While festivals regain their footing and museums are eager to re-open to the public, a new hybrid model between the two has emerged in — where else? — Brooklyn. The focus of Undercurrent, which is described on its website as “a new event that immerses visitors in over 10 original audiovisual art installations, created by influential musicians to inspire positive impact around the Climate Crisis,” is focused on artist’s reactions to the looming issues of human impact on our environment.
So far, installations by artists like Bon Iver, Grimes, Jorja Smith, Khruangbin, Miguel, Actress, Aluna, Jayda G, Mount Kimbie, and Nosaj Thing had been announced, but today, Undercurrent is adding two more massive artists to the bill — Grimes and The 1975.
In a press release Grimes explained why she decided to join the project. “If we don’t protect the environment the future of consciousness will be artificial, not biological,” she said. “Would mental health and wellness even be relevant in a world where emotions aren’t an evolutionary advantage? A.I. Meditations were created by a generative language program that was provided with meditations made by humans and, based on those models, created its own meditations without the guiding aid of human emotion. Personally, I find beauty in this work, but it represents a distinct artistic shift from things written by humans. This work isn’t critical of A.I., but rather a neutral depiction of what the wellness landscape might look like without us.”
That’s one perspective that’s unique only to Grimes. More about Undercurrent: Each installation is designed to draw awareness to one of the three partner nonprofits, Kiss The Ground, Ocean Conservancy, and Global Forest Generation.
The installation opens in Brooklyn on September 9, with a trailer previewing it above. Tickets are available here.