Art and Design Merge With Science and Technology for Innovative Storytelling and Impact-based Experiences at SIGGRAPH 2023
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30 June 2023
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“Returning the Gaze” © Julian Ceipek: Software Assistance This installation is supported by Universal Robots for ANNAKIKI’s Milan Fashion Week.
Art and Design Merge With Science and Technology for Innovative Storytelling and Impact-based Experiences at SIGGRAPH 2023
The Art Gallery and Art Papers Programs Provide a Platform for Artists to Highlight Engagement, Inclusivity, and Multidisciplinary Approaches
CHICAGO—SIGGRAPH 2023, the premier conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques, celebrates its 50th year of breakthroughs and innovation. The advancements of art and science are on display through selected works from the Art Gallery and Art Papers programs. Artists will showcase projects that represent new approaches to unexplored stories through their artistic worldview. The 50th annual conference runs 6–10 August 2023 in person in Los Angeles, with a companion Virtual Access component.
SIGGRAPH’s 50th conference serves as a platform for a retrospective in art and design, as well as promoting gender equality, diversity, and inclusivity in the digital art community. By recognizing and commemorating underrepresented groups, the Art Gallery and Art Papers programs serve as inspiration for future generations of artists. The future of art and technology, creative approaches, and powerful ideas can blur the boundaries between art and technology and many disciplines toward a more inclusive and vibrant future for digital art.
“This year’s selected works are very powerful and reflect many current social, cultural, and environmental issues,” said Yoon Chung Han, SIGGRAPH 2023 Art Gallery Chair. “Time capsules contain elements that allude to the past, present, and future. They preserve a collection of everyday artifacts, memories, data, information, and messages to the future. Art has emerged from the constant evolution of technology over time that examines our cultural and societal practices and provokes alternative viewpoints to facilitate the discussion about global issues.”
The Art Gallery program features the theme of “Time Capsules: Discovering the Undiscovered.” From the 100-plus submissions, 12 projects were selected that represent the timely, critical, and creative expressions in artificial intelligence, robotics, animal-human hybrid, virtual reality, sensing devices, data art, interactive sculptures, space, and human bodies.
Robotics is an important technology and has been used by many artists to address and question human-machine relationships. With “Returning the Gaze,” this timely installation by artist Behnaz Farahi addresses feminism and gender issues through robotics, gaze, and camera-sensing technology. “Conservation of Shadows” is a creative expression installation by Haru Ji and Graham Wakefield. This is the newest version of the artists’ installation, and the generative art experience features artificial nature in mixed reality. The experience is created with AI and combines interaction in VR for an immersing experience. These are just two of the impactful installations that will be on display at this year’s conference.
The SIGGRAPH 2023 Art Papers program bridges culture and technology, encouraging artists, designers, researchers, and engineers to rethink and explore the future of our society. Art must recognize the creativity of technology, while technology should acknowledge the capacity of art to produce reliable knowledge. Submissions explored how computer graphics and interactive techniques — especially those linked to recent developments in AI, machine learning, robotics, the metaverse, AR, and even blockchain — relate to societal and environmental questions.
“Technologies open new fields of exploration for artists, new ‘canvases,’ combining moving images, sounds, interactions, sensors, and more,” said Nicolas Henchoz, SIGGRAPH 2023 Art Papers Chair. “Generative AI forces people to think about the very notion of creativity, the role of production, the concept of intention, authorship, and perception. Therefore, we need to have artists addressing the questions raised by emerging technologies, investigating disruptive practices, and usages. The objective is to push artistic practices to go beyond criticism and be part of a solution, as has occurred during the Renaissance, the Bauhaus movement, or even hippie modernism.”
The Art Papers program showcases how art and design, combined with science and engineering, become more active in shaping, communicating, and building solutions for people, society, and even the planet. The next generation of artists engages in transdisciplinary projects, anticipated to have a larger impact.
“Movement Quality Visualization for Wheelchair Dance” is a system that can establish visual representations of wheelchair dances — describing movement, including emotional and expressive content. This research by Yurui Xie, Giulia Barbareschi, Ayesha Nabila, Kai Kunze, and Masa Inakage plays a major role in inclusivity and opening cultural perspectives while demonstrating the value of transdisciplinary research. “Kiss/Crash: Using Diffusion Models to Explore Real Desire in the Shadow of Artificial Representations” is an installation using AI imagery to explore the theme of desire and the expanding gap between real experience and artificial representation in the digital age. This installation by Adam Cole and Mick Grierson spurs critical thinking about the current debate on imagery and AI. These Art Papers are just two of the varied topics one will explore at SIGGRAPH 2023.
Learn more about how art and design play a role at SIGGRAPH 2023 by reviewing Art Papers on the full program and adding a visit to the Art Gallery to your conference schedule. Bookmark the ACM SIGGRAPH Blog for interviews and deep dives into these fascinating topics on the forefront of art and technology. For more information about the conference and the various programs and opportunities to experience at SIGGRAPH 2023, or to register to attend in person or online, go to s2023.SIGGRAPH.org/register.
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About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH, and SIGGRAPH 2023
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field’s challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The SIGGRAPH conference is the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2023, the 50th annual conference hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH, will take place live 6–10 August at the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with a virtual access option.
