Infinitude

Infinitude presents works by six visual artists, each of whose vision is turned toward the future. How is the future being shaped? By, and for, whom?

The exhibition takes its title from nineteenth-century New England author Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose influential notion of the “infinitude of private man” championed the limitless potential of the self-reliant individual, freed from societal constraint. “Infinitude” also conjures both the vast scale of the galaxy and the seemingly boundless reaches of technology and personal ambition driving the contemporary space race.

Fuelled by the unfettered individualism of the super-rich, the surly bonds of earth no longer constrain the ambitions of private capital, nor conform to legal jurisdictions across its terrestrial and cosmic terrain. As plans for planetary colonization proceed at pace, in tandem with military and corporate enterprise, Infinitude pauses to look at how art is responding to these expanded frontiers. Selected works critique the colonial imperative underpinning this new frontierism. They also offer alternative renderings of the future – of destinies that may yet manifest differently.

Curated by Max Houghton and David Birkin of Visible Justice (University of the Arts London) with Northeastern University consulting curator Amy Halliday and Distinguished Professor of Law Patricia Williams.

Explore the exhibition virtually: