Ryan Gander How the soul produces code (Pathological Demand Avoidance XIV), 2026

The work includes a visual and an auditory component: stickers form a loosely abstract pattern on sheet music paper. The differently shaped stickers were affixed by the artist’s son according to a logic that others may find difficult to grasp. The artist then had the pattern transposed into music, which was recorded and adapted for music boxes. Winding the mechanism on the side of the frame allows the music to be heard.

The work relates to the artist’s youngest son, who has been diagnosed with autism, and questions our assumptions about behavioral and cognitive conventions.