Schirn Frankfurt Examines AI's Real-World Impact in 'The World Through AI'

The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, currently operating from the former Dondorf printing press during renovations, presents 'The World Through AI,' an exhibition exploring the cognitive, political, and ecological consequences of artificial intelligence. The show features works by over a dozen artists including Timo Arnall, Agnieszka Kurant, Kate Crawford, Vladan Joler, Harun Farocki, Trevor Paglen, George Légrády, Holly Herndon, Mat Dryhurst, Hito Steyerl, Occitane Lacurie, Barnabé Sauvage, Daniel Felstead, and Jenn Leung. The exhibition's dystopian architecture, with gray walls and visible cables, sets the tone. Key works include Arnall's 'Internet Machine' (2013), Kurant's use of metals like cobalt and nickel, Crawford and Joler's historical timelines, and Steyerl's 'Mechanical Kurds' about micro-workers in a refugee camp in northern Iraq. The show critiques Western AI development, omitting China's role, and addresses issues like propaganda, bias, and resource extraction. A highlight is Légrády's 1992 text-to-image experiment, still functional online. The exhibition closes with Felstead and Leung's 'Welcome to Jankspace, Babes,' a fever dream emphasizing that 'slime is the revenge of the real.'