Including videos, computer-generated drawings, screenprints, sculptures and textiles (among many other works), this wide-ranging exhibition presents new ways of thinking about the human relationship with computers by looking at the origins of the computer and digital production. These works from more than 40 years ago map, predict and experiment with the possibilities of the digital age, on view during a time of many heated, topical discussions about the ethics of artificial intelligence and its use in artmaking. Here, the engaging wall texts explaining the artistic processes are more helpful than usual; for example, the accompanying label to Beryl Korot’s Babel 1 and 2 details that the artist wove the fabric by hand and painted an invented, grid-based alphabet to translate the story of the Tower of Babel. Whether handmade, digitally derived, or both, the exquisite, carefully curated works in this show respond to the technological advances of their time with new modes of thought and artistic practice.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036