Harvard Conflux

Three Body

(Svensk text går att läsa längre ner på sidan)

Open: Wed–Sat 12–4 pm
Opening: March 20 at 4–7 pm

Curators: Ashik Zaman & Daniel Pillis

The 2025 season start at Konstnärshuset saw an overlap between both galleries in the house per way of abstract painting. Up next is the compass needle pointing towards a textile realm and textile allusions in both Stora Galleriet and Övre Galleriet.

Textiles are found at the fore in the exhibition inside Stora Galleriet which is a collaboration with the interdisciplinary art platform Conflux at the world-renowned university Harvard in Boston. What is brought forth is a kinetic spatial and textile installation which is inspired by the unresolved scientifical phenomenon called “The Three Body Problem”. Ultimately, the exhibition is neither about science nor the science behind the phenomenon but rather is a tech-forward exhibition within the artistic discipline called New Media. The exhibition turns to “The Three Body Problem” in so far science (without serving as the explanation) merely mirroring an everyday occurrence. Namely, the case of how the social interaction and rapport between two bodies and individuals always are impacted by other connected bodies not directly present in the space, or such that are not thought of in the moment.

The exhibition which has been a giant vehicle involving many people at Harvard is one that makes true of the expression “It takes a village”. At the core we’ve wished to present an inspiring exhibition that shows the magnitude of what is possible when there’s enough artistic will and intention. What’s important to note is that all the people involved as an artist in this process essentially are largely self-taught and have joined together from a different than the usual art school background. It’s going to be real interesting!

Ashik Zaman

Daniel Pillis
Co-curator Daniel Pillis worked with Harvard Conflux to conceptualize and plan the exhibition, after mentoring numerous Conflux members while acting as a tangible media researcher at the MIT Media Lab. Pillis previously worked in the contemporary art world, with gallerists Elizabeth Dee, David Zwirner, and Murray Guy and has exhibited work at the Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh, PA), the Mint Museum (Charlotte, NC), the Leslie Lohman Museum of Queer Art (NYC), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Cleveland, OH), among others. Currently, Pillis is leading the Human Interaction Simulation Lab at Emerson College, exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and large scale physical/virtual environments.

Trekropparsproblemet

Öppet: ons-lörd kl. 12-16
Vernissage: 20 mars kl. 16-19

Curatorer: Ashik Zaman & Daniel Pillis

Under årets första utställningsomgång skedde en överlappning mellan gallerierna i huset. I nästa vända riktas kompassen vidare mot textila upplevelser och förnimmelser i både Stora Galleriet och Övre Galleriet.

Det textila framkommer i utställningen i Stora Galleriet som är ett samarbete med konstplattformen Conflux vid det världsberömda och ledande universitet Harvard i Boston. I galleriet visas en rumslig kinetisk och textil installation som tar inspiration från det i vetenskapen olösta fenomenet som kallas ”Trekropparsproblemet”. I själva verket är det praktiskt sett en teknologiskt präglad utställning i konstfältet ”New Media” men egentligen inte en vetenskaplig utställning om vetenskapen som sådan utan en där vetenskapen snarare har blickats på i den mån den speglar ett abstrakt vardagsfenomen.

I detta fall hur den sociala interaktionen och relationen mellan två kroppar och individer alltid påverkas av andra kroppar som inte alltid direkt är närvarande i rummet eller omedelbart kommer att tänkas på eller räknas med i stunden. Utställningen är ett jätteprojekt som inbegripit många studerande på universitet och något bortom det vanliga vi annars frambringat i våra utställningsprogram. I grunden är det också en utställning som är avsedd att vara inspirerande och påvisa vad som är möjligt att göra ihop då konstnärlig ambition finns. Till saken hör att alla som deltar som konstnärer i projektet i princip är självlärda och förenats från en annan än sedvanlig konstbakgrund. Det kommer bli spännande!

Ashik Zaman

Daniel Pillis
Co-curatorn Daniel Pillis arbetade med Harvard Conflux för att konceptualisera och planera utställningen, efter att ha varit mentor för många Conflux-medlemmar samtidigt som han agerade som medieforskare vid MIT Media Lab.
Daniel Pillis har arbetat i konstvärlden, med gallerierna Elizabeth Dee, David Zwirner och Muray Guy. Som skapande konstnär har han ställt ut på Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), Mint Museum (Charlotte), Leslie Lohman Museum of Queer Art (NYC), och Musuem of Contemporary Art (Cleveland).

För närvarande leder han det som heter Human Interaction Simulation Lab vid Emerson College i Boston, där man undersöker gränsen mellan AI och storskaliga fysiska/virtuella miljöer.

The three body problem refers to a question in physics taking the initial positions and velocities of three bodies that orbit each other and predicting their trajectories. The problem is defined as having no general closed form solution, only allowing for approximations. Three Body explores the similar unpredictable nature of relationships while finding the beauty and importance in the chaos.

Through sentiment analysis of proposed answers to the question “Who changes your orbit?” This exhibit translates social pulls into the physical forces around us, extrapolating and  representing the gallery’s social network in the form of planetary bodies. This space, changing to the perceived closeness of participants, is dedicated to creating a new social fabric serves as a place for reflection of past relationships, a rumination on current ones, and a space for new connection.

The enclosure underneath the fabric evokes an intimate living space, where visitors are invited to stargaze upon their social networks — something that is often invisible and internal. We hope participants will reflect on the vastness of their interactions and find that their relationships in all their forms, with best friend or stranger alike, parallel the phenomenons of planetary bodies.

Who are we?
Conflux is a student organization at Harvard dedicated to exploring and expanding the intersection between new media, experimental arts, and creative technology. Founded on the belief that groundbreaking ways of making, knowing, and being will bloom from cultivating greater interaction between the arts & engineering sciences, our collective merges artistic philosophies with cutting-edge technical development for symbiotic advancement of theory & practice across, between, and within different disciplines.

Team:
Project & Concept Lead
Sofia Chen

Design
Anya Zhang, Design/Technical lead
Erica Xin, Design lead
Ida Chen
Frieda Fan
Yaluo Wang
Yuhan Wang

Software
Jingfei Huang, Website lead
Leena Iwamoto, Community lead
John Vizhco Leon, Machine Learning lead
Steven Su, Integration + Physics lead
Pedro Garcia
Anie Udosen

Projections
Kiana Pan, Projections lead
Ida Chen
Ricardo Fernandes Garcia

Hardware
Aiman Anuar
Hannah Nguyen

Music
Ida Chen
Sophia Lerebours

Contributors
Clara Kim
Abby Lockhart-Calpito
Larom Segev
Raymond Wong

SKF/Konstnärshuset har stöd från Kulturrådet och Stockholms stad.