Color Rx began as an independent research project sponsored by metaLAB (at) Harvard, based on the Forbes Pigment Collection at the Harvard Art Museums. It was originally exhibited on August 12, 2017 at the Lightbox Gallery of the Harvard Art Museums as part of a week long exhibition called Machine Experiences. The second iteration, Color Rx: Analog, was shown in January 2018 at the Rainbow Unicorn Gallery in Berlin. The third iteration, Color Rx: Humanoid, had a three run show at Vessel Gallery in Boston during February 2018.
August 2017 @ Lightbox Gallery in the Harvard Art Museums
"Color is ephemeral and complex. An installation in the Lightbox Gallery at Harvard Art Museums, Color Rx contended with the individuality of perception, while maintaining that the experiences in which perceptions are grounded can be traced back to, and tethered together by, a common, colorful trend. Drawing inspiration from from Harvard Art Museums’ Forbes Pigment Collection, scholarly texts, and the artist’s knowledge and intuition, the piece explored lines between truth and belief, color and illusion. And yet its prescriptions, unconventional and mysterious though they may be, made connections and produced impacts in the world, for gallery visitors and others.
Color Rx used a computer algorithm to diagnose a viewer’s inputs and “prescribe a color” in response. The piece was grounded in questions about trust in, or benefit from, “smart” systems, often in contexts where the algorithms are opaque—even when the output is very concrete. What does it mean for machines or systems to drive our behavior? Can we adequately assess the benefits and risks?"
Event Listing on Harvard Art Museums Site Here
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Video recap of August 12th, 2018 Color Rx installation at the Harvard Art Museums as part of the "Machine Experiences" exhibition.
Produced by Bardi Moradi.
January 2018 @ Rainbow Unicorn Gallery in Berlin
Presented during a re-showing of the metaLAB group exhibit “Machine Experience.” Part of Transmediale Vorspiel January-February, 2018.
February 2018 @ Vessel Gallery in Boston
Vessel Gallery presents “Color Rx: Humanoid”, a performance by Maia Leandra. In conjunction with video and light installations by Essa Lucienne in the main gallery space, this performance explores the connection between aesthetic understanding and artificial intelligence. While the previous installation of Color Rx at the Harvard Art Museums was grounded in interaction of viewers with a machine learning program –an algorithm diagnosed a viewer’s inputs and “prescribed a color” in response– this new performance at Vessel both reframes and complicates the work by returning the program’s agency to the human factor.
This gesture raises questions about our trust in, or benefit from, “smart” systems, often in contexts where the algorithms are opaque – even when the output is ostensibly concrete. What does it look like to break down and embody a computer's processing system? What does it mean to reconfigure systems thinking back into human consciousness and behavior? Can we adequately assess the benefits and risks?
Video produced by David Grant.
Read more on Vessel Gallery Here
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February 2018 @ Vessel Gallery in Boston
As the third and final show of Color Rx: Humanoid, we hosted a late night event at Vessel Gallery where visitors could come and write down how they were feeling, receive a paint chip prescription for their “diagnosis”, and then supplement their paper prescription with an edible item. Visitors also enjoyed a light bath in the main hallway as they approached a static display of colored “prescription bottles” accompanied by a book where they could record their thoughts on color.
Read more on Mod and Bean Here
Video produced by David Grant.