Tue Nov 03, 2015 18:30 - Tue Nov 03, 2015

London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

On November 3rd at 7:00 PM arebyte hosts Autonomous Labour a talk in relation to the on-going exhibition Autonomous Times created by artist Nelmarie du Preez. Nelmarie will present her work and ideas along with Ben Dalton, RCA Researcher and Principal Lecturer and Patrick Tresset an artist famous for his work with robotics. Writer and curator Bronac Ferran will introduce and chair the event; each presentation will focus on Autonomous Labour: asking how do technology and computational systems affect how we make artworks now and into the future? Can we still distinguish between how a robot works and how 'we' work? What are the social and ethical implications? The talk is free and there will be a chance for discussion and questions.

Please book your ticket through eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/autonomous-labour-tickets-19039154624

Speakers:

Nelmarie du Preez //

Nelmarie du Preez (b. 1985) is a South African artist based in Pretoria and London working in the fields of performance, photography, video and computational arts. She recently completed her MFA Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also completed her MA in Computational Arts in 2013. She has exhibited internationally in London, New York, Buenos Aires and Berlin as well as major cities in South Africa. In the past year she has been shortlisted for six significant international art awards. She is the winner of the 2015 Sasol New Signatures as well as the 2015 Ampersand Foundation Fellow. Du Preez is currently a lecturer in Visual Arts and New Media at the University of South Africa.

Patrick Tresset //

Patrick Tresset is a London based artist who creates theatrical installations with robotic agents as actors. Tresset’s installations use computational systems that aim to introduce artistic and expressive aspects to robots’ behaviour. These systems are influenced by research into human behaviour, more specifically how human artists depict other humans, how humans perceive artworks and how humans relate to robots. Tresset also uses robots and autonomous computational systems to produce series of drawings and paintings of classical subjects such as portraits, nudes and still lifes.

Ben Dalton // speaker

Ben is an experimental media technologist, artist and designer. His research is focused on the field of Identity Design, including technical, social, political and aesthetic aspects of identity in digital public space. Ben's current research investigates Identity Design by looking at the themes of identity performance and digital public space. Identity construction has long been a key element of design in typography, branding and layout. Identity construction is also key in the politics of social systems and theories of self. These perspectives can be combined to help uncover the future of identity design online and in digital systems. Ben's research includes developing performances, prototype apps and services that explore modern fragmented identity. He has talked about identity construction in the workplace and social spaces, following collaborative projects with partners like the BBC and international art institutions.

Chair:

Bronac Ferran //

Bronaċ Ferran co-presents Making Conversations on Resonancefm and co-curated Art that Makes Itself, the recent Brown & Son exhibition at Watermans whilst editing the related book. Her essay Mind Over Media published in Time & Motion: Redefining Working Life (Liverpool University Press, 2013) was commissioned by FACT, Liverpool and the RCA where she has worked as Senior Tutor (Research) Innovation Design Engineering. A former Director of Interdisciplinary Arts at Arts Council England, she has been on Transmediale and Ars Electronica Hybrid Arts juries and is working on forthcoming exhibitions and publications with Eduardo Kac, William Latham and Hansjörg Mayer.

Thu Oct 01, 2015 18:00 - Thu Oct 01, 2015

London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

2nd Oct – 7th Nov 12-6pm / Opening 1st Oct 6-9pm

arebyte gallery is pleased to host South African artist Nelmarie du Preez’s first solo show entitled AUTONOMOUS TIMES (2015), which imagines a future where humans might need to ‘tame’ and domesticate their autonomous yet potentially ‘dangerous’ artificial creations. Inspired by DIY cultures and the changing landscape of labour, she presents a new video work and installation comprised of trust or ‘taming’ exercises performed on a dangerous assembly line between herself and her wild robots.

The exhibition is the result of her residency at the gallery this past summer where she spent time in the ‘lab’ to imagine and construct her new artwork following on her previous work “Loops of Relation” (2013), wherein she established a performance-based collective between herself and her robot.

During the residency du Preez set out to multiply or extend her performance partner into an assembly line of feral robotic arms that need to be tamed. She re-designed, built and programmed her new robots to establish a trusting relationship between (wo)man and machine. Together they began their journey by exploring a scene from Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times” (1936) that features the Billows feeding machine – an automated machine that attempts/fails to feed Chaplin lunch.

This attempt and apparent failure of the machine that results in a disorderly explosion was the key inspiration for the video and installation work presented in this exhibition. In times of autonomous cars and self-aware robots, du Preez not only wants to explore our fluctuating trust in technology but also in ourselves and each other.

Delving into the world of online DIY Maker culture, du Preez re-imagined her robotic performance partners. She constructed and altered pre-existing ‘safe’ designs for robotic arms found on open source maker websites like thingiverse.com and Github. For the programming of the robots she spent time on online forums – in conversation with experts and/or ‘hobby-ists’ where she was able to observe the collaborative ‘trusting’ labour of production that occurs online.

