Ikon and University of Birmingham present We need 2 tlk, a new moving image installation by Midlands-based artist Exodus Crooks as part of AI FUTURES at The Exchange, the University of Birmingham’s city centre venue in Centenary Square. Commissioned by Ikon and University of Birmingham, with support from Birmingham-based Vivid Projects, Exodus has explored public perceptions of AI and reflections on media and technology as outlined in the work of celebrated Jamaican-British academic and cultural theorist Professor Stuart Hall (1932–2014).
Produced in collaboration with movement artist Chelsea Gordon, the artwork considers how developments in communication shift our behaviour in conversing with others. We need 2 tlk focuses on the haptics and gestures present in everyday phone use and the processing of information from the eye, brain and hands. We need 2 tlk is presented in The Vaults, an exhibition space carved out from the old Municipal Bank’s basement secure room. On each side of the room, a film shows a pair of hands in motion, the fingers bending and flexing as if typing on an invisible mobile phone keyboard. Through the variation in speed and intensity of movement, We need 2 tlk considers how technology mediates the tone and sentiment of the message originally conveyed through gestures of the body.
Opposite the entrance, Exodus presents a moving image installation comprising 13 mobile phones displayed horizontally to form the shape of a QWERTY keyboard. Each device displays 3 keys of an iPhone on-screen keyboard. Subtly, over a period of time, the key arrangement is distorted: each letter or symbol alternates between the Apple font SF Pro and a graphically rendered version that replicates the look of a handwritten letter. We need 2 tlk explores how we, as humans, talk to one another and how AI mimics human behaviour. AI FUTURES runs from February to November 2024 at The Exchange and invites audiences to join the University of Birmingham on a journey into the brave new world of artificial intelligence. AI has the power to transform industries and enhance lives, yet it raises concerns about job displacement, privacy and security. Through a programme of exhibitions and events, vital questions are explored through the lens of University research.
The Stuart Hall Archive Project is a new research project that will expand public understanding and engagement with the work of celebrated Jamaican-British academic and cultural theorist, Professor Stuart Hall. The archive will be fully catalogued by the Cadbury Research Library team over the course of the project, which is split into three main strands: Conjunctures, Readings and Dialogues. This new commission is supported by University of Birmingham and Ikon Investment Fund. It is the latest in a series of collaborations between Ikon and The Exchange, including Foka Wolf, Why Are We Stuck in Hospital? (2023) and Vanley Burke, A Gift to Birmingham (2022-23). We need 2 tlk is presented as part of Ikon’s 60th anniversary year.
It follows Exodus Crooks’ exhibition Epiphany (Temporaire) at Ikon Gallery (9 February – 21 April 2024), commissioned by Ort Gallery and International Curators Forum (ICF), and curated by Orphée Kashala.
Associated Event: Opening up AI Futures/Exodus Crooks/Stuart Hall Archive Project Thursday 25 July, 6-8pm The Exchange, Centenary Square, B1 2DR. Free, no need to book, just drop in Join Ikon and University of Birmingham at The Exchange for an evening of talks, exhibitions and creative workshops that open up conversations between artists and academics around AI Futures and the Stuart Hall Archive Project. Hear Exodus Crooks talk about We need 2 tlk (2024) with Cathy Wade, Artist Facilitator, Vivid Projects, and participate in a creative text-based workshop led by artist Sadie Barnett. Listen to Dr Nick Beech and Dr Rita Gayle introduce live projects that expand access to the archive of Professor Stuart Hall (1932–2014).
For more information visit ikon-gallery.org
