Hashtags are ways of translating themes and motifs into language that computers and algorithms understand. As such they seem to be a reaching out to AI. They also have a mysticised trait for drawing together images, sometimes with unexpected results. And lastly, there are people on instagram (for example) that use the language/form of hashtags for communicative effect, suggesting a “new generation” of post-internetees who are becoming robot compatible.
Roberts is tapping into the current zeitgeist around post-human or extra-human forms of intelligence via specific texts, fauna and digital tools. Whilst there are many artists working with and around these now, along with Roberts, it is her method of ‘fictioning’ and the open-ended, discursive nature of her work that elevates this exhibition.
If we are to think about embodiment and technology, their limits, and where the two meet, it is important to create space for an individual experience, as well as communicating a vision of the collective. By eschewing didacticism Roberts is able to make this maneuver effectively, and this exhibition is best approached as a point of pause within a continuum.
