The Project Space at NYUAD is staging an exhibition which features Your Message Could Not Be Delivered, an interactive installation by Michael Shiloh and Brídín Clements Cotton. The show will be open to the public until October 5, 2023.
In this work, Shiloh and Cotton explore the hidden systems we rely on daily and how this reliance shapes our relationships with each other and the system. The installation allows one to engage with these systems. The experience the visitors get while participating in the installation is a part of the created art piece along with the resultant sculptures. The participants themselves become part of this ever-evolving installation.
The exhibition features a collection of original historical documents from the NYUAD library’s Archives and Special Collections Department. Those who would like to take part in the installation are encouraged to bring their written correspondence (postcards, letters, emails, etc.).
About the creators
Michael Shiloh is an artist, engineer, researcher, and educator who obtained a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California (Berkeley, USA). Having worked in the tech industry for about 30 years, in his art, he delves into our relationships with technology and with each other around it. Among the subjects he explores are Human-Robot Interaction, robot rights, and unintended uses of technology.
Shiloh is known for creating electro-mechanical and conceptual artworks that often require a viewer’s participation. His art practice involves utilising a full range of materials (foam core, concrete, hot glue, steel, and broken glass) and objects, mostly electronics and discarded or salvaged mechanisms: computers, pneumatics, hydraulics, remote controls, etc.
Shiloh has displayed his art, spoken, or taught at various educational establishments, museums, and art galleries worldwide. These include, for example, Imperial College (London, UK), Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), Bloomfield Science Museum (Jerusalem, Israel), and many others. He has also taken part in Maker Faires in San Francisco, Shenzhen and Chengdu (China), New York, and Jerusalem as well as numerous conferences.
Today, Shiloh works as a professor of Interactive Media at NYU Abu Dhabi. He teaches students how to work with electronics, programming, and physical materials to create an art piece.
Brídín Clements Cotton is an arts manager and artist based in the Emirates who is an Arts Instructor of Stage and Project Management at NYU Abu Dhabi. She obtained her BFA in Theatre from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and pursued her education at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. There, she earned her Masters in Public Administration.
In her work, Cotton explores the themes of communication, interactivity, and the relationship between the natural and unnatural. To produce her art pieces, she uses colour, pattern, and text and employs diverse art mediums and found objects.
Passionate about paper crafts and letter-writing, in 2018, the artist launched her own handmade greeting card company called “in great haste”. Her artworks have been displayed at the Grand Bazaar and the Harlem Makers Collective (New York, USA) and Lone Wolf Designs (California, USA).
To learn more about Your Message Could Not Be Delivered, please visit the event’s official web page.
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