xxnft
Libby Heaney
When did you start using digital/new media for your creative practice?
As an artist I've always used digital media, starting with Arduino and Processing. But I also think of my time as a scientist as feeding into my creative practice, and I started coding C++, Matlab and Visual Basic back in my undergrad physics degree - although then we were modelling physical phenomena literally rather than poetically.
What was your first ever NFT? Can you please send an image for us to post?
My first NFT was on Feral File as part of an AI show curated by Luba Elliott. I used quantum computing to deconstruct and remix Venus images watched by AI open pose recognition algorithm. As the Venuses dissolve the pose recognition loses track of their bodies, which questions biases and highlights the radical potential of quantum computing to lead us to a more plural, wild version of reality.
What was your first ever NFT?
My first NFT was on Feral File as part of an AI show curated by Luba Elliott. I used quantum computing to deconstruct and remix Venus images watched by AI open pose recognition algorithm. As the Venuses dissolve the pose recognition loses track of their bodies, which questions biases and highlights the radical potential of quantum computing to lead us to a more plural, wild version of reality.
Link to the most recent one?
I've only ever released two NFTs as I'll only work on the smaller, proof of stake blockchains, due to the carbon emissions from Etherium and Bitcoin. I think it's really important for artists' work to align with their values.
So my most recent NFT was with art.army: https://art.army/en/exhibition/9
How/why did you begin to upload your work on the blockchain?
It was an interesting way to release art during the pandemic lockdowns and was also a good way for digital artists to make money from their work. For future NFT projects, I'd like to work more with the materiality of the blockchain itself.
What is your most recent project?
My solo show at arebyte gallery recently closed. It was centred around an immersive experience Ent- that focused on quantum computing as both a medium and subject. I animated a series of hybrid creatures using self-written code for IBM's quantum computers, resulting in unusual plural, layered versions of reality that trace the invisible processes of the quantum world.
What are the main guiding principles behind your work? Can you step outside yourself for a moment and let us know what you see?
My background is in physics and I have a PhD in quantum information science, publishing around 20 papers in areas such as entanglement and quantum biology. So now, as an artist, I often approach my work through a quantum lens. Quantum physics is a theory that describes the microscopic world in which atoms and molecules move and exist in unusual ways compared to the macroscopic world. They can be in multiple places at onces and two or more atoms can be entangled in a particularly strong symbiosis of all possible relations at once.
Whether I work with machine learning, games engines or quantum computing, I often draw on concepts from quantum physics such as entangling, layering, blurring and collapse to analyse these tools. I'm generally interested in how technologies reinforce seemingly naturalised categories - such as gender - that typically benefit patriarchal capitalism. I then playfully deconstruct these categories, questioning power structures and modes of control. The resulting artworks are varied but are layered, plural and hold multiple possibilities at once.
Do you get any particular source of inspiration for the visual styles of your works e.g. do they arrive in relation to the place (physical, psychological, or situational) you were located at the time?
Recently, I've been working with quantum computing developing an entirely new blurry, pixelated aesthetic from quantum entanglement. I wanted to develop visuals that wouldn't otherwise be created without a quantum computer.
In older work, when I'm for instance working with machine learning (sound or visual GAN) I'm working to blur different categories of image or sound together, creating hybrid forms. I also do a lot of drawing and painting which inform the final digital pieces.