Generative art is an artistic practice that uses algorithms to autonomously design artwork. At the outset of the process, rules are established to delimitate the creative process. A computer then follows these rules to produce new works.
These autonomous systems include computer algorithms, mathematical models, behavioral rules or other forms of automated processes. Generative artists program these systems to generate works autonomously, often by defining basic parameters and letting the system produce the results.
While generative art began in the 70s with the significant development of computer science, the practice has undergone a revival in recent years with the democratization of artificial intelligence.
Here's an overview of the performances, activities and projects featuring generative art at MUTEK 2024.
MUTEK Forum's Generative art: visualizing and updating algorithms
MUTEK Forum opens a captivating dialogue on recent advances in generative artificial intelligence as a creative tool, questioning the future of art in the digital age. What new forms of expression will emerge with these cutting-edge technologies, and how will they shape tomorrow's artistic landscape?
By delving into critical reflections, MUTEK Forum offers an arena to examine how generative art can redefine our understanding of the climate crisis. This convergence of technology and environmental commitment opens up unprecedented perspectives.
As attention focuses on the artistic potential of generative systems, it is crucial to remain critical to ensure the integrity of human artists is preserved.
Unlocking the potential of AI requires close collaboration between humans and technology as illustrated in the projects showcased at this edition of MUTEK Forum.
Performance by Portrait XO
CONVERSATION | I’m Not In Denial: Sonifying a Century of Climate Anomalies
“Leading climate scientists provide clear evidence of humanity's impact on the climate crisis. Denial is untenable; if we continue on this path, we may not live to see the future before nature expels us. It's remarkable that Earth has tolerated our extensive and ongoing damage thus far." - PORTRAIT XO
As the independent researcher and transdisciplinary artist Portrait XO emphasizes, the climate crisis is sounding the alarm, and it's crucial to pay attention to this call. Visualizing data and algorithms opens up an essential field of exploration to inform, raise awareness, and simplify complex information.
Following the ideas exchanged during the Wilding AI Lab, it is essential to explore the innovations that harness and ingeniously present data. In their practice, Portrait XO, a multimodal artist recognized for their advancements in AI-driven audiovisual art, explores collaboration between humans and machines. They address societal biases, translate speculative opinions on AI, and critique its impact on creativity, identity, underrepresented cultures, and society.
In response to urgent challenges posed by climate change, Portrait XO transforms climate anomaly data into sound experiences. Their inspiring work illustrates the use of AI as a powerful creative tool.
PORTRAIT XO's hybrid audiovisual performance will conclude the AI-focused day on Tuesday, August 20, with an emphasis on generative art.
Presentation of the project ArtAI by Éric Desmarais (Sporobole) and Pía Baltazar (SAT)
PANEL | Beyond the Buzzwords: What is Generative AI Doing to Creative Practices?
Generative art is not new, but it is currently experiencing an unprecedented soar as AI capabilities multiply rapidly. To address the challenges faced by the rapid development of these technologies, it is crucial to establish an experimentation laboratory. In response to AI's fast evolution and its growing impact on arts and culture, the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] and Sporobole launch the discussions on their new project: ArtAI. This initiative explores the role of AI in artistic creation: its tools, infrastructures, but also its practices, and imaginative potentials. Through a critical and situated approach, the project aims to develop common resources for a more ethical and creative integration of AI in the arts.
The ArtAI project will be presented during the panel titled "Beyond Buzzwords: What is generative AI doing to creative practices?" This panel, among other discussions planned for the day, will highlight the latest advances and applications of generative AI in creative practices.
LAB WILDING AI
PANEL | Into the Wild: Designing AIs in Retrograde
On Tuesday, August 20th, the panel titled "Into the Wild: Designing AIs in Retrograde" kicks off critical conversations on generative art. Calling for a return to the roots of generative art, this panel on wild AI delves deep into ideas led by researcher Beth Coleman. Her call to action : freeing AIs to act beyond the limits of the human mind. According to Coleman, AI must be allowed to roam freely to avoid automated reproduction of classifications, which perpetuates a binary vision.
Critical discussions on Wild AI will continue on Friday, August 23rd, as part of the Lab Wilding AI, with brief provocations, notably from Portrait XO. The Lab Wilding AI takes the main stage at MUTEK Forum and serves as a day of intensive and playful experimentation for artists, researchers, students, and the public, aimed at reclaiming AI's "wild" essence. In practice, this living testing ground invites participants to co-explore and co-create; to blend the real with the unreal; and to offer a fresh perspective on this inherently resource and data-intensive technology.
MIT Climate Machine presented by Norhan Bayomi
CONVERSATION | MIT Climate Machine: Igniting Climate Action through AI and Art
Music unites us all, as a powerful tool able to inspire masses and mobilize in the face of climate urgency. The Climate Machine, an interdisciplinary research group at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), focuses on music festivals as tools for mass mobilization. The sharing of scientific knowledge through artistic creation offers a new opportunity to engage the public in the fight for climate change; and to bring scientific research closer to society. Bayomi, entrepreneur, designer, environmental scientist, and researcher investigates the unequal impacts of climate risks on urban communities by fusing AI and urban analytics.
In this inaugural session, researcher Norhan Bayomi will explore the use of generative art with AI meant to shape public perceptions and promote environmentally friendly actions.
Eno - Gary Hustwit
For 50 years, Brian Eno has been a trailblazer for musical, technological and artistic creativity. Musician, producer, activist, visual artist and self-proclaimed "soundscape artist", Eno began his career as an original member of the legendary band Roxy Music in the 70s. After leaving the group, he released several solo albums and considerably developed the ambient music genre with his 1978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports. As a producer, he redefined and reinvented the sound of many influential artists such as David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads and Coldplay. He also composed what is probably the most heard music in the world: the Microsoft Windows start-up sound. Undeniably, Eno has transformed the way modern music is created.
