I Will Never See It. I Will Never Forget It

Date:: 19 Sep–10 Nov 2024

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Place:: Gallery C6 , 2 Floor

Age restrictions: 6+

A visual reflection on the fragmentary nature of perception and the motley experience of being in a body in the era of artificial intelligence.

The project, which took shape under the GES-2 artist residency programme, brings together pairs of opposites: seen and imagined, virtual and real, collective and individual, digital and analogue. Their synthesis helps to create a holistic image and build complex systems of inter-relationship.

The works presented at the exhibition were created by artist Julia Abzaltdinova together with seven blind and low vision participants: Anastasia Aksenova, Zlata Arapova, Galina Dolya, Elena Mironova, Larisa Ovtsynova, Oksana Osadchaya, and Aryuna Soktueva. The most cherished and salient memories and imaginings of the participants were used to formulate text prompts, on the basis of which the Midjourney neural network produced images. The name of the project reflects different degrees of visual experience: a person without vision from birth might say “I will never see it,” but if they lost their sight later in life they are more likely to say “I will never forget it.”

The visualisations produced by Midjourney were the basis for photosculptures, whose geometries reference simplified outlines of the human body and the architecture of GES-2 House of Culture. Stone-like objects created on a 3D printer are placed above each sculpture. They contain a sound element which is activated when a viewer approaches the work. The sound, based on the sense experience of Julia herself and on the memories and images of her blind and low vision co-authors, expands the perceptual scope of the project using the artist’s own voice. The works also invite tactile interaction, reflecting the theme of inclusion which has been an important part of Abzaltdinova’s work for the last four years.

By making space and time for artistic collaboration between the project participants, Julia Abzaltdinova creates conceptual points for the emergence of new forms of interaction, mutual understanding and solidarity. The artist acts as a mediator between the blind and low vision co-authors and the neural network, between the imaginary and the material, between inclusion and art. Fusing elements of the virtual and the real, I Will Never See It. I Will Never Forget It decentres authorship, emphasising the collective nature of the project and drawing a parallel between the fragmentary perception inherent to bodily experience and fragmentation in the digital world. The project invites reflection on ways of overcoming this fragmentation through co-authorship, building connections within collective knowledge, combining a variety of perspectives, and thinking about new forms of inclusive interaction.