Cave Paintings for the AI: Art in the Age of Singularity

Abstract

In this article, I discuss the possible futures of art and aesthetic experience in the age of non-human agency, machine learning and artificial intelligence. I approach my subject from the point of view of artistic research asking: how will the dawning Singularity experience art, and how could artists take this into account while making art today. First, I will give an outline of the transhuman condition and the theory of Singularity. I’ll present some examples of how biological bodies are merging with technological ones. I then present some previous examples how the theme has been approached in artists previously. I move to suggesting different theoretical tools that might help us in our task and suggest ways to negotiate between living and non-living experience. I present an artistic process of Brains on Art collective and describe a Machine Spectator we are building and some future ideas for the project. Finally, I present some ontological aspects of the machine that have been highlighted during the project.