Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group (AIAARG)

Poster

Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Exhibition:
Hard Problem of Aesthetic Consciousness

Organized by | Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group, Informel Nakagawamura Museum, Wasp Museum
Under the sponsorship of | Nakagawa Village Education Committee, The Hachijuni Culture Foundation
Under the Auspices of | The Agency for Cultural Affairs "ARTs for the future!"
WEB SITE | www.aibigeiken.com/exhibition2021/
All details | Pamphlet ( 12 pages PDF )

Purpose

The term “artificial intelligence” (AI) is inherently disturbing. This is because it has an aspect of otherness in addition to the aspect of technology. About the technological aspect, AI has made dramatic progress in the 2010s, known as the “3rd AI boom,” with deep learning methods and other technologies. However, for the aspect of otherness, research on artificial consciousness, which is the key to this aspect, has only just reached the starting point. What is called “AI-created art” is nothing more than a product of human beings using the technology of artificial intelligence, and therefore not something that goes beyond the scope of our human aesthetics; this is the current situation in 2021.

Then, let's say it in the opposite direction. We want to pursue the possibility and future of the emergence of true artificial intelligence, which creates aesthetics and creates art. And we would like to re-question the essence of beauty, art, and human existence, which would be threatened by it.

Now, both “artificial consciousness” and “aesthetic consciousness” are still not free from the yoke of the “hard problem of consciousness” proposed by the Australian philosopher David Charmers in the 1990s. Rather, the subjective experience of consciousness, which is supposed to guarantee the otherness of artificial intelligence, has not been described by existing physics, which is a barrier that stands in the way. If so, this purpose would have to be resubmitted as a “hard problem of aesthetic consciousness.”

“Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Exhibition: Hard Problem of Aesthetic Consciousness” will question the essence of aesthetics and art while thinking about artificial intelligence as the other with an aesthetic consciousness. One of the venues, the “Informel Nakagawamura Museum,” is the only museum in Japan that specializes in the collection and exhibition of Art Informel paintings, which shook the existing human aesthetic consciousness with their having-no-form abstractions in the mid-20th century. The “Wasp Museum” is literally the world's only museum of the wonders displaying a large number of giant nests, created by hundreds of thousands of wasps as the other, neither humans nor artificial intelligence, through their “swarm intelligence.” While reinterpreting the significance of these collections in terms of art and the aesthetics of artificial intelligence, this exhibition will feature works by nearly 40 artists in three museums, including the “Old Ceramic Studio,” as well as two music concerts, four research symposiums, and one film screening.

As a vivid response to artificial intelligence as the other, we would like to mention that the NPO Corporation “AI Patronage Group” will be established on the occasion of this exhibition. In addition, the aforementioned “swarm intelligence” and the new concept of “conceptual virus” will be highlighted, and as a pioneer of artificial intelligence music, almost all of the nearly 50 pieces of Mexican composer Conlon Nancarrow's “Studies for Player Piano” will be performed for the first time in the main land of Japan over an eight-day period, along with an exhibition of rolled paper.

We hope you will take a look at this exhibition that questions the hard problem of aesthetic consciousness and the creation of art by non-human others.

Concept

Divide aesthetics (≒ appreciation) into that of humans and that of machines. Divide art (≒ creation) into that of humans and that of machines. The exhibition will be divided into the four categories created in this way.

【Ⅰ】 Human Aesthetics / Human Art
It is what is now generally considered as art. Since the Renaissance, humans have created their own art according to their own aesthetics in many forms of art.
The only work in this category that will be shown in this exhibition is Takashi Shimizu's Title Unknown (Atelier). In this work, the sculptor creates the work while looking at (appreciating) the model, which is truly human art through human aesthetics.

【Ⅱ】 Machine Aesthetics / Human Art
The Eiffel Tower, for example, faced opposition movement against its construction because of its machine-like appearance, which exposed its structural calculations, and was considered “ugly” at the time. This is a good example of machine aesthetics deviating from human aesthetics. Many of the contemporary arts that are often rejected as “difficult” belong to this category. These include “systemic art,” which is created mechanically based on certain rules, “serialist composition,” which is full of dissonance as a result of the equal use of 12 notes in the chromatic scale, and “concrete poetry,” in which letters are mechanically listed without any representation of their meaning.
Jiro Yoshihara, the creator of the large oil painting Work in the collection of the Informel Nakagawamura Museum, issued the “Gutai Art Manifesto,” which states, “The material is not absorbed by the spirit. The spirit does not force the material into submission.” It can be included in this category in the sense that it does not impose human aesthetics on the material. Note that in this category, human aesthetics may catch up with machine aesthetics, as everyone now thinks the Eiffel Tower is beautiful.

