Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman

Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman features 16 artists working with both analog and emergent technologies to visualize the interrelationship between humanity, other species, and the earth itself. Using media such as digital animation, augmented and virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, artists Ian Cheng, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Marguerite Humeau, Josèfa Ntjam, Jacolby Satterwhite, Saya Woolfalk, and others challenge the view of human exceptionalism that prevents an ethics of care for the planet. Like the surrealists, these artists tap into the transformative agency of the marvelous, the uncanny, and the unpredictable. In their fluid and floating creations, images morph, flicker, and dance, forming psychologically charged archetypes within a new collective unconscious.

While providing otherworldly moments of awe and enchantment, the exhibition is centered on real-world disciplines. The first section, taking a biological and ecological perspective, focuses on such subjects as extinction, evolution, and interspecies entanglement. The second, relating to psychology, offers visions of guiding avatars, “angels in the machine” who help distract, redirect, or open intellectual boundaries. The third relates to ontology—the philosophy of being. Bridging ancestral and contemporary belief systems, particularly those beyond modern Western traditions, artists in this section employ new technologies to reawaken humanity’s sense of interconnectedness with the earth.

Organized by the Frist Art Museum

Exhibition gallery

A graphic artwork with monarch butterflies.

Marina Zurkow. Mesocosm (Wink, Texas), 2012. Real-time generative custom software animation with sound; dimensions variable, 146-hour cycle (24-minute day, 146-hour year). Collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation. Image courtesy of bitforms gallery NY and the artist

An abstract technology based artwork with geometric shapes and bright colors.

A technology based artwork with a pixelated deer in a dystopian city.

Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Aquaphobia, 2017. Two-dimensional cinematic video and virtual reality installation. Support for the development of Aquaphobia from The Danish Arts Council, Acute Art, and NYC Office of Cultural Affairs. Courtesy of the artist. © 2017 Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Image courtesy of the artist

A series of three images of microscopic organisms.

Josèfa Ntjam. The Deep, 2024. Photomontage printed by sublimation on aluminum with metal frame; three parts, 63 × 47 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. each. Courtesy of the artist and Nicoletti Contemporary. © adagp. Image courtesy of the artist and Nicoletti, London

A bright colored projection of kaleidoscope shapes with a human form in the middle.

Saya Woolfalk. Floating World of the Cloud Quilt (installation view), 2022. Three-channel video projection, natural and synthetic fibers, digitally printed vinyl flooring, plastic, paint, paper, beads, notions, and gel medium; 406 × 72–144 (variable) × 108 in. Image courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects. © Saya Woolfalk. Photo: Etienne Frossard