Synthetic Vision/Images of Power © Ruben van de Ven 27 Jun –
28 Jun 2024
Synthetic Vision/Images of Power: Truth, Evidence, Labour & Knowledge in the Age of AI
On 27 and 28 June 2024 Framer Framed invites you to the two-day symposium Synthetic Vision/Images of Power. The programme features talks and discussions that explore the transformations induced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the interplay of power, knowledge and images. The symposium includes talks by a number of artists participating in the Framer Framed exhibition, Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis.
Synthetic Vision/Images of Power focuses on the unprecedented possibilities of AI in generating ‘synthetic vision’ (the ability to “see” algorithmically) and ‘synthetic image generation’ (the ability to create new images through prompts). These transformations affect three key dimensions of the image.
The first dimension, ‘image-truth’, explores the truth-value of images within contexts such as authentication or facial, emotion and crowd recognition. But it also concerns the generation of synthetic images to mimic reality in large datasets necessary to train other algorithms. The second exploration is focused on ‘image-evidence’, specifically addressing the capacity to recognise or generate images for evidentiary purposes. This dimension holds relevance in the realms of journalism, with considerations surrounding information, propaganda and the identification of fake news. It’s also of importance within the legal sphere, encompassing both the utilisation of images as judicial evidence and their role in event reconstruction. The third dimension lies in the figure of ‘image-labour’, such as computer vision as a result of visible and often invisible labour on the image by programmers, annotators and operators.
Synthetic Vision/Images of Power brings together scholars working with artistic or multimodal methods and artists whose work is approached from a research perspective. This interdisciplinary approach aims to explore how multiple regimes of knowledge production (conceptual, visual, procedural/code based) can complement a critical exploration of the issues at stake.
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Programme
DAY 1: Thursday 27 June 2024
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15:00 | Introduction by Francesco Ragazzi
15:30 | Opening Talk: Terror Element, Anna Engelhardt & Mark Cinkevich
16:00 – 18:30 | Mapping Synthetic Vision
16:00 | Mapping as a critical method for Security Vision, Francesco Ragazzi
16:20 | Documenting and Visualizing Unknowns and Uncertains in Security Vision, Francesco Luzzana, Erica Gargaglione
16:40 | Synthetic Battlefield in the Time of Dynamic Maps, Svitlana Matviyenko
17:00 | Cutting through algorithmic violence, Rocco Bellanova
17:20 | Discussion, chair: Donatella Della Ratta
DAY 2 : Friday 28 June 2024
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9:30 – 12:00 | Synthetic Images in Conflict
09:30 | Tracklets: the synthetic present of movement tracking, Ruben van de Ven
09:50 | From AI to paper: de-materializing and re-materializing evidence, Kevin B. Lee
10:10 | Synthetic Realism: Exploring the Aesthetics and Politics of Generative AI in a time of widespread violence, Donatella Della Ratta
10:30 | AI in Gaza: Image-evidence, digital suspicion, colonial history, Adi Kuntsman and Rebecca Stein
10:50 | Discussion, chair: Francesco Ragazzi
AFTERNOON
13:00 – 15:30 | Strategies of Resistance
13:00 | AI to Subvert and Expose Evidence, Paolo Cirio
13:20 | Synthetic Vision for Subversion, Jonathan Luke Austin & Maevia Griffiths
13:40 | Image-Life, Shintaro Miyazaki
14:00 | Mobile Lies: A Kinopolitics of Emotion Datasets, Cyan Bae
14:20 | Discussion, chair: Rocco Bellanova
16:00 – 18:30 | Strategies of Resistance II
16:00 | A Tale of Two Data Centers, Marloes de Valk
16:20 | Permacomputing in the arts, Aymeric Mansoux
16:40 | Algorithmic accountability, Evaline Schot
17:00 |Social media: Catalysts or obstacles to war crimes investigations?, Maria Mingo
17:20 | Discussion, chair: Rebecca Stein
18:30 – 18:45 | Concluding remarks, Donatella Della Ratta
This event is in English and free of charge. A donation at the door is appreciated.
Credits
Synthetic Vision/Images of Power is co-convened by Francesco Ragazzi, Donatella della Ratta, Rocco Bellanova and Rebecca Stein. It has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, SECURITY VISION (grant agreement No. 866535) and DATAUNION (ERC, grant agreement No. 101043213), ReCNTR: Leiden University’s Research Center on Multimodal and Audiovisual Methods in the social sciences, humanities and the arts.
Terror Element by Anna Engelhardt and Mark Cinkevich has been commissioned by Framer Framed with the support of the Nederlands Filmfonds and Stimuleringsfonds voor Creatieve Industrie as part of the collaborative project Immerse/Interact.
Framer Framed is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; Municipality of Amsterdam; and VriendenLoterij Fonds.
- ReCNTR
Links
New media / Digital commons & democracy / Politics and technology / Political Climate /
Exhibitions
Exhibition: Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis
Exhibition about the commodification of knowledge and ignorance, curated by Mi You and David Garcia
Agenda
24 Hours Oost: Exhibition tours 'Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis'
Guided tours as part of 24 Hours Oost's programme celebrating Amsterdam's 750th anniversary
Network
Mark Cinkevich
Artist
Anna Engelhardt
Artist
