Human Is: A New Reality of Science Fiction (Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, 19 March – 23 July 2023)
Ivana Bašić, Belay My Light, the Ground Is Gone, 2018. Wax, pink alabaster, blown glass, breath, dust, weight, oil paint, pressure, stainless steel. Courtesy the artist. Ian Cheng, Emissary Sunsets The Self, 2017. Live simulation and story, infinite duration, color, sound. Courtesy the artist and Pilar Corrias, London and Gladstone Gallery, Brussels. Joachim Bandau, Schwarzes ruhendes Schlauchmonstrum, 1972. Glass fiber reinforced polyester resin, pigmented, mannequin segments, C-hose couplings, vacuflex hose. Courtesy the artist and Neues Museum Nuremberg. Picture: Frank Sperling, 2023.
Does a place that explores a possible future which is created by artificial intelligence grab your interest? The exhibition Human Is brings art and technology together and invites people to a realm of science fiction. The exhibition runs from 9 March until 23 July 2023 and takes place at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin. It explores various techniques and forms of art, from sculpture to film and multimedia, all to portray artificial intelligence and the power it may hold over reality.
We use technology in our everyday life because of its convenience. It makes it easy to communicate with people, to quickly access information, and so forth. Human Is is interested in the dystopian side of artificial intelligence (AI). It deals with both the fear of the unknown that arises with technology and concerns about the growing independence of artificial intelligence. The exhibition focuses on the possible negative impact of AI on the environment and the risk of dehumanization.
In the exhibition, art is used as a tool to represent the dystopian effect of artificial intelligence. Human Is does not focus on the ‘beauty’ of art. Instead, it shows works that are not aesthetically pleasing to create a disturbing atmosphere imagining an artificial future. The grotesqueness of the collection portrays a breaking off from rationality and adapting to a new reality of transhumanism.
One of the most striking works is Ian Cheng’s “Emissary Sunsets the Self” (2017) a CGI (computer-generated imagery) work using a video game engine that generates a “live simulation” created in real time at the exhibition showing robot-like creatures destroying the planet. There is no fixed narrative, but the work is set in several millennia, in a future ruled by an AI able to experience emotions. Tired of its power, the AI is in search of death. There are all kinds of machines such as rifle-like weapons and abandoned looking metal pieces controlled by robots. There are flames coming from different parts of the montage. There are no traces of human beings, suggesting that AI may become so powerful that humanity may become extinct in the future. It shows how science fictional creatures such as robots may become non-fiction and create a dystopian world of their own.
Ivana Bašić, Belay My Light, the Ground Is Gone, 2018. Wax, pink alabaster, blown glass, breath, dust, weight, oil paint, pressure, stainless steel. Courtesy the artist. Picture: Frank Sperling, 2023.
The only piece in the exhibition that resembles a human being is Ivana Bašić’s Belay my Light, the Ground is Gone (2018), a figure that has lost all its human qualities. There is a pipe going through the head of a dysmorphic body, the figure does not have any facial features, its body is drained, ready to disappear. This piece suggests the possibility of AI taking over the human world and experimenting on human beings, like human beings experiment with technology now. By doing that, the exhibition creates a reality where artificial intelligence is superior to humankind.
At Human Is, the artists use different mediums to create a new science fictional reality. The viewer is confronted with unusual pieces that reflect the unknown and the mystery of artificial intelligence. The motivation behind the creation of a science fictional reality is to portray how technological developments may get out of hand. Technology nowadays seems to move closer to becoming an independent actor, armed with the power human beings have given it. The artists explore the anxiety of how something created by human beings, for their own benefit, could overpower them.