AI, Augmentation and Art

Integration of art and technology has proven to be both a help and

a hindrance to both artists/creatives and consumers alike. For example,

the internet has permitted an increase in collaborative artistic practice,

opportunities to share works of art with fans and friends, and has

sometimes offset the financial burden of having to operate in a marketplace

where it is ‘unknown’ how creativity will be received before its consumption.

Some technological interventions have produced backlash and questions

about authentic creative practice. Musical artists, for instance, are criticized

for the ongoing use of autotune. Today, the gamut of this intersection of

art and technology runs from the commercial side that has made ‘real’

the virtual actor across to the art side where the digital projection of

animated experiences of Van Gogh’s greatest works populates the walls

of entertainment facilities. Within this spectrum, technological influences,

augmentations and directions are revolutionizing the production and

consumption of art, while others have undermined the symbolic nature of

these creative products.

In the twenty-first century, we are increasingly seeing the insertion of

machine creativity alongside or even on top of the human artist with greater

attention needed on the role of the technical artefact in the entire creative

process. Artistic expression has long been considered the purview of the

people, when, in fact, more attention could be levelled at the influence of

technology on creative products and experiences. What is clear is that

artists and creatives continue to explore the capacity of technology to evolve

their craft to make it more accessible, challenge genres and conventions, for

both commercial, educational, and intrinsic motivations.

For this Special Issue, we are interested in how changes in technology

are directly impacting artists, creatives, producers and/or the consumer,

aficionado or fans to start conversations around issues such as ‘where to

next?’, ‘what constitutes art?’, ‘has art lost its “meaning”?’, ‘who is the real

creator/author?’ or ‘has creativity developed new meanings altogether?’ The

Special Issue will explore, then, whether the practices of art and creativity

hinge on new forms of technological determinism and how technology is

impacting creative outputs and experiences from the movie set to the fine

art gallery.