Soft Systems and Locker Room present Data Translation Environment, a screening exhibition of image, sound, and video on view May 16 – May 27, 2026 at Locker Room, 2320 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago. The exhibition is curated by

M. Martinez and Christa Baclia-an. The exhibition features screenings on May 16, 1–4pm (opening) and May 27 (closing), with gallery hours by appointment.

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Data Translation Environment originated as an open call for corrupt media. Soft Systems and Locker Room invited artists to submit their degraded, compressed, discarded, and glitched files, transforming Locker Room into a mini data center for the collection and reprocessing of digital waste.

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'Data Translation Environment' transforms the unassuming space of Locker Room into a central hub for digital waste to be reprocessed and reborn. Archives of the cultural / personal found in a desolate state between the depths of the Internet and our disk drives are rewarded a second life through these artists' interrogations with systematic corruption. The works presented offer a look into new world created through decay, where the representative image is abstract and constantly redefined.

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In thinking about the poor image as defined by Hito Steyerl, where low resolution image debris reveals a movement of ideas within a proletarian society, 'Data Translation Environment' invites the passerby to submit themselves to this mode of production - if only for a brief moment.

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— Christa Baclia-an, edited by Savannah Spencer

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Sohrab Kashani, Nicole Alonso, Rachel B. Levia, Maggie Murphy, Will Allstetter, Samantha Pagán, AK Ocol, Kitty Ess, G. F. Theodoropoulos, Monica Alfons Widjaja, Siobhan Ekeh, Annelyse Gelman, Karlo Štefanek, Julie Patarin-Jossec, Helen Lee, Chloe Hodnett, Charlie R, Gustavo Gomez-Mejia, Hugo Amarales, Catherine Lyu, Allegra Harvard, Levi Jimenez, Elijah Valter, Myrsini Kalle, Kari Paul, Bailey Anderson, Víctor Torres Rodríguez, Kristen Huizar, Avery J Neumiller, Yixin Hu, Sasha Shilina, Yvonne De Grazia, Harrison King, Justice Jones, Lorena Pereira, Hugo Zelada-Romero, McCoy Chance, Tilly Hawkins, Kai Ming, Anabelle Lee Dehm, David Tanner, Sweaty Brandon, and Parham Ghalamdar.

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About Soft Systems

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Soft Systems is a contemporary art gallery that curates off-site exhibitions. It operates as a decentralized network of artists. softsystems.site

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About Locker Room

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Locker Room Locker Room is a micro-gallery located inside of a locker in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

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