OBVIOUS GROUP
Obvious is a collective of researchers, artists, and friends, working with the latest models of deep learning to explore the creative potential of artificial intelligence. They are behind the sale of the first AI artwork to go through a major auction house. They use their work to share their vision of artificial intelligence and its implementation in our society.
Magenta Garden of Replicant Delights
This artwork is a creation that depicts the universe of Speciesism, a series depicting the human/machine relationship, as an invitation to consider the categorization of intelligent forms into species. “Speciesism” questions our relationship towards other species, from the exploitation of animals to ensure our food chain, to the current debate around new rising forms of intelligence in the machine learning field. The 69 artworks of the series have been created through a long-form process: the artists created the conditions for the visual creation, and the artworks were created only when they were actually collected. The artists and the collectors discovered the final pieces at the same time.
Magenta Garden of Replicant Delights is born from an experimentation of a new form of creation, one that pushes the boundaries of long-form. In this process, the artist uses the generated artworks of the process as matter for a new kind of creation. This creation is a way to reclaim a part of the creation process, while pushing further the back and forth process of exploration and discovery together with collectors.
‘Magenta Garden of Replicant Delights’ is part of Art Salon Node to Node, which opens on the 13th of October
“Speciesism” by Obvious Group - 18th of July
The “Speciesism” collection explores the intimate relationship between humans and machines. It invites the viewer to question the categorization of intelligent forms into species. As a result, this series questions our relationship with other species, from the exploitation of animals to ensure our food chain, to the current debate around new rising forms of intelligence in the machine learning field. This series refers to the book by Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, particularly to the sexual scene after which the main character starts feeling empathetic for Androids, a species he has been hunting until that moment. While science fiction has led us to personify AI, the recent research breakthroughs in this field have led to a display of excitement and fear towards these technologies. We are still far from having developed a new form of consciousness, but we should already ask ourselves if this is the ideal we wish to reach for, and if so, how we plan to interact with this new species.
"Speciesism" will be presented on July 18, 2023, at 7 pm (CET) on www.k011.com
Magenta Garden of Replicant Delights, 2023