Intelligence takes centre stage in new FACT exhibition

Work by four FACT artists in residence are on show in a new interactive exhibition.

A deep-sea video game powered by brain activity and lie-detecting AI are among the installations in Uncertain Data will run at the Wood Street venue until October 3.

Angela Y T Chan, Tessa Norton and Yambe Tam were all awarded a Jerwood Arts/FACT Digital Fellowship in 2020, while Andrius Arutiunian was awarded the European Media Art Residency Exchange this year and elected to do his residency remotely at FACT.

This new show provides an insight into the development of their practice during their time working with the gallery.

It seeks to explore how our feelings and reactions affect how we move through the world, using artificial intelligence, virtual reality and moving images to bring data to life.

Yambe Tam’s Deep Dive is an ambient video game experience combining virtual reality technology, gaming software and an EEG sensor which detects electrical activity in your brain.

Meanwhile Angela YT Chan’s artwork Rain Paradox uses video to present a puzzling contradiction; while 77% of British adults believe the UK is a wet and rainy country, in reality our water demand could soon outstrip supply.

Tessa Norton offers an insight into her ongoing research which focuses on post-colonial Anglo-Indian identity ahead of a commission due to be premiered in 2022, and Andrius Arutiunian presents The Irresistible Powers of Silent Talking, an installation investigating automated deception recognition systems and their use in border surveillance.

Above: Deep Dive by Yambe Tam. Top: The Irresistible Powers of Silent Talking by Andrius Arutiunian. Both images courtesy of the artists

FACT exhibitions manager Lesley Taker said: “It’s always been important for FACT to support emerging and early-career artists, but never so urgently as right now.

“We’ve had a host of digital residencies in the last 18 months, so we are very pleased to be able to present these diverse, incredibly timely, artworks in our galleries.

“As we continue to explore more flexible ways of making art and presenting outcomes, these experimental spaces become really important, especially for our visitors: to see how artists have been working and how they are using technology to critique, create and question.”

Uncertain Data is at FACT from September 15 to October 3.