Collin Townsend Velkoff
Sacred Simulations
Mixed media sculptures constructed from wood, steel, cement, and stone
26.10.2018 – 18.10.2018
Open as usual on All Saints Day 3.11. and on Fathers Day 11.11. at 12-5 pm.
Much like the alchemist’s pursuit of the philosophers stone, the Neuroscientist’s Magnum Opus is the digital mapping of the human connectome. Much to the envy of Qin Shi Huang, these new age immortalists will inevitably find the elixir of life. Soon paradise will only be a click away. ’Sacred Simulations’ is a speculation on the psychological effects of a digital consciousness and the possible scenarios of this existence.
Phantom limb is a psychological phenomenon that can cause an amputee to have a powerful hallucinogenic sensation. This causes them to believe the missing limb is still attached. Once our consciousness transcends into the virtual plane, how will the vestiges of our physical bodies manifest? Our perception of reality is synonymous with sensations. The mind uses the senses to ground us in reality—reassuring our presence in it. After synapses have become algorithms and the tether to materiality severed—would the individual still exist?
This exhibition expands upon this idea of a post-sapiens society and explores the possible ramifications of a nonmaterial consciousness. It is a story of an ancient digital being who begins to hallucinate a psychical body. They are haunted by the memories of a material world and the person they once were, but can no longer remember.
Collin Townsend Velkoff
cvelkoff(at)gmail.com
www.collinvelkoff.com
