Artificial Imagination & Dalí
Stepping into the 'Dalí Cybernetics' exhibition showcased in an old industrial building in Copenhagen, I was enveloped by the ambient sounds from the immersive spaces that narrated Salvador Dalí's captivating life journey. One quote from the exhibit continues to resonate within me:
“Man cannot change or escape his time.
The eye sees the present and the future”
These words allude the critical role that perception plays in shaping our understanding of both the current moment and the potential futures ahead. We need to understand the significance of being part of the present reality while maintaining a forward-looking perspective on what is to come. While we may be products of our time, we can still strive to comprehend and anticipate the future, using our perception as a tool for understanding and navigating the world around us.
NO HUMAN IN THE LOOP
Dalí envisioned a future where machines could autonomously think and create art. This vision materialized within the exhibition's main space, where an immersive video was playing entirely generated by an AI algorithm meticulously analyzing thousands of Dalí's works. The creation process remained untouched by human intervention, highlighting the capabilities of AI in bringing to life the products of human imagination.
The exciting 20-minute reel unfolded within a space where the walls and floors animated with Dali's essence, a product of the AI's profound understanding of the artist's style and concepts. As we found ourselves immersed in the otherworldly displays of AI-generated art, it became clear that the distinction between human creativity and artificial intelligence is gradually fading. The capabilities of AI to animate the products of human imagination is still at an early stage but already very powerful. We will see an increasing blurring the boundaries between what is concrete and what is abstract, what is real and what is surreal.
It's no wonder OpenAI's text-to-model is named DALL-E, a fitting homage to Dali's groundbreaking vision and the realization of his artistic legacy in the digital realm. The experience culminated in ultimate immersion into Dali's universe via a VR headset, plunging into what was aptly termed "Dalí’s Metaverse," an immersive experience that breathed new life into his artwork, surrounding us with its vivid manifestations.
ART & SCIENCE, SCIENCE & ART
During the experience, it struck me how deeply Salvador Dalí drew inspiration from science for his art. Most people might think of him as a surrealist painter but he found inspiration in the realms of Freudian psychoanalysis, Jung's exploration of dreams, the symbolism of DNA, the complexities of quantum mechanics, the intricacies of atomic particles and many other fields. His famous soft watches, for instance, have been seen as references to Einstein's theory of the relativity of time and space.
I learned Salvador Dalí's scientific inspirations reflect his belief that scientific exploration possesses the capacity to generate hypotheses and theories that are on par with any other human endeavor, both in terms of their creativity and their potential to reshape our perceptions of the world. Dalí put into practice an understanding of creativity as the ability to conceive ideas and create artifacts that are not only innovative and unexpected but also hold intrinsic value.
Following his view, the intersections between art and science are explorations into the vast expanse of the universe, the intricacies of the mind, the tangible realities, and the endlessness of imagination. That imagination should serve a reminder in our day-and-age, where where human imagination often seems constrained. We need to become better at looking outside our existing frame to discover the new and the unknown.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURISTS
The immersiveness of the experience had a much bigger impact on me than simply walking through a museum with Dalí's art. While this was a carefully crafted exhibition, it taught me that if we manage to do the same with futures and foresight, we can move people out of their reality and into new worlds. That could have a much more significant effect on them than just reading a report or watching a presentation.
Three key lessons from Dalí's legacy
We must recognize how our current surroundings shape us, while also being open to shaping the future in new ways in spite of any existing biases and influences.
We need to rethink our view of creativity and imagination and what it means. Art moves us and machines are not going away. How can humans and machines co-create exciting and meaningful works that can improve immersion?
We have to curiously look outside the boundaries of our own reality and ways of thinking to discover novelty and find inspiration. Art and science is more connected than we might think.
