Centre for Emotional Materiality
Center for Emotional Materiality (CEM), 2018
Residency and Opening
Southern Exposure
Founded by Surabhi Saraf in 2018, Centre for Emotional Materiality (CEM) was a collaborative research and exhibition project exploring the entangled relationships between digital technologies, the body, emotion, belief systems, and the environment. As an extension of Surabhi’s own art practice, CEM created a space for interdisciplinary inquiry into the affective and spiritual dimensions of intelligent technologies.
CEM launched at Southern Exposure in San Francisco with a residency program, reading room, and a series of public events designed to invite artists, technologists, researchers, and community members into dialogue. Together, they speculated on the role of emerging technologies—particularly Artificial Intelligence—in shaping contemporary life and future imaginaries.
The inaugural CEM residents were Indira Allegra, The Black Aesthetic, Laura Hyunjhee Kim, Christian Nagler, Tiare Ribeaux, and Dorothy Santos. Additional collaborators included Caroline Sinders, Rita Popova, Emelia Martinez Brumbaugh, Gabriel Christian, Stephanie Hewett, Felix Sol Linck-Frenz, Javier Stell-Fresquez, and Randy Reyes.
CEM was installed at Southern Exposure from October 2 – December 15, 2018, and was made possible with generous support from Southern Exposure, SF Grants for the Arts, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.
