Nature Dreams, Refik Anadol at Arken
In 2023 Refik Anadol showed his first solo exhibition in Denmark at Arken – Museum for Contemporary Art. I wrote an article for the exhibition and facilitated a talk about his work and interpretation of artificial intelligence at Arken – Museum for Contemporary Art.
Artificial intelligence is taking up more and more space in our everyday lives. When we connect with family and friends on our smartphones or seek information and entertainment on the Internet. When we’re offered a bespoke treatment plan in hospital or listen to climate scientists expound on humanity’s impact on nature. We are constantly surrounded by artificial intelligence, algorithms and machine learning.
In view of the fact that machines are becoming capable of learning, the artist Refik Anadol asks a crucial question: Can they also dream and fantasize? To investigate the issue, Refik Anadol enters into a creative collaboration with AI. He creates algorithms that he fills with millions of data points, which form the basis of his works, and these data transform the AI into the hallucinatory images we face.