The Lost Passage is a digitally reconstructed world of a swarm of artificial passenger pigeons, which went extinct in the early 20th century. As a sociable flock, they once grew to a population of over 5 billion in the 1800s before going into extinction within four decades due to human intervention. In their new imaginary home, they inhabit a never-ending, sublime, yet destitute memory of a lost landscape. However, on closer inspection they are actually confined within the four walls of this space. The Lost Passage reflects upon the historical moment of the Passenger Pigeon’s holocene extinction by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to resurrect a memory of a lost passage, thus evoking a sense of being trapped and confined through the sublime imagery.

BY  Amay Kataria (IN)


Amay Kataria is a new-media artist, whose practice employs an experimental yet process-based, open-ended approach toward cultural production with industrial technology. By leveraging custom software, three-dimensional modeling, and network architecture as his mediums of construction, he creates interactive interventions, installations, and creative systems that superimpose digital production onto an analog reality or vice-versa. He holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was previously a new-media resident at Art Center Nabi and Mana Contemporary. He has exhibited at Vector Festival, Hyde Park Art Center, Ars Electronica, Electromuseum, amongst others. Collaborators: Shaohui Kwok, Yu-Jeng Kuo