Left to Right: Isabella Hermann (BBAW), Peter Freund, Alex May, Anna Dumitriu, Friederike Krippner (BBAW)
This week I participated in a symposium in Berlin at the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften on Artificial Intelligence, Art, and Nature. The symposium idea was to pair artists and thinkers in dialogue on the ethical and aesthetic implications of AI in society and art. The other artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May make art using robotics and biological materials, which contrasted pretty strikingly with my rather retrograde (aka “conceptual”) use of digital code. Discussants included Ingeborg Reichle (art historian), Thomas Bächle (media theorist), Nausikäa El-Mecky (art historian), and Christian Uhle (philosopher). The evening began with an introduction from the artists who each gave a brief summary of their work, followed by three break-out sessions in which each artist and two discussants met to respond to a set of topics related to AI, art, and nature for and with a different subset of the broader audience.
Starting points included: How does working with the AI influence our image of nature? What ethical and aesthetic questions arise in the artistic confrontation with AI? How does the AI demand a rethinking of the boundaries of nature and culture? What is the relationship between "artificial" and "natural" intelligence?
After the symposium, BBAW organized a reception, where I had some good conversation and met local curators, artists, and others interested in conceptual links between technology and art practices.
Break-out session 3. Left to Right: Nausikäa El Mecky (U Pompeu Fabra) , Peter Freund, Isabella Hermann (BBAW)
Pre-symposium
Artist introductions