Joey Holder will talk about the conception of her newly commissioned digital artwork, The Woosphere, offering an immersive, thought-provoking exploration of contemporary belief systems, fragmented realities, and the evolving role of technology in shaping collective perception.   

Conceived in 1922 by Vladimir Vernadsky and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Noosphere envisioned an evolutionary stage in which human consciousness would merge into a unified, global intellect. Building on the progression from the geosphere to the biosphere, the Noosphere proposed a collective cognitive layer that could elevate human thought into a harmonious, interconnected whole. It reflected a deep optimism that technological and intellectual advancement would lead to a more equitable and spiritually unified world. One hundred years on, however, the 21st century has witnessed the rise not of a sacred unity but of its fractured mirror – The Woosphere: a chaotic, digitised terrain marked by misinformation, ideological warfare, and hyper-fragmented belief systems. This shift – from the idealised unity of the Noosphere to the contested multiplicities of the Woosphere – forms the conceptual foundation of the artwork. Set within a fictional, content-saturated virtual world known as WooWoo Land, The Woosphere explores how meaning is produced, distorted, and weaponised in the age of algorithmic culture.