Artificial light has risen over the horizon. In front of us, is the encroaching virtual landscape; behind us, the fading landscape of our nature. We are a species between worlds. With each step into the future, digital worlds gain more and more traction. Will we continue to drop our nature by the wayside, or will we decide to carry it with us into the future?

Since 2016, artist, author, and lecturer John Mack has committed himself to addressing one of the most pressing conversations of our times: the ever-increasing imbalance between smart devices and our humanity. In the interactive photography experience A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens, Mack taps into the power of visual art to enhance awareness and open this all-important conversation to everyone.

A Species Between Worlds is a gamified meditation examining the intersection of humanity and technology. Sparked by the Pokémon Go^® craze and a subsequent stampede in Taipei in 2016, Mack has sought to explore the often slippery intersection of virtuality and reality through a technology-forward narrative arc that centers on the individual and aims to foster balance and awareness between our technology and ourselves. Featuring more than 65 artworks including imagery of more than 50 U.S. National Parks and the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, the exhibition features a customized app, which guides visitors through a gamified psychological exploration framed by the artifice of the Pokémon Go^® interface, which gradually fades as reality is restored. Open to the public and free of charge, the more than 17,000 square-foot exhibitions are accompanied by a robust program of talks and events throughout the month of September. The exhibition also coincides with the publication of Mack’s collection of poetry, A Land Between Worlds: The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape.

John Mack is an artist, photographer, author, lecturer, and the founder of the nonprofit initiative Life Calling, whose mission is to foster awareness and balance for society in the Digital Age. Mack is a 2022 honoree of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty people changing the world who the world needs to know about. Mack recently published Notes to Selfie: Bits of Truth in a Phoney World, a volume of thoughts and aphorisms. Mack’s collection of poetry, A Land Between Worlds: The Shifting Poetry of the Great American Landscape, is forthcoming in the fall of 2022, coinciding with A Species Between Worlds. Additionally, Mack serves as a board member of Fairplay, an organization that strives to create a world where kids can be kids, free from the false promises of marketers and the manipulations of Big Tech. He has served as an adjunct lecturer for the Graduate Program of Design at the University of Lisbon. He currently lives between London and Seville.

Time: 4:00 PM — 5:00 PM EDT

Free!

Registration