Installation : Interstitial Space 2019

In this new interactive installation for the ART-AI festival, Klingemann has created an open feedback loop between the viewer and a portrait- generating adversarial network (GAN) – a type of AI system where two neural networks are pitted against each other.

Through a camera, the system behind the installation observes its own output - as it is being projected onto the wall of the gallery - and tries to identify facial features in real time.  These features are then reinterpreted by a GAN that has been trained on portraiture from western art, which then becomes part of a new output, projected on the opposite wall of the space.

The noise and misinterpretation introduced by the neural models involved in this process mean that this system will never repeat itself, revealing the nature of the data it has been trained on.  By stepping into the gap between the camera and the projection, the viewer’s portrait becomes part of the cycle and they can attempt to take control over the emerging visuals.

As part of the ART AI Festival 2019 artwork trail, Mario Klingemann's Interstitial Space 2019 is on display at Phoenix, 4 Midland Street, Leicester, LE1 1TG - download map.