‘In a world transformed by data, perhaps our imaginations can finally be used to perceive reality’.

— Wednesday Sutherland, Curator, DATA MINDS

A Curator Talk exploring the artists and artworks behind the exhibition DATA MINDS at The Lock-Up with Wednesday Sutherland.

In the post-industrial era, new developments in networked technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to reshape our perception. Data mining, a form of machine learning, is the generation of rules and information from large swathes of data. In DATA MINDS, this process takes on a more humanistic lens, with each artist mining the personal, cultural, or historical. The works reveal patterns and contradictions in a world increasingly augmented by technology, through common themes of obsession, pop culture, and humanity’s enduring search for truth.

In an era defined by AI, data and networks, DATA MINDS highlights how these systems, though human-made, profoundly shape and reflect our perceptions, obsessions, and culture. By inviting us to embrace the messy, ephemeral, and unpredictable aspects of both AI and human experience, the artists of DATA MINDS challenge us to imagine new possibilities for creativity, connection, and understanding. In a world transformed by data, perhaps our imaginations can finally be used to perceive reality.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body; the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria; The Lock-Up and its Artist in Residence program.