on view
White Cube Bermondsey’s “meys” features works the artist has created using GPT3 and DALL-E.
The very name “artificial intelligence” tends to place these technological developments in opposition to the natural world. Offering a fresh perspective, London-based French artist Marguerite Humeau has reimagined her AI as a kind of collective intelligence, like that shared by ants, termites and bees.
Humo tested the idea by working with AI to help create video productions. collective foaming (2023) and a ceramic mural for the solo exhibition “meys” at White Cube Bermondsey in South London, which will be on display until May 14th.
The show is inspired by eusocial insects that, thanks to their instinct to cooperate, are able to accomplish incredible engineering feats relative to their size and individual abilities. Each of these strange yet sophisticated works is in some way the result of the ‘collective consciousness’. These works make the viewer think about what we humans want to learn from these seemingly insignificant pests.
“There are life forms that survive us. How can we accept them as guides or companions in order to understand how to navigate our own future?” can you?” Humo asked.
In the first room of the exhibition, Humeau is seen reviving past intelligences and building upon them. In this case, the intelligence of Polish artist Adam Kosowski, who in 1965 created a large mosaic for the Peckham Civic Center, also in south London. his work, History of Old Kent Roadis currently slated for demolition, but Humoh decided to give it an AI update by creating a new vision of the post-apocalyptic city with the help of the GPT3 algorithm. It appears as a series of hand-carved tiles, or “fragments.”
Marguerite Humeau Old Kent Road History (After Kosowski) Fragments I-V (2023).Photo credit: White Cube
Marguerite Humeau Old Kent Road History (After Kosowski) Fragment XI (2023).Photo credit: White Cube
In Kossowski’s original mural, a careful eye can spot a single Camberwell Beauty butterfly. In Humor’s version, this insect appears in hordes, a reminder that the end of the world for mankind may give other populations a chance to regenerate.
the film collective foaming It studies the harmonious, choreographed behavior of termites living within mounds, capturing the excitement of their shared vitality. Just like humans run farms, these insects must also create and cultivate fungal gardens as a communal food source. Again Humo used his popular AI text image generator DALL-E from OpenAI to generate images that fantasize about this process as a ritual dance.
Marguerite Humeau collective foaming (2023). The artist used in part his DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generation model, to generate this image. Photo: © Marguerite Humeau.
Marguerite Humeau collective foaming (2023). The artist used in part his DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generation model, to generate this image. Photo: © Marguerite Humeau.
Marguerite Humeau collective foaming (2023). The artist used in part his DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generation model, to generate this image. Photo: © Marguerite Humeau.
Elsewhere on the show, Humeau explores more traditional forms of collaboration and interdependence by working with a collective of artisans with complementary and diverse skills. Each specializing in different types of materials such as glass, terracotta, wax and wood, they have collaborated on a highly complex series of sculptures whose shapes are clearly inspired by the organic world. Staged within a dimly lit gallery space, these fantastical ‘totems’ or ‘guardians’ recall the layered branches of coral, the repetitive grooves of mushrooms, or the porous surfaces of beehives.
Check out some of these works below.
Installation view of Marguerite Humeau’s exhibition “meys” at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo: Ollie Hammick, © White Cube.
Installation view of Marguerite Humeau’s exhibition “meys” at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo: Ollie Hammick, © White Cube.
Installation view of Marguerite Humeau’s exhibition “meys” at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo: Ollie Hammick, © White Cube.
Installation view of Marguerite Humeau’s exhibition “meys” at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo: Ollie Hammick, © White Cube.
Installation view of Marguerite Humeau’s exhibition “meys” at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo: Ollie Hammick, © White Cube.
‘meys’ is on display at White Cube Bermondsey, 144-152 Bermondsey Street, London until 14th May.
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