Plato’s Allegory of the Cave offers a metaphor for the limits of human perception. The prisoners in the cave know the outside world only through shadows projected on the wall in front of them. In a similar way, a large language model’s apparent knowledge of the world comes not from direct experience, but from “shadows” in its training data texts that describe things, events, and our conversations about them. Since an LLM cant actually 'see' we might better think of it as a prisoner in a yet another cave or as Kulveit(2023) proposes, a ‘blind oracle’ who only hears the conversations on the prisoners talking about the shadows. Although it is possible to create an LLM which knows nothing of the
Author: antonyhall
Artist, educator, and researcher working between the fields of science and art.
Pond brain simulation 1
This patch is a 2D simulation where daphnia-like particles swim around an 8×8 grid of light cells, and each cell adjusts its LED brightness to keep local daphnia density near a target level (Stafford Beer-style homeostasis). You can view the system in different layers (particles only, LEDs only, sensor grid, or all combined), overlay numeric information per cell, and at any moment press R to take a “pond reading” that converts the current 8×8 LED state into a 64-bit pattern, Click on the ptch then use Keys:// 1 = full view (cells + LEDs + particles)// 2 = particles only// 3 = LED on/off only// 4 = sensor squares only (grey/black, no yellow LEDs, no particles)// N = toggle numeric overlay (LED
Carbon Cloud Chat
https://carbon-cloud-chat-21c0d88f.base44.app As a thought experiment, I used AI to develop a carbon-aware AI chatbot that actively discourages the use of AI and guides users toward lower-carbon alternatives, or encourages them not to use the AI at all. I have been working on several modules related to UX and sustainability in the digital arts this year, and the ecological impact of AI is a key concern. This is a work in progress, and I will use this app as a point of discussion in my lectures. I am aware of the meta irony here: I used AI (Basse44, with one primary design prompt and 20 further iterations, plus a few hours of testing) to build an AI that advises people not to overuse AI. That
Co Lab Game
I creted this game using p5js.org for stundets, as a fun way of outlining the benifit of turning up to lessons, doing the work and avoiding over use of AI (However I did create this game with help of AI)..
Text scramble effect
Some experiments with P5JS code. https://editor.p5js.org I wanted to create a poster for Dorkbot which had a glitch scramble effect...Alsoi tried to replicate slime mould type visulisations with words..Next step if to make these updateable from a google sheet so we can quickly update the info and presnet full screen for the dorkbot event.
Moss worlds
MossWorlds: The Exhibition is now on! National Trust Castlefield Viaduct 22 Oct 2025 – 1 Feb 2026 Step into the lush, layered world of moss a quiet hero of Manchester’s past, present, and future. Through immersive art, music, poetry, and hands-on activities, MossWorlds re-stories moss as more than a plant: it’s resilience, intelligence, and wonder. From lowland bogs to railway embankments, community parks to viaduct gardens, moss has always been part of Manchester’s evolution See more info on exhibition here See more about the project here: https://mossworlds.co.uk/
Remember Nature 2025 (with Yu-Chen Wang)
I am taking part in Remember Nature 2025 Here is the information...I will be at hulme GHarden centre making Microprotests (see generator above built in p5js click to re-generate).... A Nationwide Day of Artist‑led Action to Stand Up for Nature NATURE REMEMBERED Communal Walk: 4 November 2025 (12.30–3pm)Meet at Manchester Art Gallery, Derek Jarman Pocket Park, M2 3JL.Tickets (Free) Gathering: 4 November 2025 (3–5pm)Hulme Community Garden Centre, M15 5RG.Tickets (Free)In 2015 artist Gustav Metzger called on art schools and students of all disciplines to “Remember Nature” and “make a stand against the ongoing erasure of species”. Tuesday 4 November 2025 marks a decade since that call, and partners across England are coming together, bringing ethics into aesthetics, for Remember Nature 2025. You can find out more about
Cryptogamic oracle v1
Micro protest workshop
The Micro-Protest Workshop explores the power of gentle protest through small, situated acts of resistance. Participants use a process of ‘diffractive mapping’* to co-create protest signs and slogans that draw on perspectives from ecology, art, and activism. Rather than large-scale statements, these micro-signs give voice to overlooked or more-than-human worlds, transforming protest into an exercise in empathetic imagination. Drawing on Corbett’s idea of gentle protest (Corbett, 2017) and the Situationist practice of détournement (Debord & Wolman, 1956), the workshop uses humour, play, and re-appropriation to show how media objects, even modest ones can disrupt dominant narratives and open space for critical reflection.
