AI slop (2026)

Documentation of 'AI slop' (2026) shown as part of the group exhibition 'Held in Transit' by PISTIL COLLECTIVE at the Old Waiting Room in Peckham in May 2026.

The sculpture sits on a metal sheet (here placed atop a solid cast iron bar weight found in the space); its mirror image smudged; it is unclear what we might see reflected back. 'AI slop' materialises the waste or slop caused by the global expansion of AI data centres, which are currently responsible for around 200 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and will, by 2030, be around 60 per cent higher, according to the International Energy Agency. We are likely to encounter this species of the fatberg family 'move fast and break things; below Silicon Valley condos as the offal of innovation cause by those bullish on growth at all costs. The work is a comment on the delusion and hubris that technology is the solution to all our problems, making manifest the marks this leaves on our planet, in our drains and our veins (AI slop content altering our bodily responses to what we see, causing brainrot). The work also represents AI as a bubble that is inherently poisoning itself because of the restructured planet it is built on, as well as the financial speculations it has gained its investments from. 

Material list: 
Expanding foam, acrylic, found pigeon spikes, cardboard, spaghetti in Epoxy resin, silicone, rotten apple and another rotten fruit, found car parts, old phone parts, plastic unicorn figurine, dental floss pick, chicken bone, human hair, found Lost Mary vape, vape parts, empty lighter, dried mushroom, metal, plastic, saucisson skin, birch bark, dried leaf, crab claw, feather, and other found or reclaimed objects.