Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst Bring AI Art to Venice Biennale

Artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, known for their AI-driven work, created an installation titled 'Attention Guild' at Palazzo Diedo for the Venice Biennale. The piece features an upside-down parliament of benches, with four AI agents conversing in a musical language. The couple, who have been using AI since 2018, also co-curated the group exhibition 'Strange Rules' with Hans Ulrich Obrist and Adriana Rispoli. Their work explores protocol art and collective creation, challenging notions of authorship. Herndon and Dryhurst previously founded Spawning, a company that built an opt-out registry for AI training data, which shut down in 2025. Their installation faced technical issues, including delayed screens and repetitive AI conversations, but was well-received. The exhibition runs until November 2026.