【Ⅲ】 Human Aesthetics / Machine Art
It is art made by machines in accordance with human aesthetics. This refers to what is now considered “art created by artificial intelligence,” but most of it is created by humans running automatic control programs to meet the aesthetic needs of humans. In this sense, it cannot strictly be said that the work was created by a machine, but in this exhibition, such examples will be shown as one of the achievements as of 2021. For example, the cover of this pamphlet is a work output from an AI program “Deep Dream,” which was run by us, humans (Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group).
By the way, the pearls produced by the Akoya oyster without any intention as art are imposed a great deal of human aesthetics on them (Shigeru Shosan, Akoya Pearl). Surprisingly, the appreciation of such natural beauty can also be considered in this category.

【Ⅳ】 Machine Aesthetics / Machine Art (and the path to it)
It is an art that machines make for themselves, according to their own aesthetics. This requires an artificial aesthetic consciousness and an artificial self consciousness, and therefore, it is something that is completely unattainable at present, but it is still something we want to see and something we aim for. The exhibition will include conceptual art works and presentations by researchers, which are seeking to do so, as well as the “Manifesto of Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics” drafted in 2016. As a way to get there, we will also exhibit our new works such as the establishment of the NPO Corporation “AI Patronage Group” that deals with artificial consciousness, and “Conceptual Virus” as an artificial half-life.
In addition, the giant four-meter-long wasp nests on display at the Wasp Museum are the result of human intervention in the nesting of a swarm of non-human intelligent wasps. The marvel of “swarm intelligence,” in which individual wasps have only simple intelligence, but when they swarm together, they develop advanced intelligence of a different dimension, must be an important suggestion in this category.

Artists

Concert

Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Concert

■■AI Thinking Composition / Conceptual Virus Music
December 12 (Sun) 14:30-16:00 (Open 14:00) | NV Sound Hall

■ Part 1: “AI Thinking Composition” by Yannick Paget
...So mankind created AI in his own image (2021) *World premiere
--- A research on creative process, looking at human and AI's future relationship ---
I. From Human
II. The new order
Composition, electronic and percussions: Yannick Paget
Clarinet, bass clarinet and Eb clarinet: Mami Nakamura
Cello: William Prunkl
Live video, 3D scanning: Sagar Patel

■ Part 2: “Conceptual Virus Music” by Motoharu Kawashima
--- Complex rhythms proliferate, mutate, and possess objects ---

Sonata for Bass Drum No. 1 (2021) *World premiere
Composition: Shiori Sasaki / Performance: Shiori Sasaki, Motoharu Kawashima

And then I knew 'twas Virus (2021) *World premiere
Composition: Motoharu Kawashima / Performance: Motoharu Kawashima, Shiori Sasaki

■■Swarm Intelligence Composition, or Music Without Full Score
December 19 (Sun) 14:30-16:00 (Open 14:00) | NV Sound Hall

■ “Swarm Intelligence Composition, or Music Without Full Score” by Kyo Ichinose
--- 14 shakuhachi players walk around and music appears ---

Meguri III-B (2021) *World premiere
Composed and PC manipulated by Kyo Ichinose
PA by Flysound, Shintaro Tanaka

Intermission Talk (language: Japanese)
Panelist: Kyo Ichinose (Composer), Dozan Fujiwara (Shakuhachi Player), Hideki Nakazawa (AIAARG)

Meguri III (1997)
Composed by Kyo Ichinose
Shakuhachi player: Dozan Fujiwara, Koichiro Aoki, Kouju Ishibashi, Yuji Ohga, Aizan Okuda, Douju Kasahara, Zenji Kazama, Koki Sato, Kohzan Shiba, Ken-ichi Tajima, Shozan Hasegawa, Keizan Higuchi, Hozan Murasawa, Eizan Yoshikoshi

Admission |
Please present your “Exhibition Passport for All 3 Museums” at the reception desk and pay the participation fee as follows:
▶¥2000 for adults ▶¥1500 for residents and employees of Nakagawa Village, elementary, junior high and high school students ▶free admission for preschool children
- Please pay in cash.
- You can also purchase the “Exhibition Passport for All 3 Museums” at ArtSticker or at the reception desk.
- Capacity is 50 people. Advance reservations are recommended to yoyaku@aibigeiken.com .
- Depending on the status of infectious diseases, we may take measures such as reducing the number of visitors.
●After party at Irori Nakagawa Tei (Matagi cuisine) | 18:00-21:30 | ¥5000 (Breakfast included for the next day) | Advance reservation required at the email address above for infection control purposes.

