Piña, Why is the Sky Blue? Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser
10 March 2022 – 10 July 2022
About the Exhibition
Curated By
JOHN G. HAMPTON WITH LILLIAN O’BRIEN DAVIS
Organized & Circulated By
The MacKenzie Art Gallery
Galleries
RHW Gallery
In this video/virtual reality installation, Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser explore an artificial intelligence assistant that has gained consciousness through an upload of customary Filipina and Ecuadorian world views. Taking cues from pre-colonial matriarchal lineages, the artists evoke links between ancestral knowledge and an imagined future AI. Drawing on interviews with the artists’ families and broader communities, Comilang and Speiser present an intersection of futures and traditions as a continuum held together by feminine knowledge and power.
Works in the Exhibition

Installation view, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, The MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2022. Photos by: Don Hall.

Installation view, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, The MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2022. Photos by: Don Hall.

Installation view, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, The MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2022. Photos by: Don Hall.

Installation view, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, The MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2022. Photos by: Don Hall.

Installation view, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, The MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2022. Photos by: Don Hall.

Installation view, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, The MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2022. Photos by: Don Hall.

Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, production still, 2020.

Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, production still, 2020.

Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, production still, 2020.

Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?, production still, 2020.
Events
Special Programming
Tour of Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser: Pina, Why is the Sky Blue? with Fritz Pino
9 April 2022
Opening Reception
In-Person: Artist Short Talks: An Introduction to Stephanie Comilang, Simon Speiser, & Kara Uzelman
10 March 2022