In the Loop: On Artificial Intelligence and Time

This year's thehost.is artistic residency is hosted by Dreaming Beyond AI and aims to explore the relationship between time and AI. The organisers are looking for five artists in residence who will work individually and together to interrogate this topic in an artistic way.

We are seeing an increasing popularity and impact of AI applications ranging from large language models (LLMs), and image generation systems to social media recommendation algorithms. These technologies are shaping our society and, in turn, are being shaped by our changing society.

On the user side, popular artificial intelligence applications sell time by enabling users to perform certain cognitive tasks at higher speeds. While some may enjoy an increased sense of productivity, however, others see their time shrink as they manually sort, classify, and label millions of images for $2/hour.

Similarly, predictive algorithms exacerbate loops of being surveilled, of assumed repeat offenders, and of specific at-risk individuals. AI furthers a colonial capitalist logic along the lines of North/South, race, class, gender, and other systems of oppression.

AI itself acts as a “grand narrative” that shapes our understanding of the world and its temporality such as its future(s). Many forms of AI build on transhumanist and accelerationist narratives from science fiction and speculative arts that suggest possible futures and timelines. These tech-centric and often dystopian stories are taken up and acted upon by the tech industry actors, and thus in turn shape our present/realities and our understanding of time as a grand narrative.

How can we “dream beyond what is” in order to inspire new directions for the future and experience generative presents?

They would like to invite applicants to artistically engage with the above topics and submit a short project idea that can be worked on within two months and will result in an artistic output. In terms of content, they are looking for submissions that, for instance, make current mechanisms and effects of AI and temporality clear and understandable for a broad audience. Similarly, they are looking for proposals/visions for alternatives, more just presents that question current hegemonic orders. They explicitly invite emerging artists to apply for this program.

The residency will be compensated with 4000€ and will take place online and offline: 23.-30.06.2023 near Hamburg, Germany (in person) and July and September (digital). The projects will be presented by the artists in residence in Hamburg in the frame of a symposium.

Within their residency, participants will receive creative sparring with the artists Idil Galip, Moisés Horta, Neema Githere, Petja Ivanova, and Vanessa A. Opoku. The residency is conceptualized by Dreaming Beyond AI and is realized in cooperation with ifa, Deichtorhallen Hamburg and Kampnagel within the framework of thehost.is residency program.

Please apply here until April 23, 2023.

The call is open to individuals, persons from self-organized groups, and persons from collectives, who deal with societal issues in an activist, artistic, cultural-media, political-image, scientific, bodily/somatic or another way. They explicitly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color / Women / LGBTQIA+ / dis_abled and emerging artists.

The residency will consist of an in-person part and a digital part. 23.-On the 30th of June, you will all meet in person in a cottage outside of Hamburg, Germany, and spend a week getting to know each other, brainstorming, crafting, discussing, and relaxing. The residents will start a digital residency (July as well as September 2023), culminating in a presentation of their work at Kampnagel/Deichtorhallen (format and date to be decided). During the digital residency, there will be digital touchpoints with the other fellows and the sparring partners (see below). The outcomes of the residency will finally be integrated as new contributions into the Dreaming Beyond AI platform.

The artists in residence will thus participate in two in-person meet-up formats as well as the digital residency. In addition, they need to provide materials on their work process for publication, as well as be available for public relations/press, if necessary.