August 24, 2024
Beall Center for Art + Technology / xMPL theater
University of California Irvine
Irvine, CA
Artists: Ralf Baecker, Lucy Solomon (Cesar & Lois), Chico MacMurtrie, Laura Splan, Hege Tapio
Co-moderators: David Familian and Jeff Barrett
Evolutionary biology, meteorology, neuroscience, and robotics are just a few examples of the complex systems that artists engage with in the exhibition Future Tense: Art, Complexity, and Uncertainty. Complex systems are dynamic, uncertain, and unpredictable. They are characterized by chaos, feed-back loops, self-organization, and emergent behavior. Future Tense features both emerging and established contemporary artists who utilize the concepts of complex systems in traditional media and new technologies such as computer modeling, robotics, and data visualizations. The exhibition includes work by Ralf Baecker, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Julie Mehretu, Clare Rojas, and Theresa Schubert, as well as new works by Newton Harrison, Chico MacMurtrie, Laura Splan, Gail Wight, Lucy HG Solomon & Cesar Baio collective, among others commissioned through the Beall Center’s Black Box Projects artist residency program. Exploring complex systems at various levels, from microscopic organisms to the totalizing implications of global warming on a planetary scale, the goal of Future Tense is for audiences to understand how complexity functions within individual works of art while also appreciating the beauty, intricacy, and wonder of each complex system. This exhibition is made possible with support from Getty through its PST Art: Art & Science Collide initiative. PST Art: Art & Science Collide, will feature exhibitions and programs exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present.
