The Book of Sand

Artists: Certain Measures, Sofia Crespo, Dabeiyuzhou, Jake Elwes, Entangled Others, Obvious, Yuqian Sun

Aiiiii Art Center is pleased to present the institution’s opening exhibition The Book of Sand in October.

The very mention of AI (artificial intelligence) often seems to incite a polarized discourse accompanied by a rather vivid yet far-fetched imagery. The space in which the intersections of this discourse may most creatively come into play, is for AI-based art, which places these lines of argument into an immediate and transparently observable practice, forcing human beings to confront, once again, the eternal question concerning the origin of creator and creation. It is in the witnessing of this transference of autonomy, this incarnation of the artificial into the creator, that human beings come to understand the true extent of such intelligence, and to grasp the very core of creation through the insights of a non-human creator.

The exhibition is inspired by The Book of Sand, written by Jorge Luis Borges. With a literary approach, we examine the substantive domain of AI art by looking at multiple small facets, drawing together the concerns upon AI ethics, including environmental diversity, identity politics, and prospective living space. At the same time, these discussions are extended to the relationship between artists and AI, exhibiting the change in the means of artistic production, and eventually unveiling the blueprint of a more decentralised art world as envisioned in the institution’s Manifesto.

Academic hosts: Filippo Fabrocini, Kostas Terzidis
Executive curator: Xi Li

Organized by Aiiiii Art Center in collaboration with: Art & Artificial Intelligence Lab, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University.

Aiiiii Art Center (established 2021) is an artificial intelligence art institution based in Shanghai. The organisation seeks to support, promote, as well as incubate both international and domestic artists and projects related to intelligent algorithms. Aiiiii Art Center is committed to becoming a pioneer of artificial intelligence through the discovering of exciting possibilities afforded by the intersections of creativity and technology.

Aiiiii Art Center aims to offer insight into the many challenges, practices, and creative modes of artificial intelligence based art. Such aims will be achieved through academic conferences and published research efforts conducted either independently or in collaboration with domestic and international institutions and organisations. This organisation will also actively promote and showcase the exploratory uses of artificial intelligence based art in practice.

The Art and Artificial Intelligence Lab (established 2021) is an affiliation of Tongji University’s College of Design and Innovation. The Lab is committed to conducting research within a broad range of where the arts meets artificial intelligence (AI) based technologies. The aim is to establish and discover possibilities of innovative advanced technologies in the domain of creative practice. The Lab is an expanding platform currently supported by a number of artists, scientists, and technicians working towards a joint effort of accelerating advancement in relevant fields of industry, research and education.