For its 25 years of existence, ELEKTRA marks the occasion with the 7e International Biennial of Digital Art (BIAN) by offering responses to disinformation and hyperfaking (deepfakes) which challenge reality in our societies. And to do this, it does not escape the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) which interferes in the works as a tool… or as a collaborator of the artist.
It’s on the theme Illusion that curator Alain Thibault, also general and artistic director of ELEKTRA, wishes to engage visitors in a reflection on the true and false of our societies increasingly permeated by technologies, including AI.
If AI has been used exponentially in our daily lives for two years, it also influences artistic creations. This new challenge is clearly visible in the 41 works located at the confluence of visual and digital arts by the 36 artists exhibited in the venues of the Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal.
The theme allows me to touch differently on the aspects that we are experiencing. People create parallel realities for themselves. The boom in artificial intelligence is contributing to this creation of virtual reality and accelerating it.
Alain Thibault, commissioner
And it is then a question of asking what is the place of digital art in relation to these issues. Where is he positioned?
Art has a role to play in the way we perceive new technologies. And this is the tour de force of the BIAN which helps to shape our view differently: the works most often defy the limits of AI, find the glitchesdevelop their own model.
The projects in this edition offer a vision far from pessimism or dystopia, often associated with AI. “If I chose illusion, it is to deal with creation with artificial intelligence tools. Artists divert them, use the defects, unlike Silicon Valley which tries to remove them,” explains Alain Thibault.
AI, a creative assistant for the artist?
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The Electrician from the series Pseudomnesia, Boris Eldagsen (2022)
AI now dialogues with artists to develop works and the BIAN has demonstrated this well by integrating into the exhibition photography known to have sparked controversy over copyright, The Electricianby Boris Eldagsen.
Read our article “Boris Eldagsen, when photography flirts with AI”
Other productions bear witness to these links between AI and the artist. In the installation Voice Scroll, David Rokeby trained an AI to realize its potential beyond how we currently use it: “We think of ChatGPT as something we can ask questions of. But in fact, by asking questions, we navigate a field of possibilities. In the case of this piece, we use our voice to navigate such a field of possibilities. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Voice ScrollDavid Rokeby, (2021–2024), where spoken voice is transformed into real-time panoramic images
The AI generates panoramic images from what the audience will ask on the microphone. During the press visit, the artist himself tried it out: “Taylor Swift in concert”, “Bananas and apples and bread on a table in the style of Pablo Picasso”… the inspiration of the moment led to the creation of visuals.
Visitors also enter into “discussion” with the AI in the work A Monocular Dialogue by Louis-Philippe Demers. A one-eyed robot, seductive, disturbing and ironic, stares at the person who sits in front of him.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
A Monocular DialogueLouis-Philippe Demers (2024)
A proliferation of technologies
Videos, sound arts, robotics, morphing, 3D… The productions mix several current technologies and AI is sometimes used in a more subtle way in certain projects, although it remains present.
It is one of the many tools used to Communicating vases, by Nicolas Baier. The work provides an ambiguous vision of detailed built environments, between what could represent the past and the future.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Organism + Excitable ChaosNavid Navad and Garnet Willis (2024)
Two creations, among others, engage a listening experience: the monumental installation clearly visible at the entrance to the exhibition, Organism + Excitable Chaosby Navid Navab and Garnet Willis, where a robot registers an organ. Meeting Philip by Eric Vernhes uses a tape recorder to show and hear a rich audiovisual composition based on the recording of Philip K. Dick’s conference on the multiverse.
Montreal, hub
“We are lucky to have a pool of very talented artists,” says Alain Thibault, who recalls that the BIAN often invites a country for its editions. This time, Montreal would be this “guest country”.
The public will recognize the work of Adam Basanta, Kent Monkman, Baron Lanteigne, among others. He will spot Chun Hua Catherine Dong who offers an augmented reality experience through Skin Deep.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Skin DeepChun Hua Catherine Dong (2019)
He will also make great discoveries, including Veillance2 by the artist Louis-Philippe Rondeau, professor at the School of Digital Arts, Animation and Design at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi. The work produces a scan of each participating person and the inventory. In collaboration or not with another volunteer, the portrait is deformed according to the movements performed during the scanning.
Interactivity, immersion, videos, sound arts… In short, the exhibition could seem at first glance hermetic for the newbie, but you have to take the time to fully understand each project. And from there, a very enriching experience is more than guaranteed.
The 7e International Biennial of Digital Art – Illusionat Arsenal contemporary art until July 21.
Visit the ELEKTRA website