- Venue
- Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
- Starts
- Friday, January 25, 2019
- Ends
- Sunday, June 16, 2019
- Address
- S Shore Rd, Gateshead NE8 3BA
- Location
- North East England
- Organiser
- BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Digital Citizen – The Precarious Subject
James Bridle / Alan Butler / Laura Grace Ford / Peter Hanmer / Daniela Ortiz / Jonas Staal / Kate Stonehill / Petra Szemán / They Are Here / Alan Warburton
Curated by Alessandro Vincentelli
25 January – 16 June 2019
Image: Plato’s Lair (2018) at cheeseburn Sculpture Garden. Photo credit: Paul Stephenson
This exhibition draws on the imagination of contemporary artists to inspire a conversation on ideas of citizenship in the digital age. We are said to live in the era of ‘fake news’ – online propaganda which significantly endangers democracy.
Sophisticated AI and CGI technologies have irreversibly blurred the distinction between reality and simulation. We voluntarily subject ourselves to constant surveillance of our online presence, while enjoying the apparent anonymity which grants us the illusion of freedom and encourages the upsurge of internet trolling.
In the time of unprecedented speed of information circulation which has weakened the importance and integrity of the public space, have we lost the ability for informed political action? Are we still able to form a community or has the fragmentation of the present moment deprived us of the capacity of being active enabled citizens? Digital Citizen – The Precarious Subject investigates new possibilities of digital tools and networks for rethinking historical forms of nationalisms and citizenship.
The exhibition revels in digital avatars, game environments and ‘total worlds’ that open up new spaces for creation and fluid gender identities. It asks the question of whether it is still possible to foster new transnational forms of togetherness and activism in the digital realm.
Artists include: James Bridle / Alan Butler / Laura Grace Ford / Peter Hanmer / Daniela Ortiz / Jonas Staal / Kate Stonehill / Petra Szemán / They Are Here / Alan Warburton
