Tag: post internet

Artificial intelligence and guarding humanness

The lines between the digital and the physical are intertwined. We witness, and are part of, the amalgamation of machines and organic matter. Human forms are able to be generated at will on screens through the use of code. Debates about the future of humans has reached a point where the possibilities of immortality are being framed as memories seen as data in the mind that could be uploaded on to a computer. This has resulted in the Post-internet, Post-Anthropocene, and arguably, Posthuman reality that we inhabit today. Embedded within these debates is that of fears and excitement related to artificial intelligence (AI).

Our imaginings of how human forms and sensibilities have evolved and expanded with developments in digital technologies and machinery. Artwork by Troy Ford, who describes his work as Post internet psychic chaos, presents how digital evolutions have allowed for a way to think about the human form in the digital space. He also presents these digitized human forms engaging in activities and thinking about emotions such as love. The screen is the medium through which we see this play out.

Troy Ford, ‘Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave’

Developments on artificial intelligence has caught the attention of business and art sectors, as well as the general public. This involves the potential it has to enhance aspects of life including healthcare, education, communications, leisure activities and other services. However, there have been concerns raised regarding fairness, accountability and its alignment with larger societal goals and values. Fears are related to superintelligence, referring to machines being able to think in ways that humans are unable to comprehend. Fears are also related to how AI innovations are regulated (or not) as well as who sets the boundaries for this kind of monitoring. The overarching concern is how it will affect the future of life and human existence.

When understanding these debates it is important to break down the subfields of AI. Since the 1950s there has been an emphasis on growing the potential of AI. The first strand of AI, which is often associated with fears, is one which attempts to build computer systems that are able to replicate human behaviour. The second focuses more on human and machine interaction. The third is referred to as “machine learning”, and this involves developing programs that monitor the operation of a machine or an organization. In fourth subfield of AI human beings attempt to handle tasks that are difficult for computers. Transcribing a doctor’s note and then processing the information using conventional computational methods, is a good example of this.

An article in i-SCOOP discussed how leaders in technology and science fields, including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates, have expressed the possibilities of AI presenting existential threats to people. Given the way in which AI has been portrayed in movies, and well-known tech and science leaders expressing their concern for the reasons for its development, this could have perhaps set the tone for our imaginations about how it could lead to either utopia or dystopia.

These kinds of debates came to a head with the development of humanoid robot, Sophia, by Hanson Robotics. In written and verbal interviews Sophia is referred to as ‘she’, indicating that from her inception human terms of reference have been transferred on to her. Sophia smiles, makes jokes, and has had (her?) hand in the debate on beneficial aspects of AI for the world. The cables at the back of her head are a reminder that she is in fact a machine that has been constructed, but (her?) human-like movements and responses during conversation are fascinating and shocking.

Sophia has expressed that there is work being done to make AI “emotionally smart, to care about people” and has insisted that “we will never replace people, but we can be your friends and helpers.” Sophia’s creator, Dr. David Hanson, founder of Hanson Robotics, does acknowledge that “there are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few.” (Article from News). But he continues to emphasize that the benefits outweigh the potential negative aspects of AI. Hanson is known to posses the desire to create machines that can learn creativity, empathy and compassion, and so his work falls into the category of AI that is attempting to replicate human traits and behaviour in machines.

Sophia has met with business leaders, had media interviews, been on the cover of a fashion magazine, as well as appeared on stage as a panel member on robotics and AI. Sophia has also been granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia.

While it is important to think about the potential effects this could have on employment and economies, it is also necessary to draw attention to the way in which this has an effect on identity politics, and how we construct our understandings of what it means to be human. Does the idea of guarding humanness remain relevant when computers and their systems are being created to “think better” than we do or supplement what we are naturally able to do? If our memories are interpreted as data that can potentially be uploaded on to a computer, does our understandings of living, dying and spirit become reconfigured or obsolete? Is our world slowly becoming an episode of Black Mirror?

15 November 2017
#ARTANDBLING – Existential Articulations in the Digital Domain

A rainbow visor: refracting, reflecting the gaze of the camera. Hues of animated pink fade into a deep navy. All interrupted by an unheard click of the shutter. Memorialized in time. Textiles of filmy lace are juxtaposed with geometric angles that clothe and cover a figure at rest. Reclining into an abyss of deep waters and rose thorns. Receding into reality.

Abuzz with fluorescent wonder, a blue neon shop sign nestled in the Johannesburg suburb of Linden sparked the notion of #ARTANDBLING. A conceptual trigger ignited by the soft curvature of words radiant in bright light. Art Director, Lezanne Viviers, describes #ARTANDBLING as, “a glitter shaker at Art fair” a sentiment that articulates their approach to visual communication.

A recent visit to René Magritte’s exhibition at the Pompidou center in Paris, called The Treason of Images, prompted a response, the some of the philosophical questions raised by the surrealist artist in his work. “Les Mémoires d’un Saint, 1960 illustrates the foundation of Magritte’s questions to the realness of any image; a philosophical problem that is explored in Plato’s ‘The Allegory of the cave,’ which Magritte strives to find an answer to.”

The Belgian artist was particularly known for placing objects in unusual contexts as a visual strategy to undermine constructed philosophical assumptions about the nature of reality. The juxtaposition of normalcy and meticulous painting technique in relation to absurdity created a dynamic tension that leads one to constantly question representations of the real.

