Art review Dream on: the future ain't what it used to be
The Guardian|November 28, 2024
There's a popular meme of two lovers embracing against a digital field of sunflowers. Their pursed lips would be locked were it not for their bumping VR headsets. "What if we kissed at the intersection of art and technology?" the text reads.
Evan Moffitt
Art review Dream on: the future ain't what it used to be

The meme is making fun of a route heavily trafficked by museums with declining attendance figures, keen to lure viewers away from at-home streaming with digital art displays.

On a darker level, it pokes fun at the more antisocial aspects of our hyper-connected age. If this kind of cynicism feels familiar, it's because we've drifted far from digital technology's optimistic early days.

Walking through Electric Dreams, a showcase of artists who used or incorporated machines in their work from the 1950s to the 1990s, it's possible to imagine how things might have turned out differently.

Although working against the backdrop of the cold war, these innovators saw computer programming as a way to test the limits of human perception. The exhibition is a sensory overload of whirring motors and flashing lights, as experiments in early kinetic op-art give way to abstract compositions produced by rudimentary algorithms.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE GUARDIANView all
Cold cases Investigations into murder and sexual assaults in 90s reopened
The Guardian

Cold cases Investigations into murder and sexual assaults in 90s reopened

Dominique Pelicot, who has been jailed for 20 years for drugging his then wife, Gisele Pelicot, and inviting men to rape her, faces a further investigation for the rape and murder of an estate agent in Paris in 1991, and an attempted rape in 1999, amid questions over whether he could have been a serial offender for decades.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 20, 2024
Theatre review Space opera puts Sigourney Weaver in alien territory
The Guardian

Theatre review Space opera puts Sigourney Weaver in alien territory

Sigourney Weaver, the latest in the line of high-status screen stars to be wooed to the stage by the director Jamie Lloyd, may forever be known as Ellen Ripley to fans of her defining science-fiction role on film. She is certainly in alien territory here, and plays Prospero with the steely-voiced conviction of a commander giving urgent instruction to an interstellar space crew at imminent risk of attack.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 20, 2024
The Guardian

Och AI: algorithm able to sniff out aromas of US and Scottish whiskies

Notch up another win for artificial intelligence. Researchers have used the technology to predict the major notes that waft off whisky and determine whether a dram was made in the US or Scotland.

time-read
1 min  |
December 20, 2024
Mandelson set to be named UK's new ambassador to US
The Guardian

Mandelson set to be named UK's new ambassador to US

Peter Mandelson is set to become Britain's next ambassador to the US, the first time a politician has been appointed to the role for almost half a century.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 20, 2024
Gisèle Pelicot: 'I wanted all of society to be a witness'
The Guardian

Gisèle Pelicot: 'I wanted all of society to be a witness'

Fifty one men found guilty in rape trial that shocked the world | Leaders and public honour the woman who refused to be shamed

time-read
4 mins  |
December 20, 2024
Postecoglou claims coach's life is harder than being PM
The Guardian

Postecoglou claims coach's life is harder than being PM

A Premier League manager has a tougher job than the prime minister, according to Ange Postecoglou.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 19, 2024
Rashford rebuked Players must talk to manager not media - Amorim
The Guardian

Rashford rebuked Players must talk to manager not media - Amorim

Ruben Amorim has said when he was a player he would have spoken to his manager about being dropped rather than react in the media, as Marcus Rashford has done.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 19, 2024
Tonali double puts rampant Newcastle into last four
The Guardian

Tonali double puts rampant Newcastle into last four

A sticking plaster for Newcastle's internal tensions or a potential long-term cure for their problems? Whatever the reality Eddie Howe's inconsistent team are a two-leg semi-final away from a potentially transformative Wembley showpiece after two stellar first-half goals from Sandro Tonali and another from Fabian Schär undid an immensely disappointing Brentford on Tyneside.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 19, 2024
Jesus hat-trick delivers early Christmas gift as Arsenal topple Palace
The Guardian

Jesus hat-trick delivers early Christmas gift as Arsenal topple Palace

It seems fitting that Gabriel Jesus should have chosen this time of year to end his goalscoring drought.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 19, 2024
Elliott the difference as Rusk's Southampton put up late fight
The Guardian

Elliott the difference as Rusk's Southampton put up late fight

It was a night that Simon Rusk will never forget, the one when he took charge of Southampton for the first time in the wake of Russell Martin's sacking and carried the fight to Arne Slot and Liverpool.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 19, 2024