'At the very beginning, the origin of things seems to consist merely of irrelevant bits and unpredictable turbulence. Yet, as this chaos comes to an end, the fragments gather together and autonomously form a bigger structured whole.'
As an experimental research project bridging art and technology, "3sth.net" is centered on new movements at the conceptual level, and investigates the interactions between algae (nature), users (human), and artificial intelligence (technology). Through digital interfaces and connected bioreactors, the data of interactions will be collected, processed, and visualized at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts from Oct. 16 through Nov. 11.
The data will be used to control parameters of a robotic arm to fabricate a textile sculpture, as well as to generate images — symbols created by AI as though history were written in a different way — that will be projected onto the sculpture. Whereas the physical representation invites perception, the digital interface allows participation. Oscillating between these two positions, namely active participation and passive spectatorship, the audience is left to contemplate over the questions posed.
How do data and artificial intelligence play a role in this complication? What could be generated through these new multilateral relations? Data, as the product of internal mechanisms of the digital universe, and the sculpture, as the external embodiment, are complementary to each other both in terms of conception and representation.
Last but not least, as generative models of AI bring indeterminacy into the digital universe, this project is allowed to exist both within and outside of the context of fine art — participants will not be constrained by the authorial intention and artistic framework, for they are part of the online community which experiences and actively contributes to the unknown and unpredictability of this experiment.
"The Three-Body Problem," a science fiction novel released by Chinese writer Liu Cixin in 2006, puts discussions of the century-old astronomical three-body problem under the spotlight. Relevant dialogues not only are significant in addressing the outer universe and deeper spacetime, but could also be employed to direct the interrogation on how one sees modern-day civilization. As technological advancements now permeate every aspect of daily life, the dualism (of human and nature, of subjectivity and objectivity) since the Enlightenment seemed to give way to a more complex, multi-dimensional system emerging as a result of the ever-increasing presence of quantifiable data and technology.
Through addressing contemporary technologies, systems, and dynamics — both analytically and aesthetically — art has been representative of the paradigm of its time, manifesting in itself the ideas of space, relation, and structure. However, is art capable of interrogating this particular everlasting uncertainty of collectivity? How does art venture into the unknown of new three-body relations and bring the representation to the audience without losing its poetic sensitivity?
‘3sth.net’
- Date: Oct. 16 - Nov. 11, 2018
- Venue: National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
- Address: No. 2 Wuchuan Rd. Section 1, West District, Taichung City, Taiwan (ROC)
- Site: https://aigaerithm.3sth.net