Throughout literature, film, television and beyond, sentient digital entities are framed as a cautionary tale: a step beyond the ethical limits of humankind into a realm of playing god. In the gestating and early years of our current Internet, stories of rogue agents hijacking our world wide web of pages and hyperlinks explored ideas of post-humanism in these conscious beings. William Gibson’s artificial intelligence Wintermute acts as the omnipotent puppet master throughout 1984’s Neuromancer, guiding the human characters from behind the screen. Terminator’s Skynet similarly co-opted our online resource, turning humanity’s greatest invention into a weapon against its creator. Origin (Marle) explores a new narrative of technological utopianism and community as you explore fragmented memories of our online protagonist.

Origin (Marle) is a collaborative project from Jordan East, Jane Fan, Callum Howard, Pat Younis and Alvin Ruiyuan Zhong and a continuation of their digitally-focused practice as Origin. This work co-opts the ingrained functionality of the Internet, repurposing code and protocols to create a new network composed of fractured text, animation, chatbots and 3D rendered worlds. This artistic intervention into passive web browsing reflects on our crowded and anxious online experiences, bringing audiences into a digital dream as you traverse the system with Marle.

This work was commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art for their 4A Digital 2022 Programme.