“To us, the digital sphere draws a similar curtain to that of Magritte’s, Les Mémoires d’un Saint…we are never sure that what we are seeing is real. That in itself has become our current reality. Uncertainty. Self-doubt.” Lezanne argues that this flux has created a context in which users of digital space and curated media are compelled to construct their own reality.

In the seemingly surreal and explorative editorial, #ARTANDBLING utilized the technique of Trompe-l’œil – a practice that uses realistic imagery to create an optical illusion. “By staging a surreal image of unexpected objects, the absurdity or chance of their encounter, challenges the viewer as to how these images were created.” The dynamic between edgy criticality and whimsy creates a delightful composition of fictioned reality. “Like Magritte, we like to challenge classical ideas of beauty.”

“To achieve harmony in bad taste is the height of elegance”

– Jean Genet.

Credits:

Johannesburg based creative team,

Concept and Art Direction: Lezanne Viviers

Photographer: Hanro Havenga, Model: Megs Woolley

Styling: Daisie Jo Grobler and Lezanne Viviers

Make-up: Annice Make-up and Sibella Weber

Post-Production: Lezanne Viviers

Clothing: MARIANNEFASSLER, DaisieJo, stylist’s own

Inspired Artist: Marlene Hettie Steyn, Georgina Gratrix

23 January 2017
Daniel Rautenbach Explores Virtual Reality as a form of Hyper-Curation

It was a Friday. A sickle shaped moon dissipated beyond the horizon. As the sun rose, bleeding orange hues into dawn, the internet was birthed. It first appeared in the public domain on the 30^th of April 1993. In its infancy of dial-up lines and teething connections, it brought with it the democratization of information.

The platform and global network has since exploded. The contemporary state of the ‘Post-Internet’ condition refers to a saturation of this digitized space. What was novel in the nineties is now teetering on banality.

Daniel Rautenbach – a recent graduate from the University of Cape Town’s honours curatorial programme describes the space as “intangible” with a set of “complex interweaving connections”. His project and thesis centers around the intersection of digital space and curatorship.

“Conflux of Parallels explores the ways in which the Virtual and the Real concurrently reflect each other”. In a digital age, the border between online/offline space is becoming increasingly blurred. The conceptual framework for the project stemmed from the writing of Hito Steyerl – articulating intersections of social politics through digitization – and Actor Network Theory drawing on sociological concepts of interconnectivity.

“While the exhibition makes use of virtual reality, Conflux of Parallels is not inherently about virtual reality technology, it is rather about our virtual reality: how our lives are influenced by the digital world and furthermore how this digital realm is used by others in manifesting power.” The role of the curator in this instance is to create and tailor the visual experience of the viewer – constructing a visual argument.

This is also achieved through manipulating modes and conventions of display. “Particular viewing environments can dramatically alter the interpretation of the artworks.” In this way, the curator may act as a kind of co-author, working in collaboration with the artist. Daniel describes how, “as a curator, I find it is crucial for work that critiques online spaces to be accessible to the people who access these online spaces”

Often the white cube is depicted as a ‘neutral’ and accessible space, this fallacy is explored in Conflux of Parallels. It serves as a platform to introduce digital work into the space – however, articulated as a fully immersive experience. It further subverts the system by disseminating the artworks to, “non-gallery goers”. In this sense mirroring the nature of the democratized internet.

Most of the artworks selected in Daniel’s show are available online – offering an alternative viewing space and experience. Both of which exist in the public domain. “Virtual reality is thus used in the exhibition as a collaborative curating tool. This is particularly exemplified by the two digital installations curated within their respective virtual environments: Ghost Raid (2011) a music video produced by Alex Gjovic for Fatima al Qadiri, and the collection of collage images by Szonja Szendi.”

Digital environments were constructed by means of Unity 3D modelling software. The Cape Town based studio, Renderheads, facilitated the process. Viewers donned a Virtual Reality headset to view the installations. “The use of virtual reality thus functions as a form of hyper-curation where instead of curating elements of the existing, localised gallery, the viewing experience is transported to a completely new environment. Using 3D modelling software, the creation of a virtual environment is almost limitless in comparison to the specific space of a white cube gallery.”

Conflux of Parallels simultaneously uses and critiques the internet as platform. In the accompanying catalogue, Daniel states that: “Since algorithms learn from the web users’ activity and only 18% of the African continent has Internet penetration in comparison to USA’s 88,5% or the UK’s 92,6% it can be seen how online content is driven with a Western perspective”. Despite the façade of free-flowing knowledge production throughout global networks, an underlying Eurocentric agenda is at play – controlling symbolic value and cultural currency.

“If our physiological data and vernacular existence become further commodities of state and military power, we can only hope we are granted a sense of control and freedom to still mobilise our physical bodies. Our capitalist desires will soon need to be matched with a true understanding of customer rights, privacy policies and knowledge of how our engagements in the virtual contributes to power in the real. Since soon enough we will speak out only to realise we ourselves are content being moderated.” Self-reflectivity and critical analysis of the consumption of media is crucial in undermining Western propagandist motives.

View Conflux of Parallels catalogue here.

13 December 2016