From the machine’s point of view: Artificial intelligence and the image of the human body
Since the dawn of (art) history, the image of the human body has been a central motif: now, in the technologised age, this image is constantly subjected to new trends, almost in real time, in which artificial intelligence and algorithms play a central role. The group exhibition Coded Bodies shows a broad spectrum of the influences of artificial intelligence on the human body in science, art and social media.
Image. above: Lina Scheynius, untitled (diary) © Lina Scheynius, 2013
With works from the series Techno Bodies, Ivonne Thein reflects on current images of the body in our digital culture, which is characterised by constantly advancing mechanisation. Ivonne Thein studied photography in Dortmund, then photography and liberal arts at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. She lives and works in Berlin. Her works, which have already been shown at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum/Dresden, Centre Pompidou/Paris and the Goethe Institute in Washington, among others, address the body in a socio-cultural context in media such as photography, television and film. She explores themes such as gender, beauty role models and the influences of the artificially generated body on body image in the 21st century.
The artist Alexander Kadow takes a different approach: In his series of works The Individual Below, based on X-ray images, he addresses the relationship of the individual to data sets in which the individual is embedded as an abstracted form. In addition, the reference to reality of certain photographic techniques is examined. X-ray images, despite their abstract appearance, have the value of a faithful representation of reality. A specially developed ‘machine learning’ algorithm for image generation was trained with hundreds of X-ray images to generate images resembling these X-ray images. Alexander Kadow is @gute_aussichten prize winner 2021/22. His work has been shown at numerous national and international exhibitions, including the Rotterdam Photo Fair, the Grassi Museum Leipzig, the Goethe Institut Paris, Galerie la Pigna in Rome, the Phototriennale in Hamburg, and during the UNSEEN photo fair in Amsterdam.
The works of the London-based Swedish photographer and artist Lina Scheynius of partly naked bodies, on the other hand, are repeatedly censored by the algorithm on Instagram, which questions not only the visibility but also the actual freedom of the often female body. Her photos, which consist mainly of self-portraits as well as depictions of her surroundings, her flat and people close to her, are intimate and impressive. Stylistically, she often works with grainy shots or multiple exposures. Her photographs have already been shown in several solo exhibitions and as components of numerous group exhibitions, mainly in Europe, but also in the USA, Canada and Japan.
About the AFF Gallery
AFF Galerie e.V. is an independent platform and space for contemporary photography in Berlin. Founded in 2006 as a community studio, it has existed since 2015 as a non-profit association in its current orientation: as a networking and exhibition venue for an extensive annual programme for a professional audience with an affinity for photography as well as for local visitors. The AFF Gallery makes use of the artistic diversity of its members to create a multifaceted programme around the medium of photography. Integration into the immediate neighbourhood plays an important role in bringing complex themes closer to the local audience.
WHEN?
Vernissage: Friday 30 September, 2022 6:00 pm
Exhibition dates: Saturday 1 October – Sunday 30 October 2022
WHERE?
AFF Gallery, Kochhannstraße 14, 10249 Berlin
