mitchell is a member of the ACM SIGGRAPH History and Digital Arts Committee where she focuses on the development of the SIGGRAPH archives and coordination of the SPARKS lecture series. Mitchell’s artworks explore spatial and experiential relationships to our physical, social, cultural, and psychological environment through interaction, abstraction and audio. Her current creative practice focuses on development of physically immersive environments using interaction via electronics and special FX to reveal change over time. Her work has been exhibited internationally at numerous venues.
Claire Tracey is a researcher and artist whose work explores sustainability and the innovative use of plastics. Integrating theory and practice in public art, upcycling, and audience engagement, she aims to raise awareness about humanity’s connection to the planet. Collaborating with arts and culture institutions, businesses, and international enterprises, Claire creates large-scale sculptures and installations. She employs upcycled materials from various organisations to provoke discussions on consumption, design, responsibility, and purpose, redefining and revaluing the materiality of waste through art.