Quantum Fake
A quantum ‘copy’ of the gallery space, 2018
Libby Heaney (UK)
In an age of ubiquitous digital reproduction, is there any way to safeguard information so it cannot be copied? Quantum Fake is a virtual reality experience inspired by the concepts underpinning quantum cryptography. At the atomic scale, deep in the realm of quantum mechanics, any information that is unknown (to a person or to a light ray, for instance) is forever secret and cannot be copied. The artwork casts this logic over the gallery, as some viewers encounter a world where our usual perceptions of time, space and form are transformed.
BIO
Libby Heaney is an artist, researcher and lecturer with a background in quantum computing. Her artworks are usually participatory and question our relationships with technology and each other. The works typically combine installation, sculpture and performance with newer technologies, such as machine learning or virtual reality. Libby has previously exhibited at the Tate Modern, London; The Lowry, Manchester; Sonar+D, Barcelona; Ars Electronica, Linz; Non-Space Gallery, Aarhus (as part of the official programme of the 2017 EU Capital of Culture), London Design Festival and Blitz Gallery, Valletta. Libby was recently awarded a Sky Arts 50 commission to train a bot to be ‘British’. She is a research tutor at the Royal College of Art and a resident of Somerset House Studios and works with The Artists Development Agency.