A digital reality exists within our physical reality, forever asking humanity to divide its attention between both spaces. As the technological world invites new innovations, humanity continues to ask itself where the intersection between humanity and technology must meet. In photographer John Mack’s newest exhibition, A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens, he guides visitors through a meditation on this very question. The exhibition is free to the public and open until September 30.
On September 19, join Untapped New York Insiders for a members-only tour of the exhibition A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens with the artist and creator, John Mack. The exhibition examines the intersection of humanity and technology via a gamified meditation experience aimed at restoring the balance between ourselves and our smart devices. The exhibition is at Skylight Modern – which was launched for Fashion Week in 2013 and has become an essential space for experiences across art, tech, media, and beyond. The event is free for Untapped New York Insiders (get your first month free with code JOINUS).
Artist-led Tour of ‘A Species Between Worlds’
The exhibition features six sections: The Replacement, The Flicker, The Construct, The Wonder, The Introspection, and The Restoration. Whereas the first sections depict the National Parks with varying levels of cellular service, the latter sections depict scenes such as the Seven Wonders of the World and expansive landscapes throughout the Earth.
The Replacement features 12 virtual Pokémon Go landscape images of National Parks where full data signal is present. Moving towards a space where there is less of a digital footprint, The Flicker features nine artworks as hybrids of the Pokémon Go images. These black and white manipulations of nature, depict the National Parks where reception is spotty. The Construct features 15 color drained photos of the National Parks with no reception.
Traveling to the next section, one will see projections of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. Mack then revisits the national parks in The Introspection and offers viewers an image loop of a national park through the various stages of imagery ranging from the Pokémon Go interface to the natural color photograph, which shifts in unison with audio of poems from Mack’s forthcoming volume A Land Between Worlds: The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape. In the final section, The Restoration, Mack offers large-scale color photographs of nature.
In addition to providing a physical exploration of technology and humanity, A Species Between Worlds also serves as a forum featuring a rich program of talks and events, free to the public, that will convene thought leaders from around the world on the increasingly slippery boundary between our humanity and our technology. Program highlights include Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, a conversation with Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, a panel hosted by Stanford University Professors Rob Reich, Jeremy Weinstein and Mehran Sahami to discuss their book, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot.
To experience this exhibition that combines thought-provoking artwork with an inspiring program that brings together a unique group of high-profile speakers and leaders from the fields of art, academia, technology, and business join Untapped New York Insiders on September 19.
Artist-led Tour of ‘A Species Between Worlds’
Next, check out the 8 best public art installations to see in NYC during August 2022!