art

Talk : State of the AI-Art

This talk will give an overview of how artists and creative technologists are using and thinking about artificial intelligence. Over the past couple of years, there has been increasing interest in applying the latest advances in machine learning to creative projects in art, music, film, theatre and beyond. From Google's DeepDream and style transfer to the world's first computer-generated musical playing in London's West End, more and more creative AI projects are moving beyond the world of research and academia into the public eye. Likewise, the art world has been critically interpreting the impact of these technologies, highlighting the problems of bias, uniformity and surveillance.

Comments from Ernest Edmonds, pioneer of AI in art

It is exciting to have the Art-AI Festival in Leicester this year and very appropriate to see the strong support from De Montfort University. DMU’s involvement goes back nearly 50 years, when it was Leicester Polytechnic.

(available on Amazon)

Two Invention of Problems events around 1970 showed art experiments and presented talks on the subject, including by one of the most important pioneers of AI in art, Edward Ihnatowicz. He returned later in the 70s for what was probably the first full conference on the subject, Human and Robot Behaviour. That was a meeting of scientific and artistic minds coming from such groups as Edinburgh’s AI Lab and the Royal College of Art.

A few years later another pioneer of Art and AI, the late Harold Cohen, spent some time at Leicester Polytechnic inspiring both staff and students. Today DMU’s Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT) is a strong player in the Art-AI field with several members using AI in their art and music as a standard part of their practice.

(both available on Amazon)

Craig Vear is an internationally renowned composer whose music employs AI and I myself have employed AI in various aspects of my art for most of my career. The latest work of Fabrizio Poltronieri, a relatively recent recruit to IOCT, can be seen as part of the festival.

(Fabrizio Poltronieri’s installation for the Art-AI Festival,

located in Highcross Shopping Centre)

Ernest Edmonds

Professor of Computational Art

Institute of Creative Technologies

De Montfort University

AI in Recent Art Practice

This talk will give an overview of how artists and creative technologists are using and thinking about artificial intelligence.

Over the past couple of years, there has been increasing interest in applying the latest advances in machine learning to creative projects in art, music, film, theatre and beyond. From Google's DeepDream and style transfer to the world's first computer-generated musical playing in London's West End, more and more creative AI projects are moving beyond the world of research and academia into the public eye. Likewise, the art world has been critically interpreting the impact of these technologies, highlighting the problems of bias, uniformity and surveillance.

More about the artist here:

Luba Elliott is a curator and researcher specialising in artificial intelligence in the creative industries. She is currently working to educate and engage the broader public about the latest developments in creative AI through monthly meetups, talks and tech demonstrations. This year, she is curating Impakt Festival, a 5-day event with exhibitions, film screenings, and lectures around the theme of Post-Truth and AI.

Previously, she has organised workshops and exhibitions on art and AI for The Photographers’ Gallery, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and Google. Luba is also a member of the AI Think Tank Council of the British Interactive Media Association. Prior to that, she worked in start-ups, including the art collector database Larry’s List. She holds a degree in Modern Languages from Cambridge University and a Certificate in Design Thinking from Hasso-Plattner Institute in Potsdam.

www.elluba.com

Launch Event

The Festival is a collaboration between De Montfort University, independent AI arts curator, Luba Elliott, Phoenix and Highcross Shopping Centre. It has been supported by the award-winning #DMULocal programme, a De Montfort initiative dedicated to fulfilling the University’s commitment to benefit the public good and promote Leicester. In 2016/17 #DMULocal supported and coordinated over 90 projects in Leicester and internationally, with over 33,000 hours of volunteering being carried out by student volunteers.

The project team that has brought this AI in Art Festival to Leicester will introduce its aims and objectives, and highlight the contributions from artists and computer scientists at the Launch Event. Come and join us for a relaxing evening and a chance to meet the curators and contributors.

Speakers :

Dr Tracy Harwood - Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University, Leicester.
@tgharwood @ioct_dmu tharwood@dmu.ac.uk

Luba Elliott is a curator, artist and researcher specialising in artificial intelligence in the Creative Industries.
@elluba

Chris Tyrer - Digital Art and Culture Programme Leader at Phoenix Leicester.
chris.tyrer@phoenix.org.uk

Tina Barton - Community Manager, Highcross Shopping Centre.
@tinawotbox

More about the ART-AI Festival Team here.