MUTEK.JP AI Music Lab

MUTEK.JP in collaboration with Gamma Festival organized the AI Music Lab. The lab brought together musicians, composers, sound artists, musicologists, programmers, researchers, engineers and curators to jointly explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and art.

Within the laboratory the participants were guided by a frame program that included lectures and workshops by seasoned musicians and sound artists, artists with AI/ML-application experience, researchers, engineers and scientists. This frame program covered topics such as conceptual approaches to AI and art, the technical application of AI to sound production, history of technology and media archeology, musicology, ethics and impact on social development, and curatorial strategies around it.

The aims of the laboratory were centered around opening up the very specialized field of artificial intelligence to artists and creatives, who usually do not have access to or have the knowledge about these kind of technologies, in order to critically question our interaction with AI; to breakdown and demystify stereotypes of AI; and to develop new forms of collaboration between human and machine through innovative art practice.

Selected from among more than 40 applicants from across the globe, 15 artists of seven nationalities were involved in this project:

Participating artists
Andrey Chugunov (RU) / Bektur Riskeldiev (KZ) / Debashis Sinha (CA) / Hiroshi Yamato (JP) / Ilya Selikhov (RU) / Junichi Shimizu (JP) / Kinnara : Desi La (JP) / Madoka Kamiyama (JP) / Marina Muzyka (RU) / Rutger Muller (NL) / Takao Hirose (JP) / Tatiana Zobnina (RU) / Tatsuo Fujiwara (JP) / Tetsuya Ishikawa (JP) / Victor Joohoon Ha aka Öspiel (FR/KR)

The lab concluded with a public day of talks, presentations, and performances introducing the relevance of AI in the realm of music production and in contemporary arts. The public day was hosted at the event space of the lab partner EdgeOf in downtown Shibuya.

The results of the laboratory were presented during the 4th edition of MUTEK.JP held December 11 - 15, 2019.

Team

Curators: Maurice Jones (MUTEK.JP), Natalia Fuchs (ARTYPICAL)

Conceptual Artists: Helena Nikonole, Kazuya Nagaya

Facilitators: Peter Kirn (CDM), Natalia Soboleva

Partners

Venue Partner: EDGEof

R&D Partner: Qosmo Inc.

Strategic Partner: GAMMA_LAB AI

Academic Partner: Keio University SFC, Computational Creativity Lab