In the 19th century, as coal powered the world’s industrial revolution, artists delved into this newfound resource’s rich complexities and risks. Painters like J.M.W Turner captured coal’s poetic essence in pieces like “Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight,” while Impressionists like Monet marveled at the swirling beauty of steam and smoke. These artists mirrored the anxieties and hopes of a society on the cusp of modernity.
The Digital Age: Data as the New Frontier
Today, we stand at the threshold of a new era—the age of data. Much like coal before it, data now fuels our industries, shapes our economies, and holds immense power in the military and civilian realms. Yet, data remains an enigmatic force. It is intangible yet influential, representing the world while shaping it. Some hail it as human ingenuity’s pinnacle, while others decry it as a tool for surveillance and exploitation.
Data Inspires Art at MoMA
This ambivalence surrounding data has made it a compelling subject for contemporary artists seeking to navigate our evolving cybernetic reality. Nowhere is this exploration more evident than at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where exhibitions illuminate how artists grapple with data’s ubiquity, intricate dynamics, and inherent tensions.
Unsupervised: Art’s Encounter with AI
Refik Anadol’s “Unsupervised,” recently extended to October 29, has dominated MoMA’s Gund Lobby for nearly a year. Anadol’s work has achieved global recognition as one of the most prominent AI art pieces. Trained on publicly available data from MoMA’s extensive collection, “Unsupervised” responds to site-specific variables such as weather, light, and sound, attempting to manifest the “mind” of machine intelligence in visual and auditory forms. It poses the question, “What would a machine dream about after perusing The Museum of Modern Art’s collection?” Anadol responds with a captivating display of colors and sounds—a ceaseless stream of mechanical consciousness that enthralls viewers.
AI’s Grandeur: A Technological Sublime
“Unsupervised” resonates with our contemporary technological landscape. Advances in AI, including DALL-E, ChatGPT, and Midjourney, have sparked discussions about the potentials and perils of big data. These machines, once limited to human capabilities, are now seen as the harbingers of limitless possibilities. Some even compare their advent to a divine or diabolical arrival.
Challenges of Abstract Awe
Anadol taps into this blend of wonder and apprehension by portraying machine intelligence as a transcendent force beyond human comprehension. However, this reverence for AI can mislead. The abstract aesthetics of “Unsupervised” inadvertently distance this technology from the realm of human affairs, obscuring how these machines significantly impact and are impacted by our world.
Grounding Data in Reality
MoMA houses lesser-known artworks that engage with modern technological abstractions while grounding them in reality. In the ongoing “Systems” exhibit, Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler’s “Anatomy of an AI System” dissects the intricate networks of information and capital powering a single Amazon Echo. Unlike “Unsupervised,” which presents machine intelligence as impenetrable, “Anatomy” reveals its concrete, tangible underpinnings. It explores everything from the elemental composition of the technology to the individuals and processes bringing it into existence, showcasing its integration within the digital ecosystem.
Data’s Embodied Nature
Wangechi Mutu’s “Eve” series, featured in MoMA’s “Search Engines” exhibit, extends this theme of physical interconnectedness. The work explores the surreal outcomes of an internet search for a famous figure. Mutu’s pieces prominently feature organic elements and fleshy forms alongside cold steel and cybernetic networks. They blur the lines between the technological and the natural, rejecting the notion that data resides in a sterile, transcendent realm.
Personalizing Data: The “Dear Data” Series
The “Dear Data” series by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, featured in “Search Engines,” shifts the focus to the relational potential of data. Unlike grand data works, “Dear Data” takes a personal approach, with the two artists exchanging weekly postcards over a year. Each postcard features a handmade “data drawing” visualizing various aspects of their lives, from the beverages consumed to the moments of smiling at strangers.
In contemporary art, the age of data has opened a captivating new frontier. At MoMA, artists bridge the gap between the intangible realm of data and the tangible world of human experience. From Refik Anadol’s portrayal of AI’s grandeur to Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler’s grounding of data in reality, these artists remind us that data isn’t an abstract concept but a deeply intertwined force in our lives. As we venture into this digital age, art serves as our guide, helping us navigate the enigmatic terrain of data and grasp its intricacies while taming the elusive ghost in the machine.
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