Adwehe’s Alienated at Nitroglobus in Second Life

I think that you will all agree that we are living in most interesting times. I never remember myself a time in which our history was so full, in which day by day brought us new objects of interest, and, let me say also, new objects for anxiety. 

Joseph Chamberlain, during a speech in 1898

Some believe that the above quote is most likely the root for that hoary old “Chinese curse” may you live in interesting times – the “interesting” being an ironic metaphor for “times of trouble”. This is quite possibly apocryphal, given there is no similar curse in Chinese; however, Chamberlain’s original words have never really ceased to have meaning in the 116 years since they were first uttered.

Indeed, given the state of play in the modern world: wars, invasions, authoritarianism rearing its head even here in the west, pseudo-Christian nationalism, the open “othering” – or alienating – anyone daring to go against the perceived political doctrine. Perhaps more particularly, we are living in an age which is, more than ever before, being shaped by the second part of Chamberlain’s 1898 statement: we are faced with new objects of interest, which are increasingly new objects for anxiety, due to the way they have been used to amplify misinformation, divisiveness, false nationalistic pride and that over-arching alienation of differing values / belief systems / viewpoints.

In this, two of the most obvious objects of anxiety being used today are social media and AI. With its global reach and ease of availability, coupled with the relative ease with which it can be manipulated both directly (fiddling with the underlying algorithms) and indirectly (flooding with bots), social media is perhaps the most manipulated channel of mass consumption in the world today; whilst with its shallow artistic derivativeness and raping of genuine art, AI has become a primary means of reinforcing falsities through visual manipulation whilst corroding objective creativity.

It is thought like these which have been foundational to Alienated, an exhibition of art by Adwehe, which forms the final exhibition for 2024 in the main hall at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated and operated by Dido Haas.

A multi-faceted expressionist artist working in 2D, 3D lighting, colour and sound, Adwehe uses Alienated to understand two intertwined ideas: the aforementioned ways in which tools such as social media are being used exploitatively for the benefit of a few and the detriment of the many; and her own entirely natural unease at the way tools such as AI all too often stifle genuine creativity and alienating us from genuine originality by presenting us with shortcuts to an end result by way of derivative re-use of elements and ideas appropriated by copying any and all digital images in the world.

The way in which she does so is through both artistic counterpoint and revelation through words. The images presented through Alienated are in no way dark or foreboding as one might expect from my statements above; nor are they laden with excessive narrative. Instead, they are rich in colour and free-flowing originality. As such, they speak out against the demands of black-and-white uniformity of thinking (where even grey edges of thinking are not permitted) and speak to the beauty of genuine creativity and artistic thinking AI simply cannot replicate – but all too often can smoother.

At the same time, the words of the accompanying text speak to the love / hate relationship which can evolve around such apps and tools. On the one hand there is promise of new worlds of information, engaging potential for expression and exploration of technique and abilities; on the other there is the fear of the unknown and the anxiety of having to “start over” when faced with a new tool and library of content, leading to a sense of self-alienation with one’s own creativity.

Thus, the text adds a further layer of meaning and insight / interpretation to Alienated, marking it as a multi-layered collection of images which are engaging both individually and within the overall context of the exhibition.

SLurl Details

• Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (Sunshine Homestead, rated Moderate)