Mat Collishaw. The Machine Zone: Personal Exhibition, Dubai

The Operant Conditioning Chamber, 2022

This theme continues in the painting series The Operant Conditioning Chamber (2021) — realistic works on aluminum based on archival photographs depicting birds inside Skinner boxes, equipped with buttons linked to a food dispensing system. Psychologist Lauren Slater notes, “Skinner demonstrated that so-called independent responses may merely be conditioned reflexes, thus questioning the very concept of free will.”

The Centrifugal Soul (2016) is a large-scale zoetrope developed in collaboration with evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller. Referencing the Victorian era—a frequent source of visual and conceptual material in Collishaw’s practice—the work features a rotating platform adorned with lifelike models of birds and flowers. Lit by strobe lights flashing in perfect sync with the rotation, the scene animates into a continuous illusion: birds hover, flaunt their plumage, and perform intricate mating dances over blooming flora. These courtship rituals are instinctive behaviors programmed by evolution to ensure reproduction and species continuity. Collishaw draws a sharp parallel between these innate displays and the ways in which contemporary technology exploits similar drives. Social media platforms and smartphones harness our deep-seated desire for recognition, prompting the endless curation and projection of idealized versions of ourselves. The Centrifugal Soul reflects on how our performative instincts—once tied to survival—are now redirected into digital self-fashioning, shaped by algorithms and metrics of desirability.

The Nerve Rack (2019) was originally site-specific for the former Ushu Seminary in County Durham. A life-size mechanical eagle was installed in the chapel of St. Cuthbert’s Church, opposite a historic pulpit crowned with a bronze eagle sculpted in the 19th century by architect Augustus Pugin. The tension between the moving machine and the static bronze object embodies the contrast between progress and tradition, the rational and the sacred. Collishaw’s eagle, constructed from sharp metal parts, symbolizes the power and precision of modern technology, while Pugin’s eagle evokes spiritual ideals rooted in history and faith. The artist highlights the manipulative power of images to shape narratives, shift emphasis, and sometimes distort the authenticity of perception. The same object may be perceived differently depending on context, material, and visual interpretation — as sacred or technological, animate or impersonal.