Chapter 006 — Proposal

Mission

Artifice NYC is a curatorial research nonprofit working between creative science and new media fictions.

We produce immersive, site-specific showcases and open creative infrastructure — a public archive practitioners build and control — shaping how speculative practice and emerging technology define the way we live.

A 501(c)(3) founded in 2024. Chapter 005, Sights: Science Fiction, drew 998 people in one night. Everything enters the Artifact Index, a free public record of how the work gets made.

Curatorial voice

Science fiction as a method, pointed at climate.

Artifice studies the technology already arriving through the futures we imagine for it. Chapter 006 turns that on the climate question — the evidence on one side, the futures it implies on the other. Science fiction has always decided who the future belongs to; this hands the decision to the people the genre usually writes out.

What is being proposed

Twelve artifacts. Two formats.

Existing works brought to their final form for one exhibition — clear headliners next to emerging artists, six per format.

Six artifacts · the lab

A fashion show grown from biomaterials, performance wired into hardware, and installation built at the scale of a flagship storefront. Made to be walked through.

Six artifacts · the stage

Performance and film. Bodies, sound, and image on a clock — the future as it lands on you in the dark, once.

WHITEBOX · the lab

Iris van HerpenSympoiesis3D-printed couture grown with biologists — the marquee reach.

Charlotte McCurdyAlgae Sequin DressCarbon-negative bioplastic sequins from marine algae, with Phillip Lim.

Scarlett YangDecomposing DressAlgae and silk-protein garment that shifts with humidity and dissolves in water within a day.

Behnaz FarahiCaress of the GazeA 3D-printed wearable that breathes and reacts to a viewer's gaze.

Ying Gao(no)where (now)hereKinetic garments that stir with breath and light.

Jen KeaneThis Is GrownA shoe upper woven by bacteria into a single grown textile.

BLACKBOX · the stage

BEAMTidelandsAn immersive tidal work — rising water as the climate anchor of the stage.

Jakob Kudsk SteensenBerl-BerlImmersive video and spatial sound of a vanishing Berlin wetland.

Lawrence LekAIDOLA CGI feature on a fading pop star and the AI writing her comeback.

Andrew Thomas HuangTiankengA mythic film of a body and a flooded world; Björk collaborator.

KeikenMorphogenic AngelsA speculative XR-and-film world from a femme / non-binary collective.

Sougwen ChungDrawing OperationsLive drawing in duet with a robotic arm trained on her hand.

Lineup is target / in conversation — all existing works, confirmed at artist lock.

Budget items

~$90K, fully staffed.

Item	Budget
Artist honoraria — 2 headliners ($5K ea) · 2 BLACKBOX ($1K) · 8 others ($500)	16,000
XR / immersive development + spatial AV	19,000
Production — materials · lighting · sound · staging	12,500
Labor — Producer · Woo · TD · 5 PAs · Security	13,200
Venue (Hero target — in-kind via Rhizome / ZeroSpace $3K)	0–3,000
Documentation + methodology paper	7,000
Audience — catering · accessibility · signage	6,000
Marketing + compliance	5,000
Contingency (10%)	~8,000
Total	~89,800

Timeline

Gated, Jun 2026 → Feb 2027.

Funding

Concept + venue

Curation + artists

WHITEBOX build

BLACKBOX build

Marketing + tickets

Install + event

Docs + Index

JunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFeb

Gates: venue lock · artist lock · production lock · scope freeze. Date and venue TBD — target venue Hero, co-presented with Rhizome.