Tag: mlni1

Artechouse & Machine Hallucination by Refik Anadol

Summary

            Machine Hallucination is a new installation in the newly opened Artechouse in Chelsea Market, NYC. The artist wants to “reveal the hidden connections between these [architectural styles and movements] moments in architectural history” (artechouse). The installation produces images of NYC architecture that move and morph into different buildings to help show the “future” of architecture. There are also sounds such as radio transmissions and city sounds that are played along with the visuals (Saraniero). Artechouse itself is a place to host installations, such as this project, and supports such emerging tech. For example, its balcony bar has drinks and coasters that can “come to life” through augmented reality which you activate through a smartphone app.

My Thoughts

            Regarding Artechouse, I think it’s really great that more people are recognizing the growth of machine learning and the potential it has, as shown by the project mentioned above. It makes me wonder if there are going to be more places opening in cities that integrate technology such as AR and ML, which is exciting. As for the Machine Hallucination, I was really interested in how immersive it seems, since it’s an entire room that’s covered in the visuals and the sounds. I think it’s a good example of zero UI in that there’s no screen. People are just completely surrounded by the experience.

Technology that went into making it:

            I would assume there would be machine learning algorithms, speakers, projectors, Manhattan architecture and image databases (3 million images), and lots of coding. One of the articles mentioned that Artechouse has “L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology with 32 separate channels for an entirely multidimensional audio experience” (Waddoups)

Sources

https://www.artechouse.com/nyc

Saraniero, Nicole, “Photos Inside Chelsea Market’s New Hidden Underground Art Space”, https://untappedcities.com/2019/09/05/photos-inside-chelsea-markets-new-hidden-underground-art-space/

Waddoups, Ryan, “Enter Manhattan’s Sprawling New Digital Art Mecca”, https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/artechouse-nyc-opening/

Zandl, Irma, “Machine Hallucination at ARTECHOUSE NYC”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLjSNqzWOMk

My Presentation

The guiding question of this work on the “painting robots” is “Can robots be creative?”. Now the creator, Pindar Van Arman would argue yes, mainly because at times robots have to make the decisions in terms of where a stroke goes and have the ability to view their own work via camera. 

Summary of Hardware

• Robot arm
• The robot “watched” what they make using a camera.
• Art Supplies

Summary of Method

• A target image and a style image… the target image is stylized based on the characteristics and images presented in the style inspiration work.
• This combination comes through a complex algorithm. 
• The robot has memory of the previous works it has created
• Over time the works develop a unique style based on the training

Why is it interesting?

• I never thought about robots as creative.
• The robots aren’t simply combining the images, there is actual painting happening. 
• Will robots at one point have the power to be creative?
• For now all the inputs come from the data scientist, but how long before robots can “think” of their own combination ideas? 
• Not even “painting the next person you see” is really the idea of the robot, it’s just part of the coding. 

Sources

“An Artificially Intelligent Painting Robot.” Cloudpainter, http://www.cloudpainter.com/.

Arman, Pindar Van. “Creativity Is Probably Just a Complex Mix of Generative Art Algorithms.” Medium, Data Driven Investor, 29 Dec. 2018, https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/creativity-is-probably-just-a-complex-mix-of-generative-art-algorithms-6d37a0087e86.

Arman, Pindar Van. “From Printing to Painting: Computationally Creative Robots.” Medium, Medium, 16 May 2018, https://medium.com/@pindar.vanarman/from-printing-to-painting-the-emergence-of-computationally-creative-robots-cb2f41846dd0.

Arman, Pindar Van. “Does AI Art Belong in the Physical, Digital, or Crypto World?” Medium, Medium, 8 Apr. 2019, https://medium.com/@pindar.vanarman/does-ai-art-belong-in-the-physical-digital-or-crypto-world-3cb4fe5e01b0.

Fitzpatrick, Sophie. “Art in a Technological World.” EDGY_ Labs, 4 June 2019, https://edgy.app/art-in-a-technological-world.

Muoio, Danielle. “Watch a Robot Paint Incredible Pieces of Art.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 5 Feb. 2016, https://www.businessinsider.com/pindar-van-armans-robot-can-paint-2016-2.

News, VICE. YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=dkTjEi7O4Ic.