Gary Hustwit's Eno documentary, packed with hundreds of hours of previously unseen archive footage and unreleased music, uses groundbreaking technology to create a unique generative film. Hustwit, with creative technologist Brendan Dawes, has developed custom generative software that sequences scenes and creates transitions from Eno's original interviews and his vast archive. Each Eno projection is unique, presenting different scenes, orders and music, and must be experienced live. This generative and infinitely iterative quality of the film resonates poetically with the artist's creative practice, his methods of using technology to compose music, and his relentless plunge into the mercurial essence of creativity.
Hustwit's collaboration with Eno began in 2017, when the latter created a soundtrack for Hustwit's film Rams, about German designer Dieter Rams. Hustwit explains:
"Much of Brian’s career has been about enabling creativity in himself and others, through his role as a producer but also through his collaborations on projects like the Oblique Strategies cards or the music app Bloom. I think of Eno as an art film about creativity, with the output of Brian’s 50-year career as its raw material. What I’m trying to do is to create a cinematic experience that’s as innovative as Brian’s approach to music and art."
Single screening in Montréal, Thursday August 22 at Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts.
Daito Manabe - latent body
Many attempts have been made to convert dance into video, or to generate video from dance information. From mathematical, architectural and engineering beginnings, the active use of machine learning and artificial intelligence is now transforming choreography. Recently, a novel video generation method called Diffusion Model has emerged, exploring the possibilities of new video expression by converting body data into video. This method incorporates the latest algorithms and techniques such as fluid simulation, image analysis and artificial simulation.
Japanese artist and composer Daito Manabe uses these advanced technologies to analyze and interpret dance movements. Data collected by sensors is processed with algorithms, enabling the dynamics and characteristics of movements to be understood. Combining these analyses with fluid simulation and image analysis techniques, Manabe transforms motions into artistic visualizations, producing videos that enrich movements with complex visual elements.
Discover this performance on Tuesday August 20, 2024 at Nocturne 1.
Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones - Fractal Fantasy Surround
After a groundbreaking performance at Oasis Immersion in June 2022 with MUTEK, the duo Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones, founding members of the Fractal Fantasy collective, moved to Japan in 2023 for a year of research and work.
On their return to Montréal, the two artists began a residency in the dome of the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] to develop a new performance. This first space-based audiovisual adventure features visuals driven by artificial intelligence and motion capture. Like Daito Manabe's performance, the data collected is interpreted by algorithms to produce instant, reactive visual effects. This approach offers a fluid interaction between the artists and the visual projections, creating a constantly evolving spectacle.
Their liquid metal creatures and grotesque sci-fi erotic aesthetics, accompanied by a musical fusion of footwork, baile funk and techno, will be unveiled for the first time on Thursday August 22 duringNocturne 3.
.WAV STUDIO - Palindrome Codex
Hong Kong-based new media artist duo Cao Yuxi and Lau Hiu Kong present Palindrome Codex｜回文法典, an audiovisual installation that redefines our linear perception of time.
Blending generative art and ancient symbolism, this work weaves a tapestry where the flow of time can be experienced simultaneously forwards and backwards. Inspired by the enigmatic geometry of the Sator square, Palindrome Codex exploits innovative artificial intelligence technology to create flashing, glitchy visuals, interwoven with retro-futuristic elements. These visuals, generated in real-time, constantly evolve, offering a unique experience to each viewer. The meticulously composed soundtrack resonates in harmony with the installation's timeless themes, amplifying sensory impact.
Palindrome Codex transcends traditional artistic expression by integrating generative algorithms that mimic and amplify natural patterns, creating an ever-changing visual and aural landscape. This fusion of cutting-edge technology and ancient symbolism offers a reflective and transcendent experience, where beginnings and endings merge into an eternal continuum.
An audiovisual performance to be explored at A/Visions 1, on Friday August 22.
Amnesia Scanner & Freeka Tet - STROBE.RIP
Generative art doesn't just apply to images. It can also, as in the work of Amnesia Scanner, be used with sound and, more specifically, voice.
Since their 2018 album, Another Life, Berlin duo Amnesia Scanner have been using artificial intelligence, via their Oracle software, to create strange, inhuman vocalizations. Both organic and mechanical, Oracle produces nasal and metallic sounds that arouse both familiarity and anxiety.
In their latest album, STROBE.RIP, in collaboration with New York artist Freeka Tet, Amnesia Scanner further explores this boundary between human and machine. Freeka, known for his performances distorting the face with algorithms, brings a sardonic touch to this work. Together, they create grotesque, nostalgic forms, raising questions about identity and isolation. Oracle, more wistful than ever, is evident throughout the album, where ethereal, desperate vocals add emotional depth. The album's peaks are reached when Oracle and Freeka Tet's voices blend, creating complex aural textures.
Amnesia Scanner & Freeka Tet plunge us into disconcerting questions about humanity and existence. STROBE.RIP is a singular exploration of generative art and identity, where human and machine merge, inviting spectators to question their own nature.
A performance to be experienced on Friday August 23 during Métropolis 1.
These activities and speakers are to be discovered at MUTEK Forum, from August 20 to 23 in Montreal.
MUTEK Forum wishes to thank their partners that made the AI programmation possible this year: Milieux Institute, Applied AI Institute, Abundant Intelligences, Gray Area, Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), Sporobole and Ubisoft.
This article was partially generated.
Activities Editor: Emma Garon
Performance Editor and Writer: Grégoire Chevron
English Translation: Lola Baraldi
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