‘In Search of the Current’ at EMMA explores humanity, nature and know-how

Espoo Museum of Fashionable Artwork (EMMA) is Finland’s largest artwork museum, situated on the nation’s shoreline in Espoo. The establishment, which is over 20 years previous, lately opened an exhibition that explores the intertwined relationship between nature, artwork and know-how. The exhibition In Search of the Current, curated by chief curator Arja Miller, options works by Refik Anadol, Dora Budor, Sougwen Chung, Stephanie Dinkins, Teemu Lehmusruusu and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer amongst many others. Every visible artist has a pre-existing enquiry which explores one in all these three themes in depth, creating an enriching and informative juxtaposition when positioned collectively. The exhibition title, In Search of the Current, refers to an eponymous assortment of essays (1929) by 20^th century Finnish writer Olavi Paavolainen that examines the experiences and identities of recent individuals in a quickly altering period. The artwork exhibition contains two newly commissioned artworks by Sougwen Chung and Raimo Saarinen. We caught up with Miller to study extra concerning the showcase.

By means of the work offered at In Search of the Current, we see how artwork is able to furthering our relationship with nature through know-how. Though the excellence between nature and know-how could be simple to take without any consideration, after we dig a bit deeper can one actually see know-how as separate from nature, contemplating it’s birthed by the human thoughts which is itself intrinsically  a part of our pure surroundings? To this finish, can we draw parallels between the development of know-how and synthetic intelligence and the innate intelligence of nature? In dialogue with Miller, the chief curator says, “The artists of the In Search of the Current not solely use totally different applied sciences, reminiscent of AI, but in addition draw our consideration to the query of what intelligence is. Expertise and nature usually are not opposites for these artists, however know-how is seen as a collaborator and at the same time as an extension of the human thoughts.” This attitude is a reassuring notion, at a time when many artists discover their career threatened by new AI-powered techniques (like DALL E 2) that’s taking the artwork world by storm.

Anadol, a Turkish-American knowledge artist, is a stellar instance of how machine intelligence can improve a artistic apply. Miller tells us, “His work is an AI knowledge sculpture that attracts upon a dataset of greater than 90 million photographs of nature which might be publicly accessible on the web. The result’s a charming, continually growing digital portray created by synthetic intelligence and composed of colors and shapes we affiliate with nature, however which exist solely as imagined by the machine.”  Chinese language-Canadian artist Chung explores a extra literal collaboration with know-how by portray with a robotic. Chung utilises an EEG headset and biofeedback applied sciences linked to her personal brainwaves and the robotic. The collaborative work are on view at In Search of The Current.

In one other artwork set up by Croatian artist Dora Budor, the viewer is offered with a extra philosophical, contemplative strategy. Budor, primarily based in New York, presents a big scale set up titled The Preserving Machine, which is impressed by a science-fiction brief story written by Philip Okay Dick in 1969. The set up possesses a hypnotic and melancholic high quality, with a solitary robotic chook flying round a big dome. Whereas the chook is free to fly, it’s nonetheless very a lot captive in its enclosure. Miller attracts parallels between the fiction and the set up saying, “(The story is) about an try and protect classical music in instances of conflict and cultural collapse. Within the story, a scientist invents a machine that may encode musical scores into our bodies of residing animals, reminiscent of birds. Dora’s work illustrates a by some means dystopian future, but it surely additionally discusses curiously the themes within the exhibition, the advanced interrelations between know-how, nature and tradition.” The set up brings up many emotions for the viewer, forcing us to ask the query ‘To what finish?’. Expertise is a present, little question. However unchecked it may destroy greater than we cut price for. So, when using using know-how, we should ask ourselves ‘To what finish?’, to encourage intentionality and consciousness in our actions.

Persevering with this prepare of thought, we should additionally take into account the value of showcasing tech-based paintings. As we go ahead, establishments should put together themselves for the extra weight of curating tech-driven set up artwork. Miller says, “Our expert technical staff together with our conservators is a should, because it helps the inventive course of, particularly in this sort of tech-heavy and production-heavy exhibition. For positive, that is the sort of exhibition that requires technical experience and upkeep each day.”

Miller concludes by saying, “I hope viewers take their time with the totally different artworks. For instance, I’d wish to encourage individuals to placed on the VR headset of Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s Re-animated and dive deep into its immersive story of a chook from an historic Hawaiian island, or to work together with the AI sculpture, known as N’TOO, created by Stephanie Dinkins.” EMMA has additionally produced a cell information to the exhibition the place viewers can entry artists’ interviews.

The exhibition closes on January 15, 2023.