The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen presents “Starmirror”, a fascinating exhibition by the artist and technology duo Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst. Known for their interdisciplinary work at the interface of art, music and machine learning, they transform the exhibition space into a training ground for the collaborative production of art between humans and artificial intelligence. At the centre is an immersive sound installation that serves as a recording and listening environment and was developed in collaboration with the architecture firm sub.
Visitors are invited to become an active part of the exhibition: In collaboration with local choirs and a vocal ensemble, public vocal recordings will take place, the recordings of which will be used as a data set for an AI choir. The specially designed songbook takes up the morality play “Ordo Virtutum” by the polymath Hildegard von Bingen, in which a soul has to choose between good and evil. In this way, artificial intelligence can be experienced as a collective process designed by humans and at the same time the invisible role of technical protocols in our world is illuminated.
“Starmirror” is part of the “Art & AI — Fund for New Artistic Perspectives on AI and Society” programme of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and a cooperation with KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. The exhibition invites visitors to help shape the future of human-technological collaboration.
