Brooklyn, NY – At a mine in West Angeles, Australia, Rio Tinto doubles its fleet of autonomous drills. British supermarket chain Ocado deploys a thousand warehouse robots to pick, lift and transport groceries. Norway is launching a fully autonomous container ship and the jobs of 2 million truck drivers in the US are profoundly changing. AI is invisibly seeping into our lives and we are living in a world of increased containerization. Workers are facing present issues from the rise of AI. How are creative technology disruptions transforming jobs? What is a world of hyper-efficiency if the dignity of work is cast aside for increased monitoring? And, what does automation mean to us if it eliminates lower wage tough jobs, like trucking, but leaves those workers without a sustainable safety net?

Inside the AMAZING INDUSTRIES installation created by artist BRETT WALLACE, visitors will encounter a space of exploration and reclamation within AI and the future of work. The installation is housed in a shipping container. Custom designed flags on top of the structure amplify quotes gathered from digital workers. Many of these workers perform tasks online used to train AI. Inside, visitors can participate in their own real human intelligence tasks sitting on branded beanbags at laptop stations. A video projected on the wall, Truckers, 2018, explores how AI is seeping into the cabs of truck drivers, infringing upon the open road and freedom that truckers most value. The text and images from the work are interchanged into displayed merchandise on the walls including beach throws, hats, t-shirts, totes and mugs. The interchanged elements within the work signify how AI and containerization change form (e.g. a ship, a truck) and site. Along the wall are prints on acrylic, resembling the aesthetics of corporate signage, containing assemblages of writings, economic models and images. Visitors can shift from viewer to actor by texting a phone number that appears on flyers and shirts, to interact with a chatbot. The chatbot was programmed by the artist and takes on the persona of a worn down trucker. Additional videos are shown inside a custom designed cardboard box and a suspended, custom designed delivery backpack. A newly released zine includes text, images, workers diary entries and writings from the artist assembled from an archive created for the exhibition.

Website: http://www.amazing.industries Instagram: @brettwallacenyc | @silasvonmorisse | @satelliteartshow | #amazingindustries

Brett Wallace is a New York-based artist whose practice involves an exploration of the future of work. He recently founded AMAZING INDUSTRIES, a startup that explores the future of work. AMAZING INDUSTRIES has been shown at Silas Von Morisse Gallery, New York, SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2018, New York, Reshaping Work, Amsterdam and has been reviewed and mentioned in ARTnews, Artslant, Hyperallergic and WHITEHOT magazine. AMAZING INDUSTRIES is currently a member of NEW INC, the world’s first museum led incubator created by the New Museum. Upcoming solo exhibitions include. NURTUREArt, New York, March 15-April 16th, 2019