We’re past the point where the digital is ‘elsewhere’. Our digital environments no longer stay on screens: they shape how we see, move, and make meaning in the real world too. What that really means to us will be up for debate on May 15 at MU, where we’ll get into the thick of it with two expert talks, a video essay screening, and the chance to visit the NERD_FUNK exhibition.
In true hybrid spirit, the event happens in-person at MU, while our speakers Laura Herman and Jenna Ng will join us live online from different parts of the world. Both will share fresh takes on NERD_FUNK, the exhibition currently on view at MU and central to the night’s conversation.
Laura Herman, Head of AI Research at Adobe and the Co-Director of the Inclusive AI Lab at Utrecht University will kick things off by digging into how platforms like Instagram shape what we see—and who gets seen. Drawing from the NERD_FUNK archive, which itself is deeply rooted in the aesthetics and rhythms of the artist’s feed, she’ll unpack how AI is quietly reshaping creative flow, and how roles like curating, selecting, and contextualizing are evolving in today’s digital landscape.
Jenna Ng will take us one step further out, offering a wider lens on our hyper-curated digital lives. As Professor and Head of the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland, Jenna researches how AI, digital media, and creative tech collide with everyday life. Her award-winning project The New Virtuality, that we will screen during the night,offers a surreal yet razor-sharp lens on how the boundaries between screen and world, online and offline, have become slippery. How do we tell where the feed ends and real life begins?
This event will be held in English.
