How are machines recognising and understanding the spaces they inhabit? NEoN’s festival theme (The Spaces We’re In) questions the differences between virtual and physical space, but are machines and digital technologies programmed to also understand those differences? For centuries the camera obscura and other forms of camera have allowed us to capture a view of the world and show it to others, but now machines communicate with each other, across networks and via algorithms, often without human intervention. Do technological machines – cameras, lasers, microscopes – understand the spaces they share with us and what can we learn if we look at our surroundings the way they do?

The title is taken from the poem of the same name by Richard Brautigan first published in his 1967 collection. Brautigan describes a technological utopia where machines exist to enrich and protect our lives.

Artists include;

Miyu Hayashi   /   Ruth Kerr   /      Willy Lemaitre   /   Tom Sherman

Join us for the opening on 10th November 5pm

Image Credit: Tom Sherman, Learning to see the Laboratory where the machine is programmed