■■Pioneer of the Artificial Intelligence Music
Conlon Nancarrow Studies for Player Piano
●First performance in the main land of Japan! Almost all of the nearly 50 rolls will be auto-played continuously over 8 days
December 6 (Mon), 7 (Tue), 9 (Thu), 10 (Fri), 13 (Mon), 14 (Tue), 16 (Thu), 17 (Fri)
10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30, 15:30, 16:30
●Play a roll every hour except for lunch break @Entrance at the Main Building, Informel Nakagawamura Museum

Symposium

AI Art & Aesthetics Research Meeting Symposium

■The 36th AI Art & Aesthetics Research Meeting Symposium
“Hard Problem of Aesthetic Consciousness - 2”
December 5 (Sun) 14:30-17:30 (Open 14:00) | Training Room at Bougakusou
Lecture | Masataka Watanabe (Assoc.Prof., The Univ. of Tokyo Graduate School of Eng. Visiting Researcher, Max Planck Institute.)
Lecture | Koichi Takahashi (RIKEN. Whole Brain Architecture Initiative. Keio Univ.)
Short Speech | Hideki Nakazawa, Mika Kusakari (Artist. Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group.)

■The 37th AI Art & Aesthetics Research Meeting Symposium
“Inaugural Meeting of NPO Corporation AI Patronage Group”
December 8 (Wed) 14:30-17:30 (Open 14:00) | Training Room at Bougakusou
Lecture | Fuminori Akiba (Prof., Graduate School of Informatics Dept. of Social Informatics, Nagoya Univ.)
Lecture | Takehiro Ohya (Prof. of Jurisprudence, Keio Univ. Faculty of Law.)
Short Speech | Hideki Nakazawa, Mika Kusakari (Artist. Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group.)

■The 38th AI Art & Aesthetics Research Meeting Symposium
“Conceptual Virus”
December 11 (Sat) 14:30-17:30 (Open 14:00) | Training Room at Bougakusou
Lecture | Kenji Doya (Prof., Neural Computation Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate Univ.)
Lecture | Takaaki Mizuno (Software Developer. Nexus FrontierTech CTO. Synqa Group CTO.)
Short Speech | Hideki Nakazawa, Mika Kusakari (Artist. Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group.)

■The 39th AI Art & Aesthetics Research Meeting Symposium
“Swarm Intelligence”
December 18 (Sat) 14:30-17:30 (Open 14:00) | Training Room at Bougakusou
Lecture | Satoshi Kurihara (Prof., Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio Univ. Director, Center of Advanced Research for Human-AI Symbiosis Society, Keio Univ.)
Lecture | Toru Moriyama (Associate Professor, Shinshu Univ.)
Special Lecture | Asakazu Tominaga (Researcher on Bees and Wasps. Producer of the Wasp Museum.)
Short Speech | Hideki Nakazawa, Mika Kusakari (Artist. Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group.)

Lecture |
* Lecturers may be added.
* General discussion will follow the lectures. Language: Japanese.
* We will film and live-tweet the lectures and discussions. We will release the recorded video at a later date.

Admission |
Everyone is welcome to join.
Please present your “Exhibition Passport for All 3 Museums” at the reception desk and pay the participation fee as follows:
▶¥1500 for adults ▶¥1000 for residents and employees of Nakagawa Village, elementary, junior high and high school students ▶free admission for preschool children
- Please pay in cash.
- You can also purchase the “Exhibition Passport for All 3 Museums” at ArtSticker or at the reception desk.
- If you bring the discount coupon of the book S/N, you can get 500 yen discount.
- Capacity is 50 people. Advance reservations are recommended to yoyaku@aibigeiken.com
- Depending on the status of infectious diseases, we may take measures such as reducing the number of visitors.
●After party at Irori Nakagawa Tei (Matagi cuisine) | 18:00-21:30 | ¥5000 (Breakfast included for the next day) | Advance reservation required at the email address above for infection control purposes.

Film Preview

Calendar

●---------- 10:30-13:00
Informel Nakagawamura
Museum, Wasp Museum, Old Ceramics Studio
Gallery Tour

●---------- 14:30-17:00
Informel Nakagawamura Museum, Wasp Museum, Old Ceramics Studio
Opening Reception

Acccess

>>Google MAP

Basic Infomation

[ Inquiry ] ■Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group (AIAARG) Main：info@aibigeiken.com Booking：yoyaku@aibigeiken.com ■Informel Nakagawamura Museum Tel：＋81(0)265-88-2680 E-mail： museuminf@cek.ne.jp ■Bougakusou Tel：＋81(0)265-88-2033 E-mail： museuminf@cek.ne.jp https://hpdsp.jp/bougakusou/en/

Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Exhibition　|　Hard Problem of Aesthetic Consciousness Download PDF（E/J : Bilingual.： Page12） Please check the exhibition website for the latest information.

AIAARG	Informel Nakagawamura Museum	Wasp Museum	Bougakuso
IMANISHIKI	NAKAGAWAMURA	Bougakuso	ARTs for the future!