Du Preez takes her investigation into the politics of trust and innovation further by drawing aesthetic inspiration from George Miller’s film, “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015). This film resembles DIY culture with a dangerous twist – set in an imagined apocalyptic future filled with and incredible mix of special effects and real life stunts. She explores this cinematic contradiction (where fake/real mix) and asks why we love to suspend/test our disbelief and how this practice influences the way we imagine and innovate our futures.

The final video work reveals the slippages and boundaries that exist between technology and human interaction or intervention – where power shifts constantly. Ultimately, du Preez uses her somewhat ‘schizophrenic’ relationship with her ‘unruly’ DIY robots to test the suspense between trust/violence; danger/intimacy; fake/real and finally self and other.

The exhibition comprises of one video artwork, an installation of responsive robotic arms as well as a live performance at the private view. Furthermore du Preez will present ‘behind the scenes’ material of her assembly line/process.
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This event is organized as part of the South African Season in the UK. The SA-UK Seasons 2014 & 2015 is a partnership between the Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa and the British Council.

It is also supported by Arts Council England and Foundation for Future London.

AUTONOMOUS TIMES is part of this years Art Licks Weekend 2015.

Nelmarie du Preez (b. 1985) is a South African artist based in Pretoria and London working in the fields of performance, photography, video and computational arts. She recently completed her MFA Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also completed her MA in Computational Arts in 2013. She has exhibited internationally in London, New York, Buenos Aires and Berlin as well as major cities in South Africa. In the past year she has been shortlisted for six significant international art awards. She is the winner of the 2015 Sasol New Signatures as well as the 2015 Ampersand Foundation Fellow. Du Preez is currently a lecturer in Visual Arts and New Media at the University of South Africa.

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AREBYTE:

arebyte gallery is a cross disciplinary space in East London working mainly in Performance and New-Media arts researching the relationship between the body, technology and human experience. We work with local and international artists on-site and on-line, promoting new and innovative means of engaging the public and facilitating participation.

arebyte gallery invited 4 local and international emerging artists to form part of their series of gallery residencies and solo shows running February – November, 2015. For 4-6 weeks each artist spent time using the gallery as both a studio and exhibition space, whilst giving the public a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creation along with taking an active role in artistic and creative research.

Thu Sep 03, 2015 18:00 - Thu Sep 03, 2015

London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

27th Aug - 25th Sep
3rd of September 6 – 9pm
Open days, 27th August – 25th Sep, Thursday to Saturday, 12 – 6pm

This summer artists' collective thickear are transforming Arebyte gallery into thickear Records Store. Come and browse the most up-to-date recordings, release your own records, see where they chart and walk away with limited edition tapes. No need to bring anything except your personal details - thickear Records Store is a one-stop-swap-shop for exploring current models of currency and exchange.

A recording is a decision made. It is a point of commitment, a final choice that cannot afterwards be undone. Just as with a form signed, a submit button clicked or an email sent, once released there is no turning back. The consequences of the action have been assessed. The course has been deemed correct. There has been a decision to go ahead. But just how is that decision evaluated?

Using performance and participation to examine such evaluations made during contemporary commerce, thickear Records Store considers transactions that are less clear cut than traditional retail exchanges. Without any clear way to establish the value of the personal information we provide in exchange for online goods and services how can we be sure we are getting a fair deal? As our hidden data profiles expand with every purchase might we come to regret current transactions in the future? thickear Records Store is an open space for the discussion of these issues, the practice of thickear and the chance to participate in a live art experiment.

thickear Records Store continues thickear’s series of works interrogating contemporary themes of public transaction through participation, performance, installation and sound. These include Ministry of Measurement (2013), a two week performance/installation within the Barbican Centre where members of the public were asked by bureaucratic staff to measure subjective distances before submitting their data back to “The Ministry" and Pink Sheet Method (2014) which sought to investigate economies of data exchange and consider how transaction is employed to create perceived but oblique value.

Formed in London at the beginning of 2012, artists’ collective thickear have presented at Royal College of Art, V&A, Barbican, FutureEverything Festival, Open Data Institute, Lighthouse, Goldsmiths University, Microsoft NERD Centre - Boston, Music Tech Fest and Yard Theatre.

thickear are Geoff Howse, Jack James, Kevin Logan and Tadeo Sendon.

www.thickear.org

Tue Jul 07, 2015 18:00 - Tue Jul 07, 2015

London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

arebyte is delighted to present Judgement a solo exhibition by Ariel Narunsky. Judgement is an attempt to utilize the perception of stadiums as social monuments to create a mirror or monument to our contemporary society and the human condition.

