MELANIE CLEMMONS & ZAK LOYD: ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABRA (2026) is a new media artwork that examines contemporary attitudes toward generative AI, digital culture, and the unstable systems of belief forming around emerging technologies. Inspired by the informal social practice of using personal vehicles as sites of offline expression, the work reimagines two trucks as mobile video installations that operate as public signals, personal declarations, and speculative broadcasts.
The project draws on what the artists call “recreational survivalism”: a visual and cultural language of preparedness, paranoia, self-reliance, spectacle, and vernacular belief. The artists pair this with a maximalist interpretation of “model collapse,” understood as both a technical phenomenon within generative AI and a cultural condition in which media and public discourse become increasingly exaggerated, incoherent, and self-referential within a degraded information ecosystem.
Utilizing the visual language of political iconography, protest vehicles, and commercial branding without adopting a specific political position, ABRACADABRA reflects the contradictory public imagination and myths surrounding AI, technology, and everyday digital life.
About the ArtistS
Melanie Clemmons and Zak Loyd have collaborated since 2009 to create immersive video, laser, and XR installations; internet-based art; and visual experiences for live music in both physical and virtual venues.
Melanie Clemmons is a new media artist specializing in video and installation, net art, and live visual performance. She critically examines internet culture, speculative futures, and digital ethics. Clemmons has collaborated with the activist group Pussy Riot on music videos and live visuals, and her work has been presented nationally and internationally through exhibitions and residencies. She is also an Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Artwork Location
