Christine X Art Gallery is excited to present an exhibition showcasing the works of Selina Scerri and Angelo Dalli, who collaborated with machines to create this collection. The exhibition will be on display at the gallery until 24 October, following its earlier showing at the Esplora Interactive Science Centre earlier this year.
What drives humans to create art? What emotional highs and lows do artists experience during the creative process, and how do they convey these to their audience?
These profound questions lay at the heart of Tomorrow's Blossoms, a groundbreaking AI art project by Scerri and Dalli. This immersive exhibition delves into the intersection of human creativity and artificial intelligence, using data dramatisation to explore these themes. Scerri and Dalli have decoded the behaviour of natural anthropogenic processes and human creative behaviour by blending internet-sourced data with analogue and digital paintings. Their goal was to train a machine learning algorithm to "experience what makes humans create art" through images that embody essential human concepts, integrating data from public photo-sharing websites like Flickr and Instagram with scientific datasets such as City Scapes and Image Net.
The project exemplifies a unique collaboration between artist, scientist and AI software. Scerri and Dalli's partnership formed a dynamic feedback loop where the artist's vision was translated into tangible output by AI, which continuously evolved based on past creations. This process was driven by advanced techniques, including multi-layer Video Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Neural Morphing and Transformer-based emotional detection. Later in the project, stable diffusion technology was also employed to enhance the creative process.
At the core of the project was the concept of data dramatisation, where AI interpreted emotional arcs of storytelling, inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's theories. This technique allowed the AI to create visual narratives that reflected the emotional depth and complexity of human experiences, blending human creativity with machine learning to produce compelling artworks.
The success of Tomorrow's Blossoms lay in the fusion of Scerri's artistic versatility and Dalli's extensive knowledge of AI. Scerri, a multimedia artist, brought a wealth of experience from diverse artistic fields, while Dalli, a computer scientist, provided a deep understanding of AI's evolution. Together, they pushed the boundaries of what AI could achieve in the realm of art.
Tomorrow's Blossoms went beyond the technical execution of AI-generated art. It delved into the emotional and sensory experiences that drive artistic creation. Scerri's hands-on involvement in drawing emotions and teaching the AI what it feels like to paint added a layer of authenticity and depth to the project.
Scerri and Dalli argue that current AI explorations in art have only scratched the surface. Tomorrow's Blossoms sought to uncover the underlying memories, emotions and sensations that inform an artist's brush strokes, offering a richer understanding of the creative process.
Tomorrow's Blossoms invites audiences to experience a fusion of human emotion and AI technology, offering a glimpse into the future of art where machines and humans co-create, reflecting the depth and complexity of the human experience.