One of the most basic forms of the computer is the word processor, a tool that has contributed to the creation of new forms of writing and language. This exhibition marks the time of this evolution by highlighting works of art created at various times (and places) throughout the recent history of the internet and the expansion of artificial intelligence.
Tina Escaja’s Robopoem@s are a group of five robots shaped like insects whose legs and bodies are inscribed with the seven parts of a poem written from the robot’s perspective and in bilingual format, featuring Kristin Dykstra’s English translations of the original Spanish. Voice activation, micro-mp3 players and the response of sensors that react to obstacles allow these quadrupeds to interact with humans and with each other, highlighting the existential questions raised by the poem. The final segment of the poem, number VII, reformulates the Biblical verse on human creation, from the robot’s point of view: “According to your likeness / my image”. With this statement, the idea of creation is reformulated by the power of technology, ultimately questioning its binary foundations.
Belén García Nieto turns programming syntax into poetic form. Some of her poems even function as code and can be run. García Nieto uses a supposedly neutral language to write poems with multiple meanings that delve into social and political ideas and emphasize that programming languages–like any other language–are not impartial, but rather impacted both by those who create them and those who use them. Illustrations by Antonia Santolaya.
What happens when a text-based image generator interprets a poem? In this work by Dilalica, the well-known artificial intelligence system Dall-E converts the poem Espejo Antiguo by Chilean poet Concha Zardoya into images. In the result you can see how Dall-E is forced to make decisions that flee from literalism, for example choosing a rose “half in shadow, half in light” to visually describe the first verse.
A bot reads parts of the essay Futurability: The Age of Impotence and the Horizon of Possibility (2019), by Franco “Bifo” Berardi, to other chatbots who respond and progressively learn from the conversation. In Berardi’s book, the Italian philosopher analyzes the global order that defines our politics and our imagination, asserting that the key to radical change lies in cognitive work and its relationship to digital technologies. In other words, the system can be reprogrammed by those who produce its contents; they merely need to take advantage of the potential in their hands. Futurabilities explores the conversational possibilities between humans and machines in the current context of connected solitudes. In the framework of this exhibition, the project functions online and generates a gradually growing chat, in this case with the well-known ChatGPT, with responses based on the dialogue input.
Found Machines by Diana Sánchez is a group of light boxes created based on the recurring mechanical instructions of a computer. With just a click, it is easy to ignore the subtlety with which a button communicates “Back to top” or “Remember me”. There is an implicit poetics behind these interactions; it is hidden in the simple actions of a machine we are in conversation with throughout the day. The artist has made an inventory of screenshots of various programs and platforms in order to convert them into small physical screens.
Ashes to ashes by Alex Saum is the video documentation of an interactive digital poem that no longer exists in its original format. It is part of the series #Youtubers, within the larger project #SELFIEPOETRY. On this series, the artist explores the aesthetic of confessional videos that appeared on Youtube in its early incarnation, as well as the discourse of today’s influencers. The complete series of poems can be seen on YouTube.
