kennedy+swan: The Red Queen Effect
The Red Queen Effect
About the exhibition
The exhibition The Red Queen Effect by the artist duo kennedy+swan comprimises two works that critically examine the use of AI in medicine. A four-channel video installation tells the story of the fictional start-up ALICE, which tests AI-based health products with a group of participants. Through interviews, the work reveals a wide range of attitudes toward health technologies - spanning hope, skepticism, fear, and dependency. The second part of the exhibition, Lung Portraits, consists of twelve chemically treated watercolor paintings on glass inspired by microscopic tissue samples. These images were fed into AI model trained to detect cancer, which interpreted the artworks as medical image data and produced seemingly plausible diagnoses. By laser-engraving these diagnoses onto the works, kennedy+swan expose the limitations and risks of AI-based systems.
At the heart of The Red Queen Effect lies a paradox: the promise of medical progress through AI alongside the growing pressure to keep pace with technological development, raising questions about the social, ethical, and political responsibility of AI in medicine.
The works were developed as part of the Art of Etanglement fellowship, awarded in 2024 by the Schering Foundation and the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD).
kennedy+swan (founded in 2013) comprises the work of the two artists Bianca Kennedy and Swan Collective. When working together, they explore the future of non-human intelligence and its impact on plants, animals, machines, and humans. These utopias are liberated from human supremacy, illuminating the ecological benefits of hybrid life forms, and addressing the twisted relationship between humans and biotechnology. For their videos, VR, and AR installations, the duo employs a variety of animation techniques: drawings, stereoscopic film footage, 3D-scanned landscapes, and self-built characters create a dense network of analog and digital imagery. Recent works reflect upon the exponential rise of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on biology.
kennedy+swan exhibit internationally in galleries, museums, and festivals. Exhibitions include the Lyon Biennial, Gropius Bau Berlin, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Schering Stiftung Berlin, CCBB Rio de Janeiro, Loop Discover Award and Sundance Film Festival. They have been awarded Studio Quantum Residency for 2023 and BIFOLD/Schering Scholarship for 2025. They live in Berlin.