The project establishes concepts and views regarding motive, meaning, satisfaction, control, punishment and utopia, while all along grafting it with an internal monologue aimed towards the art world. The work offers a proposal for the UK’s largest artwork, public or otherwise, that will be erected out of the existing infrastructure of the London 2012 Olympic stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Park.

In the exhibition of Judgement the work of judgement is unveiled; the new work will offer a giant spiralled three-lane running track enveloped by a spiral wall. At its centre the track will continue underground through a tunnel, which eventually ejects you back on to the streets of London and back to your life. The construction, once erect, aims to be open around the clock for all to come and take part freely as a spectator or runner alike. Offering itself as a daily activity in the life of a community.

The exhibition draws on the aesthetics and ideas of information centres and visitors’ centres and will be using these elements to form the basis of the installation. The installation will fill the gallery space with 3D printed models, as well as architectural plans and animated renderings; these are accompanied by what might be described as promotional posters, catalogues and screening of a film, “Unknown Game With Ultimate things” a video filmed in the stadium showing the early stages of construction of Judgement.

This chosen language enables the ideas to shift between realms and fields, putting into question the parameters of the work itself. The manner of sincerity in which it is presented clashes with the idea it proposes; an idea, which sways between futility, humour, punishment and depth of heart; a joke, a critical observation or sincere solution.

The gallery will have a small coffee table and some chairs, the installation will offer a place for the audience to sit and rest, have a drink and talk while immersing themselves in the work. From the sublunary to the phantasmal, salvation or hoax; this is our monument and our moment, this is Judgement and all of its derivatives.

Ariel Narunsky (born 1987) is a young upcoming artist. He graduated from Bezalel academy of art and design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. His work is not based in any specific medium; it is based on ideas by result of observation. Narunsky’s works are often sparked by search for solutions, humour and his love for information. He deals with perceptions of society and existence; awakening issues of meaning, satisfaction, power and control; tackling the place of art in society, the artist as a prophet and the relation between artist, art and the public.

His work is not limited in its fields of interest, and offers an accumulation of knowledge and concepts distilled into simple ideas. For his diverse body of work and thoughts he has been paired with many descriptions and nicknames that portray him as being medium-surpassed and a ‘sweatless’ artist (an artist that does not sweat).

The exhibition will run from the 7th of July until the 7th of August, Thursday - Saturday 12-6pm.

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For press enquiries and images contact:
Tine Scharffenberg
Assistant Curator, arebyte
E: tine@arebyte.com
T: +44 7591 442106
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Thu May 07, 2015 18:00 - Sat Jun 06, 2015

London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

arebyte gallery are happy to present a solo exhibition by Zoë Hough. The Microbial Verdict: You Live Until You Die explores issues surrounding ageing in modern society and the desire for control over our bodies and our minds.

When are you dead? Scientific and medical advances are prolonging the lifespan of the human body, but our brains are not keeping up the pace, with diseases like Alzheimer’s becoming ever more widespread.

The Microbial Verdict: You Live Until You Die presents a speculative scenario where synthetic biology allows all citizens to live until they die; that is, they live only for as long as they remain ‘themselves’. Under this UK-wide policy, citizens over the age of 65 ingest a synthetically engineered protein, which has been programmed to track their brain activity and release a toxin to end their life if it detects that the citizens are no longer ‘themselves’. This speculative scenario is scientifically feasible, and based on research by Harvard scientists who discovered a protein which enables non-invasive tracking of neuronal activity.

The scenario and its possible motivations and consequences are presented through film and objects, including footage of the ceremony where citizens ingest their engineered protein, the Microbial Verdict Handbook, a blister-packaged synthetically-engineered protein, and a Government document outlining the benefits to the economy of this new policy in terms of reduced pension, NHS and housing costs.

Actors in the gallery invite the public to undergo a series of exercises and questions to ascertain the characteristics that make them ‘them’. In the speculative scenario it is these characteristics the protein would be programmed to track.

Workshops for people over the age of 65 will be run in partnership with AgeUK East London, and will take place on a weekly basis during the exhibition. They will discuss issues raised by the exhibition as well as a wider conversation about speculative design. To attend the workshops please contact the gallery.

The project is not intended as a vision of an ideal future, but it is intended as stimulus for debate around what possible, plausible or desirable futures might look like. The exhibition aims to engage the audience in critical and imaginative debate about how we, as individuals and as a society, are designing our futures and what the ethical and societal implications might be.

Zoë Hough is a Speculative Designer and Artist. Her interests lie in the overlapping themes of human emotion, politics, science and society.
She uses film, text, objects and electronics to craft speculative narratives, which aim to stimulate debate and reflection about how things are, how things could be, and how we might want things to be.

She holds an MA in Design Interactions from Royal College of Art and a first class Undergraduate Degree in Economics & Management from the University of St Andrews.