Fri 01.01.2021 Research Project: Training the Archive

Visual Archives and Artificial Intelligence
Training the Archive (2020–2023) explored the possibilities and risks of AI in relation to the automated structuring of museum collection data to support curatorial practice and artistic production. The HMKV Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund, cooperated with the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen and the Visual Computing Institute at RWTH Aachen University.

The term 'artificial intelligence' is addressed from a critical perspective in Training the Archive. It was debated whether the term 'intelligence' or 'cognition' is appropriate at all. Which terms could possibly be used in its place? For the intended project, for example, 'pattern recognition' is a more neutral term. This repositions the field of investigation of curating and artistic practice with 'artificial intelligence'. It no longer poses itself as a question of imagined intelligence, but as an examination of pattern recognition.

Software
The aim of Training the Archive was the research-based creation of a software that enables new access to digitised image collections. »The Curator‘s Machine« is a tool that assists curators by utilizing either OpenAI’s CLIP model or the OpenCLIP model and provides an AI-guided search.

Discourse, mediation and research
Another main focus of the research project was the theoretical and discursive reflection of so-called 'artificial intelligence' in the format of Working Papers. A series of video interviews with artists and curators to collect empirical information, which was directly used in the development of the software prototype, and to focus on the public perception of artistic and curatorial projects with 'artificial intelligence', accompanied the discourse.

The bilingual final publication “Training the Archive” summarizes the discourse during the research process. It consists of transcripts of interviews conducted with experts, a collection of materials, and texts written especially for the volume. Published in January 2024 with Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne (ISBN: 978-3-7533-0566-0), edited by: Inke Arns, Eva Birkenstock, Dominik Bönisch and Francis Hunger.

Partners

Ludwig Forum Aachen and HMKV Hartware MedienKunstVerein

Funded by:

Digital Culture Programme of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation)

Funded by:

the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media).

Contact

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

Event: Conference on Art and Algorithms

Blog

Everything about the project can be found on the blog:

https://trainingthearchive.ludwigforum.de/

Video documentation on the “Training the Archive” conference

Inke Arns, Sybille Krämer & Yvonne Zindel (Panel discussion, German language only) – Culture between Humans and Machines: Who Curates Whom?

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

Sybille Krämer (Keynote, German Language only) – Digital Culture. Fundamentals and Ambivalences of Algorithmisation

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

Dominik Bönisch (Lecture, German language only) – How to Train the Curator’s Machine

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

More videos from the conference can be found on the Training The Archive blog: here.

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Video Interviews

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI«

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

You can find more information about the interviews on the Ludwigforum's Training the Archive blog.

Interview #4 with Matteo Pasquinelli on »Exploring the economic and social roots of AI«

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

You can find more information about the interviews on the Ludwigforum's Training the Archive blog.

Interview #3 with Nick Couldry & Ulises Mejias on »Data Colonialism«

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

You can find more information about the interviews on the Ludwigforum's Training the Archive blog.

Interview #2 with Adam Harvey on »Face Recognition Datasets«

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

You can find more information about the interviews on the Ludwigforum's Training the Archive blog.

Interview #1 with Magda Tyzlik-Carver on »Curating Data«

Interview #5 with Elisa Giardina Papa on »Emotion and AI« (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie) (Kopie)

Francis Hunger
Artistic-scientific Assistant "Training the Archive"

E-Mail: francis.hunger@irmielin.org

You can find more information about the interviews on the Ludwigforum's Training the Archive blog.

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