UCLA Arts Conditional Studio Presents ‘Conscious Tether: Art and the Internet in Los Angeles’
Part of Getty’s region-wide initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide, Conscious Tether: Art and the Internet in Los Angeles invites artists from across Los Angeles to consider what it means to live with and through the internet, while acknowledging how this technology often masks its use of matter, energy, and labor. Inspired by UCLA’s role in the early development of the internet and curated by the UCLA Arts Conditional Studio, one of 10 faculty-led research units within the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, this visionary exhibition will be on view at Human Resources Los Angeles from Oct. 5-20, 2024. Viewing hours are 12-6 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and by appointment.
The opening reception on Saturday, October 5, from 5-8 p.m. will feature a special performance by interdisciplinary artist, musician, writer, and curator Devin Kenny.
From the internet’s humble beginnings as a single message transmitted across a limited network, it has since evolved into a global force shaping our culture, relationships, and sense of reality. Conscious Tether reflects on the material and immaterial landscapes generated by this omnipresent force—how humans engage with its evolving structures of control, surveillance, and community-building, and where they find spaces for resistance and refuge.
Co-curated by Chandler McWilliams and Audrey Min, with public programming organized by Daniel Soto and Casey Reas, the exhibition features a wide range of artistic voices from Los Angeles-based artists. In addition to work from Kenny, Conscious Tether will feature new commissions from Ahree Lee, Alice Yuan Zhang, American Artist, ann haeyoung, Danielle Dean, KCHUNG Radio, LA Cryptoparty, Romi Morrison, Tiny Tech Zines (Rachel Simanjuntak, Jules Kris, Tyler Yin, and Tristan Espinoza), and Xin Xin. Their work will explore the complex intersections of labor, privacy, gender, consent, and technological decay. The artists offer both critical reflections and visionary alternatives to the systems of quantification and control that increasingly govern our digital lives.
Artist-run co-operative and community radio station KCHUNG Radio will activate their sound sculpture, which documents the labor contributed by its members, alongside an improvised noise performance at an event on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.
“In Conscious Tether, we’re exploring how deeply entangled our lives are with the digital systems we often take for granted,” McWilliams said. “From the ways technology shapes our labor and use of resources, to the spaces of community and resistance it enables, we’re asking artists to reflect on ubiquity and material realities shaping our digital world. We think Los Angeles, as a hub of both technological innovation and artistic expression, is the perfect place to host these urgent conversations and our forward-looking academic program is the perfect convener for this kind of dialogue between art and science.”
Most of the artists in the exhibition, as well as both curators, are current or former UCLA alumni or faculty.
“In thinking about the artists in the exhibition, we thought about Los Angeles as both a real idiosyncratically vibrant place and as a site that occupies a distinct role in the broader cultural imagination,” Min said. "In addition to UCLA's role in early internet history, L.A. is also a tech hub—Silicon Beach is not far from Westwood. This presence includes both community-focused organizations—especially our host, Human Resources—and reflections on the larger consequences of a deeply technologized reality, much of which is produced in Los Angeles.”
Conscious Tether highlights the ongoing commitment of UCLA to critical research in art, technology, and society. The Conditional Studio plays a central role in this endeavor, addressing the material realities behind technological systems. In contrast to the widespread glorification of software and code, the Conditional Studio emphasizes the tangible, physical consequences of computation. Through a combination of workshops, exhibitions, and critical conversations, the Studio regularly challenges the notion of technology as merely ephemeral or abstract, bringing to light its profound human, ecological, and political ramifications.
More information on public programs and artists talks related to the exhibition will be announced. Please visit https://conditional.arts.ucla.edu/conscious-tether for updates.
Conscious Tether: Art and the Internet in Los Angeles is made possible through lead grants from Getty as part of their PST Art: Art & Science Collide initiative.
About PST ART:
Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART, returns in September 2024, presenting more than 70 exhibitions from organizations across the region exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art.
About UCLA and PST ART:
As the most-granted institution in this year’s PST ART, UCLA has secured nearly $2 million in support for projects that span a variety of venues and organizations, including the Fowler and Hammer Museums, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and the UCLA Art|Sci Center. Conscious Tether is one of two key campus PST ART programs that will bring vital artistic voices to the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. The other is led by UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance in partnership with REDCAT.
About Human Resources Los Angeles
Human Resources Los Angeles is located at 410 Cottage Home St. Los Angeles, CA 90012. A note on accessibility: Human Resources’ front entrance has one step (approximately seven inches) and has a folding wheelchair ramp. The side entrance is wheelchair accessible. The gallery has a one-person gender-neutral wheelchair accessible restroom on the first floor. An additional upstairs bathroom is gender neutral and has two stalls adjacent to each other. Audio descriptions and captions will be available for this exhibition. Events may feature flashing lights and loud music.
