Vaster Tha Empires (2024)



17 MAY-26 JULY 2025
Rhizomes, Meshworks and Alter-Ecologies
group exhibition, Elektron, Luxembourg

Curated by: Vincent Crapon, Francoise Poos
with:
Alice Bucknell, CROSSLUCID, Bruce Eesly
Joey Holder, Miguel Ângelo Marques, Sybil Montet, 
Tamiko Thiel et /p

The exhibition explores the intricate and ever-evolving connections between living organisms and machines.

It brings together works by artists who examine how technology and creativity can deepen our understanding of the complexity and beauty of the living world, and imagine its future forms.

The first public showcase of “Vaster Than Empires”



“What is the boundary line between what is alien and what is familiar, and from whose perspective? How can humans’ greater attentiveness to planetary intelligence shape how we care for our world, and those beyond? What are the perilous consequences of humans’ extractive practices of nature, both on-world and off? How do computational intelligences we build disclose that planetary intelligence in turn driving our exploration of extraterrestrial natures?

The artists CROSSLUCID assembled a bespoke, generative AI system to interpret themes in the writer Ursula K. Le Guin’s science fiction story “Vaster than Empires.” 

See the artwork here

Theo Downes-Le Guin reads an excerpt that conveys the ruminative but tense mood of the short story, whose characters are often in conflict with one another as they confront a profoundly alien environment. Through a delicate balance of visuals and implied emotions, we invite the audience to traverse the thin boundaries of self and other. The work aims to challenge our preconceptions about what entities possess intelligence to deepen humans’ sense of connection to alien Others in the vastness of the universe.” Berggruen Insitute

Vaster Than Empires“ was commissioned as an extension of the Vaster than Empires workshop hosted by Future Humans and Studio B at the Berggruen Institute.


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