Mouthpiece

We are delighted to present four extraordinary artists; each with an exceptional and unique art practice. The captivating works in Mouthpiece, offer us fascinating ways to consider the complexities of the human condition. This exhibition is a portraiture of ideas, containing allegorical, figurative works with mouths that communicate human behaviours, words, beliefs and fears. Singing, speaking, humming and whispering, the works speak to us from a world of technology.

Opening Reception
Opening Reception: September 29, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
contact@newmediagallery.ca – Information & Invitation to Opening Reception

One of the great pioneers of video and installation art, Tony Oursler has created a series of glass-headed, AI b0ts. These ‘effigies’ have been inoculated with miniature video and sound technologies. Described as ‘Metaphors for alienated, isolated modern individuals in a technology-driven culture”, the bOts question our belief in the future of technology & AI, whispering, questioning and predicting dystopian futures.

Mellors & Nissinen present us with the absurd character Bad Mantras, from their grand political parody, The Aalto Natives (Venice Biennale). Attached to the wall of a ubiquitous recording studio, this bodiless carbuncle of pink-felt, muppet heads, attempts a group hum while trying to play musical instruments together. Trapped on the wall, the tangled robotic arms reach out to attempt contact and some kind of harmony.

Diemut Strebe is a ground-breaking artist working at the intersection of art and science. She offers us The Prayer, a disembodied, singing & speaking, rubber mouth with voice box; animated by artificial intelligence, powered by an algorithm that draws from world religious texts. The work was built at MIT around Diemut’s research question “How would a divine epiphany appear to an artificial intelligence?”.

Through unconventional and pioneering practice the artists in Mouthpiece habitually address a world of systems, narratives and beliefs; through humour and parody or through scientific reasoning. Mediated through an aesthetics and physiology of the voice, we recognize the assemblage of capabilities, flaws, worries and efforts in this exhibition as poignant, uplifting and all too human.

For more information visit: https://www.newmediagallery.ca