Assemblages of Being is a group exhibition by UCL BA Media students responding to arebyte’s focus on The Body, the Mind, and the Soul which explores the complexity of existence both individual and collective, within a world reshaped by technological transformation.
Developed with support from arebyte and UCL tutors, the students present interactive game-engine projects examining the impact of merging human consciousness with digital realms, raising questions about autonomy, collective intelligence, and the influence of technology on human perception and decision-making.
Reticence of the Mind by Imogen Adeoye, Ranya Dizayee, Hany Radwan-Radulescu, and Lidia Tirado Gomez guides viewers through the fragmented consciousness of a fictional character, highlighting the interplay between memory and perception. Under the gaze of the house’s watchful eye by Joe Cunningham reimagines domestic spaces as sentient entities, exploring intimacy and surveillance, while DOORS, a VR experience by Ali Jamil, Daisy Lang, Stephanie Lin, and Eric Wei, challenges notions of identity as players navigate surreal landscapes of dislocation and connection. While You Were Sleeping by Haoen Li, Yang Wang, Yibing Wang, and Chuhan Wang delves into themes of guilt and reality through the psyche of an accused man. Peter Popov’s Tiny Dancer reflects on human connection in a post-digital age, offering a poignant narrative about our evolving relationships with technology and nature. Quattuor Scapes by Uliana Sadovskaya, Rundong Sang, Nikoletta Varga, and Aaron Wang intertwines emotion and digital interaction in a multisensory journey through collective memories and Through Within by Shutong Xu, Dan Xue, and Ruoyu Wang reimagines the body as a vessel for memories and identities.
The exhibition blends speculative narratives with interactive media, highlighting the effects of digital transformation on memory, identity, and emotion. Assemblages of Being questions whether the blurring of boundaries between the organic and artificial will expand our understanding of the self or cause us to lose ourselves in the digital ether.
Read more about the exhibition here. Apart from this artist talk, the exhibition is unticketed and runs from 24 - 26 January, 1 - 6pm.