Islands in the Net

In its latest exhibition, Padimai Art & Tech Studio puts AI and cutting-edge technology at the forefront to explore how computers, data, the internet and meme culture are shaping the future of Southeast Asia. Titled Islands in the Net, the showcase uses a collection of web-based digital art, data projects and archives to help map the region’s place in the global digital network.

Some of the highlighted works include Safe Entry (Version 2.0–2.7) by Singapore-based artist Heman Chong, which references the nation’s contact-tracing system during the COVID-19 pandemic, and A History of Intelligence in ((South)(East)) Asia by contemporary artist Ho Rui An. The latter busts the myth of AI’s recent emergence by capturing the evolution of AI from its use during the 1940s to the present day.

Elsewhere, the exhibition also expands on the topic with research projects and cultural experiments developed in collaboration with major tech institutions and programmes, such as the MIT Media Lab and the Psychology of Technology Institute.