In Anyspace? Whatever. rootoftwo, the collaborative practice of Cézanne Charles and John Marshall, transforms MOCAD’s galleries into a site for civic imagination, collective play, and technologically mediated dialogue. At its center is The Rotunda—an architectural installation designed to engage visitors in dialogue around privacy, governance, and technological rights. Visitors are invited to participate in guided conversations with an AI system to share their views on the future of cities. These exchanges are re-interpreted and broadcast outward, creating a dynamic interplay between private reflection and public discourse. By foregrounding both visible and hidden infrastructures, the work asks how data, access, and power shape everyday urban experience.
The exhibition also features 463NCY, a tabletop game that casts players as agents navigating a surveillance-driven city. Through play, participants confront the ethical tensions between autonomy, control, and resistance. By design, this exhibition positions participation, speculation, and co-creation as essential tools for imagining more equitable technological systems.
rootoftwo (Led by Cézanne Charles and John Marshall)
rootoftwo is the creative + civic studio of Cézanne Charles and John Marshall, based in Detroit. Through visionary projects, from public works and immersive spaces to artifacts and publications, they blend science, technology, and society with creative practice to challenge standard narratives of progress. The consequences of under-imagined futures are at the core of their practice, exploring the tension between the promises of innovation and the realities of who those systems serve. Rather than viewing emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics as neutral, their projects invite speculation on their complexity, raising critical questions about privacy, agency, and consent in a future where our digital lives are becoming inseparable from our physical reality. rootoftwo’s works foster a playful yet serious space to question notions of innovation and shape futures that are rooted in equity.
Exhibition Credits
Anyspace? Whatever. is made possible with the support of The Andy Warhol Foundation and Teiger Foundation. With additional support made directly to the artists from the Creative Capital Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, the US Regional Arts Organizations, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Production support from Donut Shop, Minima, Modern Sign Studio, and Detroit Independent Holdings.
