Link: A feature article and video on the event
Renowned poet Nick Flynn, in collaboration with David Rokeby, media artist and director of the BMO Lab for Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies & Artificial Intelligence at the University of Toronto, presented a groundbreaking interactive performance at the Moody Center, Rice University, on April 12, 2024. Titled “THEY ARE FALLING ALL AROUND ME / Postcards from the Edge of Latent Space,” the event explored the intersection of image, poetry, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Flynn and Rokeby were joined by Rice professor and composer Anthony Brandt for a conversation on the ethical implications and artistic possibilities after the performance.
For the past year, Flynn, alongside David Rokeby and Natalie Klym, curator of the Lab’s AI as Foil residency program, has been pioneering an innovative blend of artistic expression and cutting-edge technology. The collaborative performance features a unique real-time voice-to-scrolling image generator, developed by Rokeby, fine-tuned on a dataset derived from Flynn’s latest book, Low.
The AI system responds dynamically to live voice provocations delivered by Flynn during the performance, creating an ever-changing scroll of images. Flynn’s poems, collages, and prompts serve as the foundation, guiding the AI to generate visually stunning and surreal images.
The performance premiered in New Orleans in December 2023 at NeurIPs, the largest gathering of AI scientists in the world.
Nick Flynn reflects on the project, stating, “In this moment where AI is making its way into our collective subconscious, this project suggests one possible future—a conversation between human creativity and artificial intelligence.”
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