The definition of what constitutes nature is no longer clear-cut: it is a network of interconnected non-human beings that compose a world unfolding. Both non-western cosmologies, like animism practices or ancestral and indigenous beliefs, and cutting-edge scientific research recognise alternative forms of knowledge production coming from non-human agents. Creativity is not exclusively under our control. Hence, a posthuman understanding of creativity brings together new technologies and digital connectivity with indigenous kinship with the land and the natural world as the primary materiality. Anthropologist Rosi Braidotti proposes a transversal alliance across species and among posthuman subjects to generate unexpected possibilities for the recomposition of ecologies consisting of human and non-human beings alike.

The refined concept of nature in the exhibition blurs the boundaries between nature and culture. The junction of nature, technology, and non-human intelligence has had strong impact and implications for the traces of material and immaterial colonial- and cultural heritage and legacy. This exhibition challenges conventional perspectives on heritage by redefining nature as a network of interconnected non-human intelligence. This perspective is in line with the idea that cultural heritage is deeply entwined with ecological systems and non-human entities. AI reshapes the understanding of immaterial heritage, with all its implicit bias. Certain works in this exhibition question how AI may inadvertently perpetuate colonial legacies. This goes beyond the historically dominant anthropocentric understanding of material, natural, and cultural heritage, in particular in the context of colonial oppression and its disregard for indigenous knowledge and ecosystems.

The posthuman understanding of nature and culture, combining new technologies with indigenous kinship with the land, is an invitation to consider cultural expression as not exclusive to human endeavours but involving collaborative processes with the technology, non-human entities and the broader environment.

Exhibition participants: Alexia Achilleos, Nora Al-Badri, Harm van den Dorpel, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Anna Ridler and Caroline Sinders.
Curators: Barbara Cueto and Bas Hendrikx.

Seminar – Biassed nuances

The seminar addresses the challenging interplay of using AI for creativity, highlighting the inherent contradiction between AI’s demand for precise data and the unpredictable nature often sought after in artistic projects. AI, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), typically thrives on clear, unambiguous inputs to function effectively. Yet, artists and designers’ projects benefit from the surplus value of the unexpected, pushing the boundaries of creativity beyond the constraints of rigid data.

For artists working with AI, GANs have emerged as a noteworthy solution. GANs consist of two neural networks—the generator, responsible for crafting synthetic data, and the discriminator, tasked with distinguishing between real and generated content. This adversarial training process enables GANs to produce high-quality, realistic, and diverse synthetic data, particularly notable in image and video generation, style transfer, and image-to-image translation.

While AI typically craves precision, it introduces an element of unpredictability and nuance into the creative process. Departing from the work of artists, and the context of the exhibition Other Intelligences, Other Natures, the symposium delves into the question how artists might harness the power of technology while embracing the serendipity essential to the creative process. Comprising the voices of pioneering artists who have worked with AI for many years, this seminar comprises keynotes by Vuk Ćosić, and by Harm van den Dorpel, as well as a conversation between Alexia Achilleos and Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, moderated by Bas Hendrikx.

Dates

• Exhibition opening
  • Friday, 18 Oct 2024; 17:00 -21:00
• Exhibition days, dates; times
  • Saturday, 19 Oct 2024; 11:00-20:00
  • Sunday, 20 Oct 2024; 11:00-18:00
  • Tuesday-Friday, 22 Oct – 15 Nov 2024; 17:30-20:30
• Seminar
  • Monday, 21 Oct 2024; 18:30-20:30