Moss workshop
The Moss workshop explores the overlooked ecologies of the city. Equipped with ecological ‘probe kits’, participants move slowly through the city exploring damp walls, gutters, and cracks, using microscopes and cameras to encounter mosses and other life forms, usually hidden from view. The process of looking closely and documenting these organisms invites reflection on the more-than-human world and the ways in which our tools; lenses, photographs, notes enhance our perceptions and mediate what we see and value. By shifting attention from fast, screen-based media to the intimate scale of moss, the workshop creates a space to question how visibility, evidence, and care are distributed across environments and societies. By combining hands-on ecology with reflective media practices, the moss workshop asks us to consider how slowing
Springtails under microscope
https://youtube.com/shorts/vO5B57RXVLM?si=xADWZH7ghxTv58Z3 Progress on generative film composition using touchdesigner. This uses a series of Caches and composite overlay (set to difference) a basic patch but the effect perfectly fits what I was looking for. Very much inspered by the work of experimental cimtograpers (Tschekassky, Smith, Brakhage etc)
Self Portrait (Film stills, Nerf)
Portrait: Lex
Minute to Midnight – Exhibition Gallery Oldham
It’s not often I get to opportunity show my work in an actual gallery these days such is the plight of the socially engaged / process based artist, and it makes me remember how much I love the process of developing a dialogue with other artists and the space of gallery. And it is a delight to be showing along side some amazing artists. @verdant.city @adelecjordan@mishkahenner and @rebeccachesneyartist @galleryoldham A Minute to Midnight December 7 - March 1, 2025 So how does moss relate to climate change? Here are some interesting facts I put together for @sparkartistsnetwork and the forthcoming panel discussion: Moss is under threat: According to the 2023 IUCN Red List of the of moss in Britain , 19% are
States of being
Biokinetic Mantra for the Evocation of the Animistic Matrix
live performance with Maya chowdhry and Chris Gladwin. "This 30min live electronic music performance will feature organic components (mushrooms, moss, terrariums, water) being brought into contact with the ecstatic technology of dance music."I have recently returned to performing live and reawakened a part of my brain that had been dormant for a while. I'd forgotten how much I absolutely love the focus and intensity. The excitement of not knowing what's going to happen, or indeed sometimes wondering what is happening when something completely new emerges. Working with new collaborators has pushed me to explore new methods, leading to a number of fresh works in progress. Last month, I performed with Chris Gladwin and Maya Chowdhryat DVRK MASS II | Sonic Transformations: Ecosystems (organised by
Electronic Music Ensemble at Chorlton Arts FestivalElectronic Music Ensemble at
I performed as part of a line up from SODAs electronic music ensemble (which comprises of students, alumni and staff) at Chorlton Arts Festival, in Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church. I performed again alongside Maya Chowdhry continuing the ‘Biokinetic Mantra for the Evocation of the Animistic Matrix’ project - bringing together bioacoustics filed recording live electroaccoustics, and techno. This involved Darkling beetle larvae and rehydrating moss on hydrophones… Image: Neil Spencer Bruce SODAs electronic music ensemble 5691
Morecambe Bay walk
We were by the tumbling stream.
