Peckham Digital: Artist and Computer

In this episode, Bea Taylor Searle and Freddie Hong explore how computers fundamentally reshape the way artists and designers approach creative practice. Freddie reflects on how computational systems introduce new modes of thinking—shifting design from a purely manual process to one that is iterative, generative, and deeply entangled with software.The conversation also turns toward datasets and their temporal signatures—how the data we choose to train, shape, or inform our work can situate an artwork within a particular moment in time. From changing cultural references embedded in datasets to the evolving biases and structures of digital information, we unpack how these elements become part of an artwork’s context, meaning, and historical positioning.Together, these themes offer a nuanced look at how computational processes are not just technical systems, but active collaborators in contemporary creative practice.

In this episode of Artist and Computer, host Bea Taylor Searle speaks with Nina Davies, a Canadian-British artist whose work explores the present moment through the lens of dance in popular culture. You can expect lots of laughter, talk about TikTok dances and Fortnite Emotes, and lots of Nina's research work trying to map all the dances in the world throughout history! References made in the episode: Anthea Kraut, Choreographing Copyright: Race, Gender, and Intellectual Property Rights in American DanceNina references working with Jorge Poveda YanezAt minute 21, Bea completely butchers her reference what she was talking about was Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz's artwork a Hole In Space: A Public Communication Sculpture made in 1980.Episode cover made by Lonni Omarii.Music by Ana-Maria Margarit.

In this episode of Artist and Computer, host Bea Taylor Searle speaks with Ahnjili Zhuparris, an AI engineer, artist, and science communicator whose work explores the intersections of data, AI, and surveillance technologies. Through her projects, Ahnjili pushes boundaries and provokes discussion around topics like predictive policing, voice and identity, digital surveillance, and Afrofuturism.Episode cover made by Lonni Omarii.Music by Andres Martinez.

In this episode of Artist and Computer, host Bea Taylor Searle speaks with Catherine Mason — an art historian, curator, and writer specialising in the history of digital and computer art. Catherine is the author of A Computer in the Art Room: The Origins of British Computer Arts 1950–1980, a landmark text that documents the early years of artists experimenting with technology in the UK.Together, Bea and Catherine revisit the original questions posed in Ruth Leavitt’s 1976 anthology Artist and Computer, reflecting on how artists first engaged with computers, the challenges that computer art has faced to enter the mainstream art world, and why these conversations remain vital today.Episode cover made by Lonni Omarii.