AI and Artistic Memory: The Error in Transposition
Davide Vizzini explores the connection between AI mind-reading experiments and artistic creation, arguing that art resides in the error of transposition from memory. He references Kamitani Lab's fMRI-based image reconstruction, comparing its blurry outputs to works by Monet, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud. Vizzini posits that artists consciously navigate a 'perceptual fog' of memories, and the artwork is the distance between the model and its transposition. He cites Trisha Baga's ceramic reproductions of everyday objects as an example of deliberate imprecision. The article also discusses musical variations by Max Richter, Peter Gregson, and Hélène Grimaud as explicit transpositions. Vizzini extends the concept to architecture, emphasizing that the creative process involves a non-linear movement through perception and memory.
Key facts
- Kamitani Lab at Kyoto University used fMRI data to reconstruct images seen by subjects.
- The AI software compares brain data with a database of key images using deep learning.
- Reconstructed images have a vagueness compared to Monet, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud.
- Vizzini argues art is the distance between transposition and the original model.
- Trisha Baga's works feature everyday objects reproduced in ceramics with deliberate imprecision.
- Musical variations by Max Richter, Peter Gregson, and Hélène Grimaud are cited as examples of declared transposition.
- Vizzini equates perception and thought, citing Merleau-Ponty.
- The article concludes that architecture also involves transposition from a reference model.
- Vizzini is an architect and founder of DVDV Studio Architetti.
- The article was published on Artribune in 2021.
Entities
Artists
- Davide Vizzini
- Massimiliano Lowe
- Trisha Baga
- Claude Monet
- Francis Bacon
- Lucian Freud
- Max Richter
- Peter Gregson
- Hélène Grimaud
- Antonio Vivaldi
- J.S. Bach
- Saul Steinberg
- Ken Heyman
- Luigina Mortari
- Maria Zambrano
- Merleau-Ponty
Institutions
- Kamitani Lab
- Kyoto University
- Politecnico di Milano
- DVDV Studio Architetti
- Artribune
Locations
- Kyoto
- Japan
- Milan
- Italy