Introducing Léllé Demertzi
What’s your background?
My academic background is in architecture, art theory and practice in the public space. I am an artist and cultural producer with professional experience in the GLAM sector and international cultural institutions (including MoMA, documenta, the Athens and Berlin Biennales etc). I have presented my work (mostly ephemeral media -performance, video, installation) in solo and group exhibitions in Athens, Berlin, Zurich and Luzern, Lisbon, Salzburg, Accra, and New York. I am currently working as Programme Coordinator at The Alan Turing Institute and as an Organiser for the AI&Arts Interest Group.
What excites you about Arts, Data Science and AI?
The intersection of technology and the body has been a recurring theme in my art practice. I’m interested in the juxtaposition of the tangible and the invisible, the humane and the mechanical, the possibilities of digital spaces and networks to reimagine our present condition, as well as to retell histories from our past, and build the trajectories of the future.
I particularly welcome members to reach out to me in the group’s Slack space about…
Feel free to reach out to me with questions about the interest group, for your upcoming activities and potential space for collaborations.
What’s a recent artwork (any discipline) that made an impression on you?
Recently I was swept away by the work Security Theatre (2023) by American Artist (b.1989) as part of the group exhibition ‘Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility’, curated by Dr. Ashley James at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. The real-time video installation is concealed behind a performer who instructs the audience how to lock their phones away in little pouches. Once in the room, the audience encounters numerous screens monitoring the spaces of the galleries. AI software for image classification and shape recognition highlights various visitors. The work correlates the modernist architecture of the museum by Frank Loyd Wright with the concept of the ‘panopticon’ by the late-eighteenth century Jeremy Bentham, an idealised cylindrical structure for optimised surveillance and productivity. American Artists comments on the overabundance and normalisation of carceral technologies, architectures, and protocols. By inviting the audience to observe and discover it’s being observed, he questions the motives of these practices and whether they promote a culture of intimidation before offering utility or safety. When exiting the room, the massive 360-camera orb suspended from the iconic oculus, hang more ominously than before walking in.
Where can we find out more about you and your work?
(Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, etc…)
You can take a look at my projects at www.lelledi.com or follow me on instagram @lelle.di and connect on LinkedIn
