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Certum quod factum

Solo exhibition

Video, text, installation and sound

2022

Exhibited at Leicester Contemporary

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“The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust.”
Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto

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“Certum quod factum”

One is certain only of what one builds

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Certum quod factum is an exhibition created by Courtney Askey for Leicester Contemporary. The exhibition explores the parallels between the artist and the fictional cyborg, Hercy B.
Courtney has been writing and developing the story of Hercy B through artworks, exhibitions and social media since 2020. Hercy B is a fictional cyborg created by fictional tech company, Hercy B Enterprises. The cyborg is a household assistant, an artist and a companion. Previously in the narrative, Hercy B’s AI was tested, proven, and she was released to the world as a new purchasable gadget. In a classic turn of events, the cyborg became too powerful and too sentient; she freed herself. Certum quod factum conceptualises what happened next. What happens after the credits roll? Does the cyborg destroy the world? Or does the cyborg with all the world’s knowledge have an existential crisis?

Courtney uses text, sound, installation, and video to explore themes of identity, solitude, and labour and reflect on what it means to be an artist in 2022. Certum quod factum is as much a self portrait of the artist as it is a self portrait of Hercy B. This work of autofiction draws parallels between the life of the artist and that of the fictional cyborg.

This exhibition was created during a six month residency at Leicester Contemporary sponsored by StudionAme as part of their Toru Namekawa residency scheme.

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