Copenhagen-based collective win BJP International Photography Award
The Copenhagen-based collective of Sara Galbiati, Peter Eriksen and Tobias Markussen (Sara, Peter and Tobias) have been named as the winners of the BJP International Photography Award 2018, for their series, The Merge – a visual exploration of the possibility that we are living inside a simulation.
About the series
The Merge is an in-depth investigation into artificial intelligence and robotics, which aims to explore and visually interpret the possibility that we are living inside a simulation. Could our world be a constructed illusion?
For thousands of years, our perception of reality has been questioned, and the discussion has garnered new interest with the development of technology. In 2003, Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom published The Simulation Argument, asking whether life on earth could actually be taking place inside a computer simulation, and academics and tech experts came out in droves to support Bostrom’s theory. Tesla founder Elon Musk has reasoned that the exponential haste with which artificial intelligence is developing proves that we could actually be inside somebody else’s simulation, as AI is rapidly becoming indistinguishable from our own reality.
The Merge is a seminal work that visually entertains this theory, artistically investigating the consequences that supercomputers, artificial intelligence and robots may have on our society. By looking at interactions between man and machine, the project explores how the accelerated digitised paradigm will affect our emotional, social and moral norms, and could prove our place within someone else’s simulation.
The project balances realism and imagination, leaving space for the viewer to engage with its dialogue and reconsider their own perception of reality.
About Sara, Peter and Tobias
Peter, Sara and Tobias met while attending the Fatamorgana School of Photography in Denmark, where they now share a studio. They made a name for themselves with their first project and photobook, Phenomena, in 2015. This debut project, an anthropological study of UFOs and extra-terrestrials, was exhibited in 2016 at Rencontres d’Arles and nominated for Prix de la Photo Figaro. Since their initial collaboration, the collective has developed a conceptual and subjective approach akin to documentary, which considers issues founded on theories and first-person accounts, rather than fact.
