This event coincides with the forthcoming exhibition Variations by Felicity Hammond and the research of the artist collective Planetary Portals, currently on show at the Gallery. Expanding from their work, the symposium considers contemporary exhibition making and how advanced technologies — from machine learning to immersive installations — and how they mediate our understanding of space, time, memory and responsibility.
We are particularly interested in proposals that respond to the political, ethical and material realities of contemporary image production.
Suggested themes:
- AI, artistic practice and research methodologies: passivity and activity in AI-generated or AI-augmented art, human-machine co-authorship;
- The Politics of the image: Ethics of image-making and curating in the age of algorithmic intelligence;
- The AI archive: What machine learning remembers, forgets and erases (including the embedded colonial residues of training data; archives (material or digital) as sites of resistance and repair;
- Digital labour and global infrastructures: Annotative labour, especially in the Global South
- Materiality and the environmental costs of AI: Data centres and extractive footprint of digital practices
We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations consisting of:
- Academic papers
- Practice-led research
Please submit using this form by 14 May, 12pm
Submissions should include:
- Title and abstract (300 words max)
- Brief bio (100 words)
- Format of your proposed contribution
- Any technical or accessibility needs
Decisions will be communicated by 20 May. Fees available to independent practitioners or those without institutional affiliation. Please indicate in your submission if this applies.
The symposium is scheduled to take place on Thursday 3 July, 2025.
This event is supported by Kingston University and Queen Mary University of London.
