There’s some exciting news for people interested in Ars Electronica (see more below the newsletter excerpt) and for people who’d like to explore some of the same work from the Metacreation Lab in a locale that may be closer to their homes, there’s an exhibition on Saltspring Island, British Columbia. Here are details from SFU’s Metacreation Lab newsletter, which hit my mailbox on July 22, 2024,
Metacreation Lab at Ars Electronica 2024
We are delighted to announce that the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI will be part of the prestigious Ars Electronica Festival. This year’s festival, titled “HOPE – who will turn the tide,” will take place in Linz [Austria’ from September 4 to 8.[2024]
Representing the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), we will showcase four innovative artworks. “Longing + Forgetting” by Philippe Pasquier, Matt Gingold, and Thecla Schiphorst explores pathfinding algorithms as metaphors for our personal and collective searches for solutions. “Autolume Mzton” by Jonas Kraasch and Philippe Pasquier examines the concept of birth through audio-reactive generative visuals. “Dreamscape” [emphasis mine] by Erica Lapadat-Janzen and Philippe Pasquier utilizes the Autolume system to train AI models with the artist’s own works, creating unique stills and video loops. “Ensemble” by Arshia Sobhan and Philippe Pasquier melds traditional Persian calligraphy with AI to create dynamic calligraphic forms.
We look forward to seeing you there!
MMM4Live Official Release; Generative MIDI in Ableton Live
We are ecstatic to release our Ableton plugin for computer-assisted music composition! Meet MMM4Live, our flexible and generic multi-track music AI generator. MMM4Live embeds our state-of-the-art music transformer model that allows generating fitting original musical patterns in any style! When generating, the AI model considers the request parameters, your instrument choice, and the existing musical MIDI content within your Ableton Live project to deliver relevant material. With this infilling approach, your music is the prompt!
We, at the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI at Simon Fraser University (SFU), are excited about democratizing and pushing the boundaries of musical creativity through academic research and serving diverse communities of creatives.
For additional inquiries, please do not hesitate to reach out to pasquier@sfu.ca
“Dreamscape” at the Provocation Exhibition
We are excited to announce that “Dreamscape,” a collaboration between Erica Lapadat-Janzen and Philippe Pasquier, will be exhibited at the Provocation exhibition from July 6th to August 10th, 2024.
In response to AI-generated art based on big data, the Metacreation Lab developed Autolume, a no-coding environment that allows artists to train AI models using their chosen works. For “Dreamscape,” the Metacreation Lab collaborated with Vancouver-based visual artist Erica Lapadat-Janzen. Using Autolume, they hand-picked and treated 12 stills and 9 video loops, capturing her unique aesthetic. Lapadat-Janzen’s media artworks, performances, and installations draw viewers into a world of equilibrium, where moments punctuate daily events to clarify our existence and find poetic meaning.
Provocation exhibition brings artists and audiences together to celebrate and provoke conversations about contemporary living. The exhibition is at 215 Baker Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC, and is open to the public (free admission) every Saturday and Sunday from 12-4 pm.
Ars Electronica
It is both an institute and a festival, from the Ars Electronica Wikipedia entry, Note: Links have been removed,
Ars Electronica Linz GmbH is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute active in the field of new media art, founded in Linz in 1979. It is based at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), which houses the Museum of the Future, in the city of Linz. Ars Electronica’s activities focus on the interlinkages between art, technology and society. It runs an annual festival, and manages a multidisciplinary media arts R&D facility known as the Futurelab. It also confers the Prix Ars Electronica awards.
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Ars Electronica began with its first festival in September 1979. …
The 2024 festival, as noted earlier, has the theme of ‘Hope’, from the Ars Electronica 2024 festival theme page,
HOPE
Optimism is not the belief that things will somehow work out, but rather the confidence in our ability to influence and bring about improvement. And that perhaps best describes the essence of the principle of hope, not as a passive position, but as an active force that motivates us to keep going despite adversity.
But don’t worry, this year’s festival will not be an examination of the psychological or even evolutionary foundations of the principle of hope, nor will it be a reflection on our unsteady fluctuation between hope and pessimism.
“HOPE” as a festival theme is not a resigned statement that all we can do is hope that someone or something will solve our problems, but rather a manifestation that there are actually many reasons for hope. This is expressed in the subtitle “who will turn the tide”, which does not claim to know how the turnaround can be achieved, but rather focuses on who the driving forces behind this turnabout are.
The festival’s goal is to spotlight as many people as possible who have already set out on their journey and whose activities—no matter how big or small—are a very concrete reason to have hope.
Believing in the possibility of change is the prerequisite for bringing about positive change, especially when all signs point to the fact that the paths we are currently taking are often dead ends.
But belief alone will not be enough; it requires a combination of belief, vision, cooperation, and a willingness to take concrete action. A willingness that we need, even if we are not yet sure how we will turn the tide, how we will solve the problems, and how we will deal with the effects of the problems that we are (no longer) able to solve.
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Earlier, I highlighted ‘Dreamscape’ which can be seen at Ars Electronica 2024 or at the “Provocation” exhibition on Salt Spring Island. Hopefully, you have an opportunity to visit one of the locations. As for the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI, you can find out more here.