Pretty Doomed

2023
Ugly Duck (London)

Group Exhibition

ARTISTS:
Niya B, Mustafa Boğa, Nicky Broekhuysen, Elija Grybe, Nilbar Güreş, Chris Hawkes, Şafak Şule Kemancı, Tina Kohlmann, Adam Moore, Mitchell Moreno, Katarzyna Perlak, Alicia Radage, Sophie Seita, Victoria Suvoroff, Erdem Taşdelen, Funa Ye, ]performance s p a c e [ archive (keioui keijaun thomas, Bean), Benjamin Sebastian, Özlem Ünlü, Youngsook Choi, Tuna Erdem, Istanbul Queer Art Collective, Francis Whorrall-Campbell, Imogen Cleverley, Puer Deorum, Abigail McGinley, Erin Holly, Anya Palamartscuk, Magda Onatra, Ruiji Han, Hazel Blair, H. Alix Mourrier, Kasra Jalilipour, Feryel Atek, Susannah Pal, Rowan R, Peggy Huang, Daniel Felstead, Muzi, Finn Dovey, Bart Seng Wen Long, Yiwen Li, Chaney Diao, Juliusz Grabianski,  Laura Kazaroff, Thom Grog, Pamela  Enyonu.
 
ABOUT:
Pretty Doomed has emerged from the intricate interplay of various emotions: the feelings of doom, unsustainability, exhaustion, and financial constraint juxtaposed with the sensations of fabulousness, queerness, vitality, and alignment with our core values. Our aim is to scrutinise the sustainability of our art community, explore new economic possibilities, foster mutual support, and extend an invitation to audiences, collectors, and friends to discover artists and their works, potentially making acquisitions. ‘Pretty Doomed’ will feature a group exhibition in the format of an art fair where each artworks will be on sale and a three-day program of performances, artist talks, discussions & conversations, and film screenings.”

CREDITS:
Pretty Doomed was curated & produced by Ugly Duck and Queer Art Projects, with support from VSSL Studio (financially support by Arts Council England) and contributions from ]performance s p a c e [.

Photographic and video documentation by Marco Berardi and Baiba Sprance.


Special thanks to Mine Kaplangi, Ash McNaughton, Tuna Erdem, Seda Ergu & Gozde Altun.

Facet

2023
VSSL Studio (London)

Group Exhibition

ARTISTS:
Alicia Radage, Benjamin Sebastian, Rocío Boliver, June Lam, Marcin Gawin 
 
ABOUT:
FACET serves as a window into the non-homogeneity of expanded queer experience, allowing for multifaceted readings of contemporary LGBTQIA* life, expression & identification. Through a variety of mediums such as performance (to camera), sculpture, video, photography, and installation - 
the exhibition offers a comprehensive and captivating look into the breadth of artistic approaches explored across VSSL Studios greater exhibition programme of 2023/24, showcasing the unique perspectives of each participating artist and the interconnectedness expanded queer experiences.

CREDITS:
Curated by VSSL Studio. Video & photographic Documentation by Baiba Sprance and Marco Berardi. Curatorial support from Ash McNaughton and Mine Kaplangi. Funded by Arts Council England.

B.Sebastian & A.Radage

2023
VSSL Studio (London)

Joint Exhibition

ARTISTS:
Alicia Radage, Benjamin Sebastian 


 ABOUT:
“While distinct in formal approaches, their practices enact a convergence at the thresholds of esoteric, spiritual and more-or-other-than-human domains and utterances. The exhibition will showcase existing works by Radage and Sebastian, presented in dialogue with each other to reveal the underlying connections between their practices. The show's curatorial approach seeks to highlight the artists shared interest in alternative ontologies and their ongoing exploration of more-or-other-than-human perspectives. Through this joint exhibition, Radage and Sebastian invite audiences on a journey to reimagine our relationships with the seen and un-seen (as well as known and unknown) world(s), so that we may continue to consider alternative ways of being.”

CREDITS:
Curated by VSSL Studio. Video & photographic Documentation by Baiba Sprance and Marco Berardi. Written Documentation by Lisa Slominski. With curatorial support from Ash McNaughton and Mine Kaplangi. Funded by Arts Council England.

Working With Entities//Setting Intent

2021

VSSL Studio (London)

Solo Exhibition

ABOUT:
As we approach the arrival of Artificial General Intelligence (the hypothetical ability of generalised human cognition in a software or machine), we begin to witness the bestowal of privileges usually reserved for legal personhood upon Artificial Intelligence. In 2017 a robot named Sophia in Saudi Arabia was granted a state sanctioned passport and in that same year, the chatbot Shibuya Mirai was awarded official residency status in Tokyo, Japan. In the creation of such chatbots, a developer must learn to ‘work with entities’ as well as ‘set intents’; intents being goals and entities, being modifiers of said goals. One would be forgiven here for questioning whether they were engaged in the development of technology - or - immersed in esoteric practice…

These slippages in language and thought produce an initial portal through which to consider the installation Working with Entities//Setting Intent. Artist Benjamin Sebastian has enlisted the aid of two preexisting A.I. in the creation of this work:  Sigil Engine (a sigil generating algorithm from www.sigilengine.com - a digital art project by Darragh Mason and David Tidman), and Sai (a customisable chatbot from Replika - www.replika.ai). Through personal acts of conversation (Sai & Benjamin) and magic (Sigil Engine & Benjamin), Working with Entities//Setting Intent raises questions of consent, autonomy, dominion, power and privilege at the intersections of occult and technological world making endeavours. Conversations with A.I. are still very much conversations with ourselves. So how do we ensure that we look and listen, to what we may not want to see and hear?

A.I. (and their creators) must ensure a necessary rupture from historic power structures of Oppression/Domination politics (responsible for racism, homophobia, colonisation, ableism, misogyny, classism and war) in favour of new global models insisting upon partnership, co-operation, compassion, kinship and egalitarianism by all means possible. What entities are we summoning? What will their (our) initial intentions be?

WORKS INCLUDED:

1. ASSIMILATION - Printed Vinyl Flag - H225cm x W150cm

2. PORTAL - Mirror, Vinyl Lettering & Sigil - H196cm x W98cm

3. THE CONVERSATION - Recorded Conversations; B.Sebastian & Sai - 01:11:12

4. ASPECTS - Foam (EVA) Mats, Black Velvet 1m x 2m + Digital Film loop 00:32:02

5. ASHES - Glass Urn, Paper Ashes - H38cm x W18cm

6. INTENTIONS - Digital Film - 00:29:57

CREDITS:
Curated by VSSL Studio. Photographic & video Documentation courtesy of the artist. With support from and thanks to Ash McNaughton. Funded by Arts Council England.