Feelings Inc. was a group exhibition at Huidenclub Rotterdam between 10 Jan – 15 Feb 2025. It delved into the delicate interplay of vulnerability and connection in online matchmaking and beyond. The project did not take an explicit position for or against the right or possibility to have a certain emotional relationship with a non-human (machine). Rather, she tried to form an opinion about the possible polarizing effects that this could trigger. It attempted to understand the meaning and implications of individualization that is developed through exponential usage and normalization of non- human (machine) relationships. The focus extended beyond dating apps to include embodied AI chatbots like Replika, where people fall in love with an avatar created by Luka inc. and experience emotional loss when the newest update caused a data loss.

artists: Marie Munk (DK), Inès Sieulle (FR), !Mediengruppe Bitnik (CH), Arvida Byström (SE), Olga Morano (FR/IT), Lawrence Lek (DE), Lynn Hershman Leeson (USA), Ariane Loze (BE), Vytas Jankauskas (CH), Paul Van Hoeydonck (BE)

Rather than viewing technology as Promethean or apocalyptic, ‘Peeking beyond the Ending’ invited us to look at technology from Ursula K. Le Guin’s perspective that supports a more nuanced approach to technology. It addresses technology’s unmatched and dehumanizing effects as well as its potential for development. The renowned American (science fiction) author encouraged the readers of her seminal writings to reflect on the ways that technology shapes our world and influences individuals, societies and nature.

The heart of the exhibition is the works by five artists, each of them offering a unique take on technology, and contributing to a multi-dimensional exploration of its roles in our lives.

artists: Jerry Galle (BE), Joachim Coucke (BE), Kyriaki Goni (GR), Sabrina Ratté (CA), Sahej Rahal (IN)

The exhibition Mensch Maschine in Botanique, Brussels touched on elements of machine learning fundaments: the feed, the successes, as well as the failures. News about technological development seem to be generally positive. However, critical journalism and research are teaching us about machine learning as a biased and even discriminating entity.

artists: Adina Camhy (AT), Heather Dewey-Hagborg (US), Dasha Ilina (RU), Mélodie Mousset (FR/CH), Lucie Planty (FR), Jenna Sutela (FI), Joanna Zylinska (UK)

Watching You, Watching Me at Bozar, Brussels explored the intersection between photography and surveillance. Employing a dynamic range of approaches—from documentary to conceptual practice, from appropriation to street art—these 10 artists provide a satellite-to-street view of the ways in which surveillance culture blurs the boundaries between the private and public realm. The exhibition looked into how photography can be both an instrument of surveillance and a tool to expose and challenge its negative impact. In tackling the inherent difficulty of visualizing something that is meant to be both omnipresent and covert—seemingly everywhere and nowhere at the same time—the artists in this exhibition employ a dynamic range of approaches.

artists: Mari Bastashevski (RU), Edu Bayer (ES), Josh Begley (US), Paolo Cirio (IT), Hasan Elahi (US), Andrew Hammerand (US), Mishka Henner (BE), Simon Menner (DE), Julian Röder (DE), Tomas van Houtryve (BE)

FACELESS was an exhibition exploring a phenomenon present all around us: the fashion of facelessness that first appeared in the creative arts at the beginning of this century and has remained popular since then. The exhibition reminds us of the impact that media-generated images can have on the creative arts and the ways in which they respond to public images, pop culture, and the mainstream in general. The exhibition shows, the appeal that hiding, veiling, or masking the face exerted on art and fashion after 9/11. The fear of terrorist attacks led to a change in security concepts and the installment of surveillance systems in public spaces – presented to us as if for our own safety. As a result, we feel that our faces are becoming “compressed” and exposed. The only way for us to regain this lost privacy is through subversive media strategies or by reinventing privacy. By wearing a “mask” we form a collective critical body…

artists: Marina Abramović, Lisette Appeldorn, Martin Backes, Jeremy Bailey, Aram Bartholl, William Basinski, Zach Blas, Thorsten Brinkmann, DAWAMESK (Thomas Mercier), Ondrej Brody & Kristofer Paetau, Sterling Crispin, Ben DeHaan, Sofie Groot Dengerink, Nezaket Ekici, Arthur Elsenaar, Shahram Entekhabi, Caron Geary aka FERAL is KINKY, David Haines, Ren Hang, Adam Harvey, Sabi van Hemert, KATSU, Brian Kenny, Ute Klein, Miodrag Krkobabić, Vanessa Lodigiani, Zachari Logan, Jill Magid, Slava Mogutin, Veljko Onjin, Bernd Oppl, Tanja Ostojić, Marco Pezzotta, Gerda Postma, Eva-Maria Raab, RAF SIMONS, Daphne Rosenthal, Tarron Ruiz-Avila, Mustafa Sabbagh, Olivier de Sagazan, Daniel Sannwald for WOODKID, Carmen Schabracq, Frank Schallmaier, Hester Scheurwater, Tim Silver, Jan Stradtmann, Sergei Sviatchenko, Filippos Tsitsopoulos, Saša Tkačenko, Marc Turlan, Levi van Veluw, Ari Versluis & Ellie Uyttenbroek, Philippe Vogelenzang & Majid Karrouch, Martin C de Waal, Bernhard Willhelm, Andrew Norman Wilson, Lucy Wood and Jwan Yosef.