A new exhibition examining how constant connectivity, artificial intelligence and social media affect people’s identities and relationships will open at FACT Liverpool this autumn.
BRB brings together new work by North West-based artists Ellie Hoskins, Mrs Luva-Luva and Livi Wilmore. Running from Friday, September 18 to Sunday, December 6, 2026, the free exhibition will use film, animation, sculpture and interactive installations to explore the emotional and psychological effects of life online.
Its title comes from the abbreviation “brb”, or “be right back”, once used on early messaging platforms to signal a temporary break from the screen. The exhibition asks whether stepping away remains possible in an age of endless notifications and algorithmically generated feeds.
All three participating artists are members of FACT’s Studio/Lab, a production and research space supporting artists who work with emerging technologies. They have used its specialist facilities and technical and curatorial support to develop three immersive installations.
Ellie Hoskins’ Alive in a world of car parks, armed with an air fryer and a fake baby centres on a large, dilapidated rollercoaster populated by figures clinging to or drifting along its tracks.
Screens embedded throughout the sculpture show animations based on ordinary moments from the artist’s life. An accompanying conversation between Hoskins and a fictional baby begins as a comforting fairy tale before turning to technology, loneliness and the search for connection.
Mrs Luva-Luva examines online privacy, artificial intelligence and the commodification of personal data in Tap Tap Tippety Tap. Her installation transforms the gallery into an eerie supermarket lined with singing, identical lumps.
Its accompanying film follows a woman whose emotional vulnerability and openness online turn her into a featureless form ready to be harvested by the surreal “Large Language Model Supermarket”. The work contrasts the colourful, optimistic visual language of influencers with a darker critique of platforms that reduce personal identity to branding and data.
Livi Wilmore’s Padded Cell takes the form of an ominous adult soft-play environment inspired by the graphic interfaces created by software designer Kai Krause during the 1990s.
Combining the aesthetics of the early internet with those of today’s dopamine-driven platforms, Wilmore contrasts the web’s former sense of exploration with online systems designed to make logging off increasingly difficult.
Nina Newbold, exhibition producer at FACT, said the installations explore the increasingly blurred boundary between online and offline spaces.
“Inviting audiences into their worlds, the artists ask us to consider the impact this is having on our day-to-day lives and to reflect on how constant connectivity is reshaping our understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world around us,” she said.
Across its three installations, BRB presents the internet not simply as a technology but as an environment people inhabit—one in which attention is a commodity, identity becomes a platform and being “away” is no longer as easy as typing three letters.
BRB runs from Friday, September 18 to Sunday, December 6, 2026, at FACT Liverpool, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ. The exhibition is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 11am until 6pm. Admission is free.