Origin: Marle
Jordan EastJane FanCallum HowardPat YounisAlvin Ruiyuan Zhong
Throughout literature, film, television and beyond, sentient digital entities are framed as a cautionary tale: a step beyond the ethical limits of humankind into a realm of playing god. In the gestating and early years of our current Internet, stories of rogue agents hijacking our world wide web of pages and hyperlinks explored ideas of post-humanism in these conscious beings. William Gibson’s artificial intelligence Wintermute acts as the omnipotent puppet master throughout 1984’s Neuromancer, guiding the human characters from behind the screen. Terminator’s Skynet similarly co-opted our online resource, turning humanity’s greatest invention into a weapon against its creator. Origin (Marle) explores a new narrative of technological utopianism and community as you explore fragmented memories of our online protagonist.
Origin (Marle) is a collaborative project from Jordan East, Jane Fan, Callum Howard, Pat Younis and Alvin Ruiyuan Zhong and a continuation of their digitally-focused practice as Origin. This work co-opts the ingrained functionality of the Internet, repurposing code and protocols to create a new network composed of fractured text, animation, chatbots and 3D rendered worlds. This artistic intervention into passive web browsing reflects on our crowded and anxious online experiences, bringing audiences into a digital dream as you traverse the system with Marle.
Origin: Marle is commissioned by 4A and curated by Con Gerakaris and Marco Rinaldi. This project is supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.
About the artist
Jordan East is an audio-visual artist who explores the relationship between new technology and music through immersive and interactive experiences.
About the artist
Jane Fan is a software engineer and digital artist based in Sydney, Australia.
About the artist
Callum Howard is an interactive media artist and software developer based in Sydney.
About the artist
Pat Younis is a Sydney-based Media Artist who explores the limits of virtual space and its ability to offer insightful and immersive experiences through digital or mixed reality technologies.
About the artist
Alvin Ruiyuan Zhong is a Chinese-Australian multidisciplinary artist working across illustration, projection art and CGI.