India’s first solo AI art show to begin tomorrow
Starting from self-driven cars to surgeries by robots, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking over quite a few areas hitherto dominated by human beings. So, it’s no surprise that artists and the art world have also started turning to AI. Around 2014, the concept of AI art originated in India when technology experts started using Google’s DeepDream feature to formulate their own algorithms and create original art. Initially, it didn’t yield the desired results, but the field has considerably evolved since then. Exhibition centres and auction houses around the world have begun taking interest in AI art.
One recent example of this emerging trend will be seen in India’s first so AI art exhibition in Kolkata that’s starting from tomorrow. It will continue till the end of the month. This show will showcase the art works of the trailblazer artist, Harshit Agarwal. The title of the show is EXO-stential-Musings on the Posthuman.’ Organised by Emami Art Gallery, the exhibition is a joint venture by art curator Myna Mukherjee from Engendered, an arts and human rights organization, and 64/1, an art collective established by brothers Karthik Kalyanaraman and Raghava K.K.
What will the exhibition showcase?
The vivid imageries of the series of art works to be showcased in this exhibition aren’t the fruits of Agarwal’s efforts alone. All of it has been co-imagined by the artist along with artificial intelligence.
At the exhibition, one of the earliest pieces of Agarwal will be displayed. It was created when an AI algorithm recognized objects from around 1 lakh images from an open-source database. This is an interactive form of work, where AI recognises the objects, it knows after a human start drawing something and then competes the process. Finally, another algorithm makes alterations in the stylistic elements of the artwork.
In this interactive show, Agarwal will allow aspiring artists to draw something, which the AI will then identify from its stored memory and alter certain features to present the final drawing.
Who is Harshit Agarwal?
Agrawal is a pioneer in the emerging genre of AI Art. Since 2015 he has dedicated himself to AI art and has been nominated twice for the top tech art prize, the Lumen. According to the artist himself, he has been practising the AI art since its inception. Until now, he has explored themes like - authorship, gender issues, social inequities and biases and identity complex - all through the unique blend of AI and his own artistic imagination.
What is AI art?
AI art is born when artists take the help of algorithms and train data, to produce a desired visual outcome. These algorithms in turn give suitable directions and allow the machine to imbibe a specific aesthetic by analysing multitude of images. The machine then creates one image depending on what it has learned.