Iva Polanecká

The exhibition Strange Attractions by the London-based collective United Visual Artists (UVA) presents a multidimensional artistic concept of the relationship between art, science, and technology in the post-digital era. These key spheres of human knowledge share a common trajectory in the evolutionary process of the human intellect. Although these disciplines inspire and complement each other, their perspectives may at times seem to diverge. Nevertheless, from antiquity to the present day, together they have formed a living reservoir of knowledge and experience with abstract systems of representation. These systems fundamentally shape our understanding of physical reality and our place in it. Their interaction – and sometimes the tension between them – serves as a catalyst for a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. 

In this exhibition UVA, which has been established in the scene since 2003, present a complex multimedia installation that can be understood as an encounter with abstract concepts translated into a tangible, visually stunning form. The central theme is chaos theory, which UVA uses as a conceptual framework to explore the phenomena of randomness and the emergence of structured patterns in seemingly chaotic systems. This theme resonates with current questions regarding the nature of reality in the age of big data and artificial intelligence, thus opening up a space for critical reflection on our relationship with technology and information in an era characterised by information overload and pervasive digitisation. In UVA’s hands chaos theory, originally formulated by meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the 1960s to describe the complex behaviour of dynamic systems, becomes a tool for exploring fundamental questions about the nature of reality and our perception of the world¹.

UVA’s artistic output can be seen as a continuation of the tradition of kinetic art and light installations that began to develop in the middle of the twentieth century. Artists such as László Moholy-Nagy² and Julio Le Parc³ or groups such as ZERO⁴ laid the foundations for artistic experimentation with movement, light, and space and redefined the boundaries of a work of art, paving the way for new forms of artistic expression. The significance of these pioneers lies not only in their technological innovations but above all in the conceptual shift that their work represented. UVA, however, brings this tradition into the twenty-first century by integrating advanced digital technology with algorithmic processes, which they use to explore the philosophical and social implications of said technology and the way these algorithms are manifested in nature, artistic processes, and social structures. 

The project Strange Attractions reflects the current trend in art of visualising complex scientific concepts and making them accessible to a wider audience and responds to the growing interest in phenomena such as the aforementioned artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data. This approach can be traced all the way back to the 1960s and the movement Experiments in Art and Technology⁵, in which artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage began collaborating with the science and engineering scene. By blurring the sharp dividing lines between these disciplines, their mutual influence can be amplified, opening up new horizons of creative expression and leading to the exploration of previously uncharted territories. UVA develops this aesthetic by creating works that exist simultaneously in both the physical and virtual space, challenging the traditional boundaries between these domains. 

The large-format double pendulum complemented by a real-time projection is situated on the floor in a horizontal position. One of its arms is motorised and controlled, creating a predictable moment. Meanwhile, the other arm moves freely, introducing elements of chaos and unpredictability. The movements of the pendulum are discreetly recorded in real time and converted into an invisible virtual force. This interaction is visualised through dynamically changing projections, creating the illusion of depth and movement and drawing the audience into a space where the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds blur. 

A reflection on the current debate regarding the relationship between humans and technology in the era of artificial intelligence can be seen in UVA’s works Present Shock and Etymologies, which react to the issues of information overload and the algorithmic manipulation of language. Present Shock confronts the audience with a relentless barrage of real-time data, materialised through a cascade of displays as a chaotic information explosion. The presentation of verified statistical data from a variety of sources reveals unexpected correlations emerging from the chaos, thus illustrating the concept of coincidentia oppositorum – the coincidence of opposites – in which seemingly unrelated data points intersect in surprising and significant ways. The work Etymologies reevaluates the relationship between authorship, text, and readership by means of an algorithmic rearrangement of Kafka’s texts, thus creating a compelling dialectic between human consciousness and machine algorithms. The deconstructed texts, which form new and unexpected connections, mirror the chaotic yet structured processes of thought and memory, creating a space to ponder the layers of complexity in the process of creation, wherein meaning is constantly reinterpreted and redefined. 

Inspired by Lorenz’s discovery of the profound sensitivity of nonlinear systems to initial conditions, the light sculpture Serendipity is a visual metaphor for one of the principles of chaos theory. Two points of light, beamed by a laser projector, intertwine in a fascinating, graceful dance, moving in and out of phase, finding harmony only to subsequently diverge into chaos. 

Each work in this exhibition invites the viewer to consider how initial conditions and underlying dynamics shape the phenomena around us. UVA thus demonstrates its ability to transform complex scientific and philosophical concepts into visually compelling and intellectually stimulating artistic experiences that can contribute deep insights regarding our place in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. 

¹ Edward Lorenz discovered that even subtle changes in the initial conditions of a system can lead to dramatically different outcomes – a phenomenon known as the “butterfly effect”. One key aspect of chaos theory explored by UVA is the concept of “strange attractors”. These mathematical entities represent points or regions that a chaotic system tends towards without ever reaching a stable state.

² László Moholy-Nagy, an important representative of the Bauhaus, began experimenting with kinetic sculptures and light projections as early as the 1920s. His Light-Space Modulator (1922–1930) can be considered one of the first works to integrate movement, light, and space into a single whole. With this piece, Moholy-Nagy anticipated many later tendencies in kinetic and light art, including work with projection, reflection, and shadow.

³ Beginning in the 1960s, Julio Le Parc, an Argentine artist associated with op art and kinetic art, created works that actively involved the viewer in the process of perceiving art. His light installations and kinetic objects explored the possibilities of movement and light in space, often creating illusions and optical effects that challenged traditional ways of perceiving a work of art. 

⁴ The group ZERO, founded in Düsseldorf in 1957 by Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, represented a radical departure from the expressionist tendencies of post-war art. Their work was characterised by a reductive aesthetic and an interest in natural phenomena such as light, movement, and space. Artists associated with the group, such as Günther Uecker, Yves Klein, and Piero Manzoni, experimented with monochromatic surfaces, kinetic objects, and interactive installations, laying the foundations for the later development of minimalism and conceptual art.

⁵ Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) represents a key moment in the history of the interconnection between art, science, and technology. Formally founded in 1967 by engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer and artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman, this initiative prefigured many of the current trends in technological art. The E.A.T. movement was born out of the belief that collaboration between the artistic and technical disciplines could lead to innovative forms of artistic expression while at the same time inspiring new technological breakthroughs.