We walk past carefully dimmed walls hung with the celebrated Lowrys of years gone by and emerge into the bright lights of a distant, possible future. 

“The Guardians of Living Matter is a sci-fi, speculative exhibition set in the future in 2076,” explains artist Sophy King as we cluster in an entrance still laced with the smell of fresh paint. “At that point, the climate crisis will have eased, and this is thanks to two non-human allies. Mycelium, the kind of natural threads that exist underground, and AI, the digital networks.”

This exhibition is a collaboration between Sophy King and John-Paul Brown, two artists selected for the 2025/26 Developed With programme run by Salford’s Lowry. Although they have worked alongside each other before, this show is both their first institutional show and first time producing a show together. “Our work is very different, but then the concerns and the ideas behind them are really the same,” says King.

In the show, their differences emerge and mingle across the five gallery spaces to tell the story of the fictional organisation, The Guardians of Living Matter, and explore their concept for an alternative future.

Brown says: “The show is like an evolution of communication. Why are we interested in these subjects in the first place? Because written word and spoken word isn’t getting it done. It’s not tackling the climate crisis. So we’ve got to look at other ways to communicate. [We’re] seeing mycelium and AI as a form of communication.”

After entering and collecting a visitor’s badge, you walk into a room wallpapered by Brown in 30 metres of salvaged paper which introduces the imagined history of the organisation. Around the walls, motifs and messages emerge in pigments, pastels, crayons, and chalk paint etched with sgraffito.

“We’re talking about the intensity of data mining,” reflects Brown. “And we’re trying to open discussion and dialogue about how to not accept that as normal and how there are other ways to use low-carbon AI.”

The next room houses The Oracle, a web of mycelium-impregnated hemp ropes which hang rigidly above while pale lights flicker across the space. King gestures around the room and explains that “each light is taking in a different environmental data stream and the AI is using that to change colours and movement and intensity of light”. Despite the living matter, the space feels sterile.

Escaping The Oracle, you step into a lab-like space that introduces the research behind the exhibition. Finally, there is a specimens area and a room taken over by King’s portals. The most arresting room in the show, these arachnid-like branches claw their way out of cracks in the walls and seem to skitter towards you. 

The artists’ focus on sustainability is a thread throughout – all of the materials are locally and sustainably sourced and will be recycled at the end. “We worked with a digital technologist, Alister Swanston, he helped us build a small AI which is totally offline and based on open-source data sets,” says Brown of their low-carbon AI. Despite this considerate approach, the AI lights communicate little more than your usual low-carbon, human-controlled light show, and I wonder if they still use more energy than standard, dim gallery lights.

King says: “One thing we’ve been really thinking about is the fact that all of the solutions to the situation we’re in at the moment are already here. They’re ready to be implemented. It’s just a sort of political, social will to change how we work, how we relate to the environment that really needs to be altered.”

Their alternative vision is intended as an antidote to the doom-scrolling gloom provided in most newsfeeds. Brown smiles as he says: “With this show, it’s just about offering imagination. So people can just enjoy having a think. Just feel like, ‘ah, yeah, okay’. I hope people feel inspired.”

As a whole, The Guardians of Living Matter is a somewhat dizzying mixture of messages and symbols. The individuality of each room feels disconnected, making it hard to parse through the array of concepts to find the uniting ideas. So, if you’re looking for a classically beautiful exhibition, linger with the Lowrys on the way in. But if you want to try and unwrap the layers of people working to create a message of hope, continue walking.

By Rowan Twine

Main image: The Guardians of Living Matter by John-Paul Brown and Sophy King. Photo by Michael Pollard.

 

For more information about The Guardians of Living Matter at Lowry, Salford, click here. You have until March 29, 2026 to see it.