MUTEK AI Art Lab
Tiohtià:ke/Montréal | March 2020
Partnering for the first time with Zú, MUTEK Montréal invited an interdisciplinary group of artists and researcher to participate in a laboratory using artificial intelligence in the creation of audiovisual works. The MUTEK AI Art Lab took place in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Canada, from March 1-10, 2020.
Video by Vjosana Shkurti
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The MUTEK AI Art Lab gathered visual and sound artists, creators, musicians and composers, programmers, researchers, engineers and curators alike to jointly explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and art.
The goal was to unpack concepts about artificial intelligence, explore our connections with AI and breakdown stereotypes, but, above all, the project extended the specialized field of AI to artists and creatives who would like to interact more with this emerging technology and learn about its social and philosophical dimensions.
The MUTEK AI Art Lab encouraged artists working with AI to take on the role of activists, inventors and researchers. Therefore besides theoretical framework and extended discussion about AI and arts, the structure of the lab was divided into group work on several streams such as AI for sound and music, AI for visual culture and AI for conceptual visions. For each application of AI specific technical facilitation was provided.
Selected from among 70 applicants from across the globe, 14 artists of six nationalities were involved in this project:
Participating artists
Albena Baeva (BG) / Alexandre Burton (CA/QC) / Damian T. Dziwis (PO/DE) / Edith Viau (CA/QC) / Gabriel Vigliensoni (CA/QC) / Hugo Boujut-Burgun (CA/QC) / Isabella Salas (MX/QC) / Joseph Kamaru (KE) / Line Katcho (CA/QC) / Lucas LaRochelle (CA/QC) / Moises H. Valenzuela (MX/DE) / Stanislav Glazov & Natalie Golubenko (RU/DE)
The combined theme of “art and AI” sparked a keen interest in the community. Over 150 people attended a day-long public event on Saturday, March 7 at the MILA – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute. The audiovisual projects in development by participating artists and researchers generated rich conversations and promising connections.
The Montreal edition of the Lab drew from the connections and experiences gathered in St-Petersburg (Gamma_LAB AI, Russia, May 2019), and Tokyo (MUTEK.JP AI Music Lab, Japan, November 2019).
This program was made possible thanks to the support of the City of Montreal’s Art-Industry Grant program, via its Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal from the government of Québec.
Team
Curator: Natalia Fuchs (ARTYPICAL)
Facilitators: Maurice Jones (MUTEK.JP) / Peter Kirn (CDM) / Max Frenzel (Qosmo Inc.) / Habib Hajimolahosein (Stradigi.ai)
Partners
Venue Partner: Zú / MILA – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
R&D Partner: Qosmo Inc. / Stradigi.ai
Academic Partner: Concordia University, Milieux Institute