It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
— Isaac Asimov

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Sensible Decisions takes off from science fiction, soars in the imagination about living in a cyborgian future world, and lands at critically addressing some of the darker aspects of technology of the present. Featuring works by Jenna Boyles, Ziv Ze’ev Cohen, Bryan Sperry, and Kyle Werle, this exhibition will be presented as an interwoven installation that expresses human’s relationship to technology fraught with not only awe and joy but also mistrust and fear. Forging everyday objects, trash, and detritus into humanoid sculptures, the installation speculates a future human species rid of the burden of the flesh while confronting the material reality that upholds any whimsical imagination about technology.

Additionally, the four artists will introduce performative elements to the show, employing light, motion, and sound to maneuver our tactile, aural, and optical senses. Where does the boundary of the body begin and where does the machine end? How will human senses function as a bodiless subject? Can there be a New Flesh? In this exhibition, the artists will provide their sensible decisions.

This exhibition is collectively curated by the participating artists in collaboration with LITHIUM.

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Jenna Boyles Contemporary humanity is characterized by continuously leaving behind material and informational traces. Jenna Boyles works with textiles, circuitry, and found objects, applying craft techniques and a DIY approach to the subject of waste as it pertains to current political and environmental issues. Boyles holds a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in Art and Technology Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Over the past five years, she has led numerous workshops on creative reuse and soft circuitry. Boyles is a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and adjunct assistant faculty at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ziv Ze’ev Cohen is a visual artist with an emphasis on technology. His work functions as experiential platforms through which technology mediates an experience in relation to the human body. He highlights the power struggle between humans and machines, as well as people’s mistrust and misunderstanding of technology. Often these dynamics produces a sense of wonder, fear, even transcendence. Through his work, he challenges the senses of both human and machine alike, often speculating the future, to reflect on the impact machines have on our society today. Cohen’s work has been exhibited worldwide, recently at Ars Electronica festival in Austria and at the Museum of China Academy of Art at Hangzhou, China.

Bryan Sperry has been a force in the Chicago-area art scene for two decades now. He plays a vital role in the formation and operation of many local galleries and art events including the Around The Coyote Arts Festival and The Pilsen Art Walk. He is a founding member of The Art Attack Gallery, Second Fridays in Pilsen, and his own Sperry Studios. Sperry began his painting career as a young man growing up in the blue-collar “Pilsen” neighborhood of Chicago’s near south side. By experimenting with different media and drawing on the wealth of previously established genres as he matured, Bryan’s work and perspective began to become a fluent language for him. His art hence has become the vehicle of his overall philosophy.

Kyle Werle aka. Psychic Honey is a Chicago based musician, artist, instrument builder, and indie game maker. They use self-created emergent artificial intelligence systems to forge sculptural sounds and rhythms. Their label voidpulse was started in the year 2015 to advocate experimental sound works. Their music is based heavily on improvisation, organic composition, and textural sound fields. It is an exploration of alien consciousness envisioning new forms of perception. It is a voyage into fiercely independent creation through intuition and expanding understanding of our existence.

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Tags: Bryan Sperry, Chicago, Jenna Boyles, Kyle Werle, Lithium, Lower West Side, Sensible Decisions, Ziv Ze'ev Cohen