BRB

Discover three new artworks by North-West–based artists and members of FACT’s Studio/Lab, Livi Wilmore, Mrs Luva-Luva and Ellie Hoskins. In this exhibition, all three artists explore how constant connectivity is reshaping our understanding of ourselves, each other and the world around us.

BRB (meaning “be right back”) is internet slang used on early messaging platforms to indicate a temporary step away from the screen. Today, that separation feels harder to find: boundaries between online and offline have collapsed as digital platforms have become more entwined with our personal and professional lives. We are always connected, contactable and consuming new information.

Through film, animation, installation and playable works, Livi Wilmore, Mrs Luva-Luva and Ellie Hoskins explore the emotional and psychological impact of living in this way. Livi Wilmore transforms addictive digital platforms into a soft play centre for adult minds. Mrs Luva-Luva uses sculpture and film to question our agency and sense of self in a world where personal data is a lucrative commodity. Ellie Hoskins' towering rollercoaster captures the mania and mundanity of contemporary existence.

Across these three installations, BRB presents the internet not simply as a technology but as an inhabitable environment. Together, the artists ask what happens when attention becomes a commodity, identities become platforms, and being “away” is no longer as simple as typing three letters.