In Vivo / In Vitro

“Dethrone” Exhibition at Gray Area, SF
Sang Leigh, Joey Verbeke, Koi Ren, Jess Kim, Jeffrey Hawkins (2024)

“Dethroning” is the radical act of being in community and holding empathy for each other. Through being in community, we can work to disengage and “dethrone” systems of oppression and power.

This installation comprises of screen and projection, generatively evolved graphics of am embryo, and computer vision based affect sensing. Through these means, various juxtapositions of collectivity and individuality are explored.

Trial 1 navigates the delicate balance between agency and absence, as even in moments of unconscious inaction, our essence is woven into unfolding realms. It muses on the unseen forces that sway us between control and compliance, inviting reflection on our ephemeral entanglement with these vast, intangible domains. Collective evolution is only glimpsed at at moments of unconsciousness, either intentional (closing the eyes) or unintentional (distraction or blinking).

In Trial 2 communal engagement and surveillance grow an embryonic cell culture as a medium of collective evolution. This trial explores the juxtaposition of surveillance and extraction, inviting outrospection on the state being controlled by as well as influencing the system, endeavoring to capture our ambiguous relationship with collective change. The presence of audience, captured by sensors detours the path of the structural and genomic growth of the embryo. This propels passive engagement into haphazard contribution, either for good or not.


Video coming soon.