King's College London

The ground-breaking exhibition King’s Artists – New Thinking, New Making at the Arcade in King’s iconic Bush House ends on Saturday 15 December.

The exhibition showcases creative responses to six artist-academic collaborations from across King's cultural community as part of King’s Artists, an innovative project which enables artists to develop their practice in parallel with academic research.

Film by Gemma Riggs

Collaborations include:

Design engineer Nassia Inglessis – whose work was displayed in the central courtyard at Somerset House during the London Design Biennale 2018 – has been resident in King’s Department of Informatics, working in collaboration with Dr Richard Overill. Examining what happens when artificial intelligence behaves unpredictably, Nassia’s immersive interactive sculpture, Disobedient AI, explores space and structure as intelligent agents. 

Artist Gen Doy has been resident in the Department of Classics, working in collaboration with Professor Michael Trapp. Together they have explored the history of Strand Lane ‘Roman’ bath and cultural mythology from its origins as a 17th Century cistern to its reinvention as ‘Roman’ through colourful urban myths.

Creative-writer-in-residence, Rebecca Lynch worked with Professor Elizabeth Sklar, Department of Informatics, exploring possible futures for human-robot societies through multimedia stories and digital collages. The artwork was inspired by King’s state-of-the-art robotics research and explores the design, development and testing of future robotic technologies.  

Dr Kai Syng Tan touches the #MagicCarpet in King’s Artists – New Thinking, New Making. Photo credit: Alex Lloyd © King’s College London.

Artist, curator and researcher Dr Kai Syng Tan worked with Professor Philip Asherson in the Department of Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry. Together they created a tapestry weaving together research, narratives and questions about mind-wandering.

Multidisciplinary artist Teresa Albor worked with Professor Sir John Strang and Dr Sally Marlow in King’s Addictions Department. Their installation, Unconditional, is based on conversations with heroin users and the scientists and individuals who work with users and their families.  The piece aims to give voice to the emotions of the people in close relation to heroin users.

The Brooke Roberts Innovation Agency (BRIA) and Dr Matthew Howard, Department of Informatics, explored digital knitwear design and ‘wearable’ smart textiles that sense, actuate and capture human behavioural data through embedded sensors.

 
Rebecca Lynch, Dreaming Machines, Humans in Residence, in King’s Artists – New Thinking, New Making. Photo credit: Alex Lloyd © King’s College London

Many visitors have left positive feedback about their experience

'Disobedient AI is an interesting exploration between artist and spectator' with another visitor describing the work as 'mind-blowing'.

'The mix of different ideas in the collection meant that I was able to think about how everything connected'.

'Unconditional explored the concept of pain and made the viewer look it in the eyes. It gave me goosebumps'.

'I think the academic input makes the artworks more meaningful. It gives some depth'.

'I am studying anthropology so I enjoyed the presentation of objects associated with the Strand Lane Roman' Bath'.

'All the works raised interesting questions'.

Gen Doy and Lynn Dennison, Mare Nostrum, in King’s Artists – New Thinking, New Making. Photo credit: Alex Lloyd © King’s College London.

Filmmaker, Gemma Riggs, captured the journey of each project in a documentary film, which is screened as part of the exhibition. 

The exhibition is supported by a team of gallery supervisors who are all King's students and recent graduates: Lydia Kapournioti, Subhashini Robert William, Julia Charier and Angela Bryan-Brown. Read more about the gallery team here.

 
Teresa Albor, a visitor listens to Unconditional in King’s Artists – New Thinking, New Making. Photo credit: Alex Lloyd © King’s College London.

An events programme is also running alongside the exhibition. Rebecca Lynch and Professor Elizabeth Sklar are hosting a digital writing workshop as the final event on 11 December, exploring privacy and data collection through predictive text generators. 

 

King’s Artists – New Thinking, New Making

Dates: 23 October – 15 December 2018
Times: Monday – Saturday, 10.00 – 17.00
Venue: The Arcade at Bush House, South Wing, Strand WC2B 4PJ
Free entry

Website: www.kcl.ac.uk/culture