This performative talk presents a perspective on the entanglement of visual culture with the distant past. Drawing connections between recent developments such as emerging artistic practices with artificial intelligence and much older methods for the production of images, she makes a case for understanding media as constantly interfacing between past and present, material and intangible. Although it thrives on extractivism, technological progress is rhizomatic, opening up possibilities for artistic intervention and the reclaiming of forgotten knowledge from ancient mechanisms. Approaching these ideas through a media archaeological lens, the talk will introduce Lee’s theoretical work including her recent book Algorithm, Image, Art (2024) and its connection with her artistic practice. She will discuss projects including A Structural Plan for Imitation: Engines of Differentiation (2024), Absorption, Saturation, Toxicity, Elimination (2022), and Molten Media (2013–2024), as well as her ongoing research and video project Digital Dark Matter. Delving into the tangled thickets of the current media ecosystem, this presentation will explore unexpected interconnections between technology, human perception, and the natural world as a way of discovering new potential ways forward.
Presented at Ūmėdė festival 2025 in Vilnius, Lithuania