Ecopedagogies symposium
https://ecopedagogies.cargo.site/ Ecopedagogies Symposium 03 JULY 2024 - 11am-6pmHow can the integration of ecological interdisciplinary teaching methods in the arts and humanities stimulate creative and critical thinking about environmental relationships, rights, and responsibilities in the arts and humanities?Venue 1: The Firs Botanical Research Centre, UoM Panel 1: Ecopedagogies and the senses Chair: Clara Dawson Henry McPherson (UoM): ‘Ecological Improvisation’ Ghada Solimon (UoM): ‘Enhancing learning objectives through creative methods and hands-on activities: a case study of screen-printing using natural dyes workshops’ Ryan Woods and Raichael Lock (UoM): ‘Trees, ears and the space between: exploring pedagogies of reciprocity with primary school children in Manchester’ Moss walk to Manchester Museum, collecting mosses (led by Antony Hall, MMU/Spark Artists’ Network) Venue 2: Manchester Museum Panel 2:
Boundary detector drawing
Boundary detector, drawing 2024 Drawing of Boundary detector device, developed to accompany text for forthcoming publication with Glassball studio: Follow the development of this work here... https://antonyhall.net/blog/guideline-micro-commission/
Moss identification card deck
This card pack was developed for a moss walk for the Eco pedagogies Symposium 2024. The walk traced a route between the Firs Botanical Gardens and Manchester Museum. In this iteration of the moss workshop, I discussed my emerging "methodology of moss" and the role of art as a perception-changing device. To develop the card pack I photographed each species of moss I found along the route and created a card for each one, including information on the numerous biomes encountered. These cards not only aid my learning and memorisation of moss species but also include prompts, instructions, texts, and readings that will enable others to facilitate their own walking and moss workshops in the future.
MOSS IS NOT THE ENEMY
Touchdesigner experiments
This year I started working with Touch Designer https://derivative.ca/. TouchDesigner is a multimedia visual programming environment with a node based interface for “Creative Coding”. I am learning how to combine sensors as control inputs for video and sound, the generative aspects are also fascinating. It is a steep learning curve (with pythonic code to learn along side this). I will post progress here... View this post on Instagram A post shared by Antony Hall (@tonazoid) View this post on Instagram A post shared
Boundary detectors – mosscillator walk
A day of field work, walking and talking with @glassball.studio we walked across a segment of the Peak District national park boundary, connected our boundary detector up to a fence to create a strange radio like circuit (also connected with a bat detectors as signal transducer) we could hear strange sounds emanating from the either. Initially we discovered we could almost perfectly receive Radio 4. With some further tweaking / breaking we were able to get a multitude of voices - “Hello…Hello… “ one said as if speaking to us. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Antony Hall (@tonazoid)
Visit to Art Ecology
I visited the Isle of Wight to find out more about the Art ecology group and their #vertipool project (and generally chat about moss and urban / eco design). They have an Interesting ideology of hyper-local working and employ a methodology that resists consumerist mass production models (many #greenwalls and moss tiles are patented technologies that require energy and are tied into maintenance contracts. Alternatively Art Ecology take more of an open source socially engaged approach, working with communities and training people to help make the pools (which are best made by hands). This hand making approach allows for a greater speed of making and building in complex structural features, nooks crannies and overhangs, that would not be possible with
SPARK#9 Moss Walk
A couple weeks ago I took people on an urban moss walk for Spark#9 a monthly meeting organised by @sparkartistsnetwork @castlefieldgall . It was a short walk (only half of what I planned) mostly staring at damp walls under bridges. This particular bridge is host to an unusual (in an urban context) liverwort called Metzgeria furcate clinging onto existence in this cave like environment. Under another bridge just down the road, a more common but impressive Great Scented Liverwort - Conocephalum conicum grows in ring like formations over the walls (Liverworts are bryophytes like moss). We rounded up the walk at the recently reopened @mcrmuseum where we talked and made terrariums. It was heartening to have such a good turn out –
NOW IS THE TIME OF MOSS
Glint- Instagram residencey
What is it that I do?
The question, "But, what is that you actually do?" [1] was posed to me as an impressionable master's student [2] after having presented my entire portfolio of work; the question perplexed me because, at that time, my practice was still developing, and I still wasn't entirely sure what it was that I was doing. Later as an emerging professional artist discussing practice, this straightforward yet wise advice was given by a curator; 'Think of a thing that you do, and keep doing it' [3]. The thing was, even though there was clearly 'a thing that I did', having embarked on the foundational works that would inform my practice for many years to come, it took years to realise what it really was that I did. My Tabletop Experiments