Opening the Black Box
Opening the Black Box is an exhibition and event series taking place at Aparaaditehas’s Hall of Love, curated by Erica Masserano and Francis Gene-Rowe.
From archival materials to smaller and larger language models, from poetic oracles to game zines, all pieces and events within this week respond to our interpretation of the festival theme: from “true and fake” to “the artificial and the real”. The exhibition arises from our common interest in literary games as a method toward collaborative story creation and playful approaches to causality, and art that helps us engage with language and narrative in ways that challenge othering and unbelonging. The week culminates in a literary performance by five emerging poets and writers.
Contemporary reality is so overwhelmingly multiple that voices in politics and the mediascape gain power and control by offering simplified, binaristic explanations. These ‘solutions’ are not only out of touch with the actuality of living and unliving things, they fuel destructive drives for a purity that never existed in the first
place.
Life is not a closed system. While we cultivate artificial nature in data center greenhouses, the all too real machinery of our cells hums a song of transformation and interconnection. Radical possibility can’t be drawn from what already exists. But whether through collaboration, creation, poetry, games or divination, this space will stay permeable and slimy. The exhibition and its associated events show threads, windows, portals outside of binary thinking and into collaboration and fun. Get off the slop and come play.
The Opening the Black Box exhibition features artwork by Arjan Guerrero, Debra Spitulnik Vidali & Kwame Phillips, Erica Masserano & Jaq, Francis Gene-Rowe, Amy Cutler, Llew Watkins, Alexandra (Sasha) Anikina, Uma Breakdown.
Schedule of Events
Welcome to Opening the Black Box
Discussion panel and visit to the exhibition
Monday 11th May, 8‒9.30 pm
Join exhibition curators and residents Erica Masserano, Francis Gene-Rowe, Llew Watkins, Amy Cutler, Märten Rattasepp and Jaak Tomberg for a discussion of the exhibition theme and artworks and their connection to the 2026 Prima Vista festival, then explore the Hall of Love and its exhibited wonders.
The Generative Author
Live writing performance with participatory elements
Tuesday 12th May, 3‒6 pm
The author takes the inputs of inspiration, puts them through the large language model of their minds, consults their dataset of memories and experiences, applies organic learning, and produces new content for their readers. But what are these inner workings, and how do they operate? UK author David Hartley will plug himself into a projected screen and, with the help of your commands, turn a blank page into a new short story.
Black Box Game Day
An afternoon of playing small story games
Wednesday 13th May, 3‒7 pm
A friendly and relaxed afternoon spent playing story games. The games are light on rules, no prior preparation or experience in tabletop gaming is required, and you can drop in and out as you please. Options for both group and solo play will be available. Just bring your imagination.
Constellations
Creative workshop
Thursday 14th May, 3‒5 pm
Llew Watkins and Francis Gene-Rowe will act as your star guides in this workshop about memories, objects and their connections. The session will gradually expand from individual reflection to collective sharing and map- making, before culminating in weaving our constellations across the Hall of Love. All welcome, no prior preparation required.
All Her Beautiful Wolfmilk
Film screening, reading, discussion
Thursday, 14th May, 8‒9 pm
Animals and technology collide in unexpected and revealing ways. This event will consist of a screening of Amy Cutler’s short experimental nature film All Her Beautiful Green Remains in Tears and a reading of Charlotte Weitze’s Ulvemælk (Wolfmilk), followed by an artist discussion on nature, AI, art and more facilitated by Erica Masserano.
Prima Vista x Ümberlülitus x Värske Rõhk: performing arts x text
Experimental literary reading event
Friday, 15th May, 5‒7 pm
Three experiments with the reading-aloud format will be presented, exploring the possibilities of co-creation between two people. What happens to a word when it is shared with another? What might emerge from the space between two fields, two mediums? Performing: Elo Valner, Astra Irene Susi, Elle Viies, Teele Pärn, Maria Helena Seppik, and Emel-Elizabeth Tuulik. In Estonian.
Opening the Black Box: The Close!
Literary readings and performances
Friday, 15th May, 8‒10 pm
Literary performance evening featuring contributions from five UK poets and writers: Charlotte Geater, Amy Cutler, Llew Watkins, Francis Gene-Rowe and Erica Masserano. As the night deepens and the week draws to a close, we will share two hours of wondrous and strange performances with you.