Spells & Promises

The exhibition Spells and Promises brought together seven artists whose work uses new technologies as artistic media. Through themes of fantasy, science, spirituality, ecology, and the fluid boundaries between physical and digital realms, their works critically examine the gaps in our understanding of promised technological futures. 1. Mathias MU & Marnix Van Soom, Neo Seer, 2024 NEO SEER reimagines the traditional passive role of art pieces, transforming them into rather active, aware and responsive entities capable of reflecting their environment. An installation that reflects our tendency to project consciousness onto the technologies surrounding us and explicits – for better or worse – our limited understanding of artificial intelligence next to that of the human mind itself. This project features a series of interactive sculptures housing autonomous AI models encased in 3D-printed biomorphic bodies. These sculptures are endowed with an artificial stream of consciousness forcing them to reflect continuously on their environment, inviting visitors to engage in an active, participative role. The output appears on an integrated display with a dialogue window, an interface element reminiscent of RPG video games, where players read dialogue, choices, or narrative descriptions. Visitors passing by acquire a participative role and can read and be the judge of the sculptures’ uncensored thoughts, and whether they recognize themselves being described in it, and take part in exploring both the fascinating and unsettling aspects of human-AI relationships. 2. Thijs Jaeger, Birth-Elements-One-World, 2024 At the center of the exhibition space, a wooden structure holds a series of bronze bells reminiscent of those found in Indonesian temples. Crafted through a combination of hand-molded and 3D-printed wax techniques, these bells embody both human and machine elements, evident in the intricate details where the roughness of a hand gesture converges with a digital glitch. Drawing inspiration from and incorporating iconographic references to Hindu and Buddhist temples, Thijs Jaeger reflects on his roots spanning the Netherlands and Indonesia, recontextualizing the bells into a self-playing instrument. Following a performance on the opening evening, *Birth-Elements-One-World* fills the exhibition space with haunting melodies, intertwined with the sounds of mass-produced prayer machines. 3. Jo Caimo, Human Organ Concerto, 2016 Human Organ Concerto is an interactive audio installation that invites visitors to create a collective sound composition through wearable devices. Positioned at the exhibition entrance, the devices come with simple instructions for use. Once worn, they register each visitor’s breathing pattern and translate it into a sound composition, played by an organ in the exhibition space. 4. Davide Zulli Landscape Reinforcement #1, 2024 Zulli’s installation, mounted on the exhibition wall, embodies a digital landscape, where computer cooling systems merge with natural elements—a stone, a butterfly, and aluminum-cast tree branches. The cold air forms a thin layer of ice, isolating and mechanically preserving each organic shape, creating an aseptic translation of a landscape. This transient ice layer binds the electronic devices with selected natural objects, bridging the artificial and the natural. Landscape Reinforcement #2, 2024 Landscape Reinforcement #2 reflects on our contemporary tendency to create simulacra—representations that strive to appear more real than reality itself. A mesmerizing holographic depiction of a plant chips away at the leaves of a fern in which it is placed, highlighting a somewhat cynical observation. The work serves as a reminder that our obsession with imitating nature should not blind us to the natural world surrounding us; our pursuit of technological progress must not come at the expense of our environment. 5. Mathias MU, THULEVINE, 2023 Mathias Mu’s sand-printed sculpture rests on a pedestal made of earth and an oil barrel, merging digital and physical elements. This piece is an amalgamation of three 3D sculptures unified into a single form, emphasizing the possibilities of digital fabrication processes. Blurring the boundary between digital and physical realms, the visual features of Mathias Mu’s digitally designed work resemble natural, organic forms. 6. Julie De Kezel, Pinnacle, Academie, Universe, 2023 Three miniature sculptures, placed throughout the exhibition space, are created by combining hand-painted 3D printed elements with real mushrooms. Encased in vitrines, they rest on two-legged salt pedestals, created specifically for this exhibition. Like the mushrooms, the salt used in De Kezel’s installation was sourced from the Alps, alluding to the theme of preservation. The miniature sculptures are part of the series *Drolerie*, which draws inspiration from Flemish medieval miniatures of the 8th to 16th centuries, blending medieval Flemish fantasies with contemporary 3D modeling techniques. 7. Anton Cla, Cyclepaths, 2023, https://vimeo.com/747047166 Descending into the building’s basement, *Cyclepaths* is an experimental animated film looking at the world from a contemporary perspective of growing civil unrest. It categorizes humans, animals, and vehicles as trajectory objects in an escalating polarizing action. What starts as a linear narrative experience soon dissolves into an unsettling, however bloodless, surrealist depiction of violence, protest, and war. 8. Anton Cla, Whisper Me Singing, 2022, https://vimeo.com/687906648 Whisper Me Singing is an animated video that extends the performance of the same name by the duo Spa For Spirits, who run an experimental wellness center. From the Zuid shopping center in Ghent, where the performance initially unfolded, the protagonists venture into expanded digital environments.