The Power of Collaboration: World Building as Radical Imagination

The Power of Collaboration: World Building as Radical Imagination
The latest exhibition at Poolside Gallery, World Building as Radical Imagination, is a thought-provoking show that explores the themes of utopia, community, and freedom through the eyes of two artists, Mahlet Cuff and Evan Tremblay. The exhibition, born from the Video Pool and TakeHome Art House Media Arts + Technology Residency, is a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential of art to inspire radical change. The exhibition is a playful show, with its throbbing score of classic house music and kaleidoscoping scenes of dance and nature enveloping the gallery. However, beneath its playful exterior, World Building poses serious questions about technology, community, and freedom. Cuff and Tremblay have managed to evoke rather than bludgeon with these themes, creating an exhibit that is both fun to step into and thought-provoking. The two artists have different visions for the exhibition, but they have designed their works to interact with each other in a way that reflects their shared goal of creating a utopian future. Cuff’s piece, I wanna be able to dance (on my own terms), channels Detroit techno, Chicago house, and ballroom culture with samples of intersectionalist and Afrofuturist-adjacent thinkers. Tremblay’s work, The HBC GTE-10,000, draws on influences from psychedelia to his Métis heritage, creating a “living altar” made up of materials, including deer bones and lichen, tied to traditional Métis culture and harvesting. Cuff’s inspiration comes from the urban dance culture of Detroit, particularly the city’s techno scene, which emerged in the late 1970s and 1980s. This scene was characterized by its use of synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers, and was heavily influenced by the rhythms of Detroit’s factories. However, unlike many other genres of music, Detroit techno was not just a form of escapism, but a vision of the future that restored Black communities’ agency over city politics and technological progress. Cuff’s piece incorporates recordings of iconic sci-fi writer Octavia Butler, as well as other Black authors, into its soundtrack and visuals. This pays homage to pioneering DJs such as Frankie Knuckles and the early Chicago house scene, which emerged a few years after Detroit and became a vital cultural space for queer Black and Latino communities. Tremblay’s work, on the other hand, is inspired by the psychedelic and futurist themes of the 1960s counterculture. His piece features swirling projections of the landscape melting into each other through feedback loops, which he likens to the Earth’s natural rhythms and cycles. This is a testament to his background in landscape architecture and environmental design, skills he put to impressive use in designing projections and installations for music festivals, as well as for World Building. Despite their different visions, Cuff and Tremblay have managed to create an exhibition that is both fun and thought-provoking. The soundtrack and visuals pay homage to the pioneers of underground dance music, while also reflecting on the current state of technology and community. The exhibition is a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential of art to inspire radical change. The exhibition is a result of the Video Pool and TakeHome Art House Media Arts + Technology Residency, a program that brings together artists and technologists to create innovative works of art. This program has been instrumental in creating a community of artists and technologists who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with art and technology. In conclusion, World Building as Radical Imagination is a thought-provoking exhibition that explores the themes of utopia, community, and freedom through the eyes of two artists. Cuff and Tremblay have managed to create an exhibition that is both fun and thought-provoking, and their work is a testament to the potential of art to inspire and transform.

• World Building as Radical Imagination is a collaborative exhibition between Mahlet Cuff and Evan Tremblay.
• The exhibition explores the themes of utopia, community, and freedom through the eyes of two artists.
• The exhibition is a result of the Video Pool and TakeHome Art House Media Arts + Technology Residency.
• Cuff’s piece, I wanna be able to dance (on my own terms), channels Detroit techno, Chicago house, and ballroom culture with samples of intersectionalist and Afrofuturist-adjacent thinkers.
• Tremblay’s work, The HBC GTE-10,000, draws on influences from psychedelia to his Métis heritage, creating a “living altar” made up of materials, including deer bones and lichen, tied to traditional Métis culture and harvesting.

The soundtrack and visuals of World Building as Radical Imagination are a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential of art to inspire radical change. Cuff and Tremblay have managed to create an exhibition that is both fun and thought-provoking. In the words of Cuff, “Everyone has the ability to create their own utopia. But I think asking two people to be in a space to think about radical imagination would be completely different if it were individual exhibitions. The fact that we’re in collaboration says a lot.”
The exhibition is a result of the Video Pool and TakeHome Art House Media Arts + Technology Residency, a program that brings together artists and technologists to create innovative works of art.

I wanna be able to dance (on my own terms), channels Detroit techno, Chicago house, and ballroom culture with samples of intersectionalist and Afrofuturist-adjacent thinkers.

This quote encapsulates the spirit of the exhibition, which is to explore the themes of utopia, community, and freedom through the eyes of two artists. The soundtrack and visuals of World Building as Radical Imagination are a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential of art to inspire radical change.