Agenda

22 Oct 2025 17:00

From the Palazzo Grassi to the Biennale. Two examples how AI engages with Art.

VeDPH Lab and online

Luc Steels, Free University of Brussels

Abstract

Today AI is impacting all aspects of society, including art. Here I focus on two concrete examples: (i) a study and exhibition illustrating the use of AI to support a stronger experience of art works, and (ii) an art-science installation which explores the frontiers of AI. 

The first example concerns the work of Luc Tuymans, more specifically a central painting shown in the Palazzo Grassi solo exhibition of Tuymans in 2019, namely Secrets. In collaboration with Sinem Aslan at ECLT I carried out a project to use a battery of image processing algorithms to detect signifcant features of the painting. And with Sofia Baroncini (Univ of Bologna) I extended this analysis using a battery of semantic processing techniques to construct a 'narrative network', interpreting an art work from multiple perspectives. The results were shown in an exhibition at Bozar in Brussels, showing the original painting, the result of visual processing, as well as the efforts to ground these results in meanings. The project not only pioneered new kinds of tools for enhancing the experience of viewers of art works but also, and thanks to the intense participation of Luc Tuymans, it gave new insights about the creative process.

The second example concerns an art-science installation entitled 'Am I a Strange Loop' that is currently shown at the Venice Biennale 2025 in the curator exhibition at the Corderie until 23 november. I designed and produced this installation together with Takashi Ikegami (University of Tokyo). The installation is based on a physical android robot called ALTER3 which has been enhanced with LLMs to achieve open-ended dialogs with visitors and implement some form of self-awareness. The installation is very popular at the Biennale and tens of thousands of visitors have been interacting with the robot. The talk will discuss the rationale and technical background of the installation and why it is relevant to show this kind of work in the context of art exhibitions, even though it is quite difficult to do so. 

Registration for online participation: link

The event is part of the seminar series organized by the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH), Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

 

Language

The event will be held in English

Organized by

DSU VEDPH

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