Denver Art Museum quietly debuts ‘Us’, first AI-generated work

You hear “Us” before you see “Us”.

That’s because the voice narration of a hypnotic five-minute video titled “Us” echoes off the loft ceilings and hard floors of the Denver Art Museum, part of an ongoing exhibition.

The volume of the video increases as the visitor approaches the final room of the exhibit, where “Us” plays on a loop in front of a long black sofa. This is the only animated display in the exhibition “From the Near East to the Far West,” and is very different from the dozens of paintings that preceded it.

It’s not just for its artistic medium. According to the museum, “Us” is the first-ever artificial intelligence work on display at the Denver Art Museum. As a result, there was concern and discussion within the company regarding this matter.

Conceived by two indigenous artists, poet Jennifer Elise Forster (Muskok) and visual artist Steve Yazee (Navajo/Laguna Pueblo), Us is a larger exhibition Near East, Far West” is a response to the show, which opens on March 5 and ends in May. 29) critically examines the influence of ‘Orientalism’ and ‘Exoticism’ by French and American painters who painted indigenous peoples from the late 19th century to his early 20th century.

This unique collaboration sets Foerster’s poems in animated images assembled from dozens of paintings on display. Its goal is to provide an “intentionally unsettling” vision that not only honors the theme of indigenous representation, but also adds simulated heat glows and other motion his graphic effects to the vortex of the image. both to do. Yazzy then tweaked the video to better fit Foerster’s poetry and his own aesthetic, he said.

In an interview from her home in Santa Fe, Foerster told the Denver Post that she and Yazzy weren’t trying to create the first museum piece using AI. The project just got them there.

“How do you get 80 paintings back with 1 poem?” Foerster asked. “When I told[Yaggy]how I wrote poetry line by line while looking at the paintings, he started thinking about his AI because it was a similar process… It cannot help but generate such broad cultural associations.”

Yazzie used two different AI software programs, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. Both create new images by sampling and recombining existing images, with sometimes disturbing effects. These and other “generative” AI programs have sparked class action lawsuits and global controversy over the past year for blurring the line between original and computer-generated work.

One such controversy was sparked by Colorado designer Jason Allen. After winning first place in the digital category at last year’s Colorado State Fair, he launched a public campaign in March to seek copyright for his own AI art piece, “Theater Dopera Spatial.” When his copyright application was denied by the U.S. Copyright Office, he hired a lawyer and told the Denver Post he was “ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court.”

But for at least one museum official who recently sent an anonymous letter to museum director Christoph Heinrich, crossing that vague line is a problem.

The official noted that nowhere on the museum walls did it say the videos were created using AI software. To find out, visitors should read a booklet sandwiched between holders on either side of the screen, or read a blog post on the museum’s website. The message, confirmed by the Denver Post, also warns of a potential “legal nightmare” that dilutes copyright in art and the ethical ramifications of taking AI to the gallery level.

“There is no ethical way to use Midjourney or Stable Diffusion (AI software) without directly harming the artist, stealing from an uncredited artist, or violating copyright,” the employee said. writes.

Museum curators and leaders declined interview requests. But museum communications manager Andy Sinclair said in a statement to the Denver Post that the museum’s approach to AI is still evolving.

“There are serious questions about AI as a whole and the intersection of technology and art,” she wrote. “We look forward to continuing this dialogue internally with our museum colleagues and the wider arts community.”

Eric Berkemeyer, project manager at the Denver Art Museum, also touched on the subject in his March 13th blog post on “Us.”

“While we were aware of our concerns about technology, this project provided us with an opportunity to explore the constructive and creative possibilities of artificial intelligence,” he wrote. “Because AI draws on huge databases of visual sources, it can also reflect on us the prejudices and stereotypes that permeate our culture.”

Yazy, who recently completed the Artist in Residence program at DAM and serves on the Indigenous Communities Advisory Board, understands why AI is problematic, but also supports the use of AI by artists. said there is. “Whether it’s AI or immersive technology, art experiences still require human interaction,” he told the Denver Post. “I never think it’s blocking my practice. It’s just another paintbrush in a can.”