Contemplating the rare earth minerals that generate the “magic” of our smartphones, Speculative Geologies is a collection of more than 350 virtual rocks and minerals that are associated with the attributes and actions of our digital devices. “Speculative Geologies calls focus to the rapid planetary metamorphoses that science, art, and the geologic imagination have set underway—largely without intention—in the digital Anthropocene.”1

(your) future talisman, installed at Neon Heater, organizes Speculative Geologies’ rocks and minerals, now physically manufactured as highly stylized plastistones, into several powerful divining grids. Each talisman is arranged to harness specific powers to guide, protect or empower the user.

From folklore and superstition to organized religion and spirituality, magic’s divine power can often be harnessed through the use of rock and minerals- such as crystals, hag stones, or pi stones. This elevated use of material stands in stark contrast to Western culture’s history of exploitation and extraction of natural resources, many of which power our digital devices. The organic gridded forms of (your) future talisman are akin to natural coral structures or virtual gaming inventories, allowing combinations of rocks and minerals to create powerful intentions and actions.

Bio:

Jason Urban and Leslie Mutchler (JULMstudios) have been working collaboratively since 2012; they live and work in Brooklyn, New York. As a collaborative duo, they exercise a coequal approach to art and life that focuses on research and problem-solving. With a relationship of physical to metaphysical in mind, their practice is increasingly about the natural world and the way digital technologies influence and distort our relationship to nature.

The pair has had solo exhibitions at Eastern Edge (St. Johns, Canada), Center for Book Arts (New York, NY), Monaco (St. Louis, MO), the Delaware Contemporary (Wilmington, DE), NARS Foundation (Brooklyn, NY), Grizzly Grizzly (Philadelphia, PA), The Print Center (Philadelphia, PA), Centre for Fine Print Research (Bristol, UK), Space Gallery (Portland, ME), Atelier Circulaire (Montreal, Canada), among others. They have been awarded numerous residencies including Edition/Basel in Basel, Switzerland, Cork Printmakers International Visiting Artist Residency in Cork, Ireland and Dieu Donne Workspace Residency in Brooklyn. Both are affiliated with Pratt Institute where Mutchler is Chair of the Foundation Program and Urban teaches publishing courses in the Communication Design program.