Composition for Mnemosyne

Background: This practice-led research investigates how synthetic systems mediate perception and embodiment. It engages debates around algorithmic visual culture and its entanglements with social systems, drawing on Hito Steyerl (Duty Free Art), Trevor Paglen (Clouds), and Holly Herndon (PROTO). It contributes to critical moving-image practice by questioning how AI reshapes aesthetic and social relations. Contribution: Developed within Newcastle’s layered technological and military landscape, Composition for Mnemosyne engaged local youth and sites to explore how emerging technologies reshape both media and the body as sites of mediation. Created during The Lock-Up’s Artist in Residence program, the work comprises a two-channel video installation with five accompanying wall works. The first channel documents The Hunter Singers youth choir interpreting an AI-assisted score through voice and gesture, transforming algorithmic patterns into an embodied choral experience. The second channel follows teenagers moving through Newcastle’s technological and military environments — including disused defence sites and the F-35 fighter jet base — with their movements interwoven with AI-generated imagery, creating a speculative layer on how military, technological, and synthetic systems shape contemporary experience. Significance: Exhibited as part of DATA MINDS from November 2024 to February 2025 and supported by Creative Victoria’s Creators Fund, the work contributed to current debates on AI and digital culture within screen and digital media arts. Shown alongside leading practitioners including Jon Rafman, Brie Trenerry, and Roy Ananda, its collaborative approach broadened audience engagement and encouraged dialogue on technology, community, and culture. The work was reviewed in Memo Review and selected for further presentations at Hayden's Gallery (VIC) and in Dublin (aemi and Pallas Projects).

研究背景：本项以实践为导向的研究旨在探究合成系统（synthetic systems）如何介导感知与具身认知。研究围绕算法视觉文化（algorithmic visual culture）及其与社会系统的交织关联展开学术对话，援引希托·施泰尔（Hito Steyerl）《免税艺术（Duty Free Art）》、特雷弗·帕格伦（Trevor Paglen）《云（Clouds）》与霍莉·亨德森（Holly Herndon）《PROTO》的理论成果，并通过审视人工智能（AI）重塑审美与社会关系的路径，为批判性动态影像实践（critical moving-image practice）贡献新的思考维度。
研究贡献：作品《记忆的构图（Composition for Mnemosyne）》创作于兼具多层技术与军事属性的纽卡斯尔（Newcastle）地域语境中，项目邀请本地青年群体与场地参与，以探索新兴技术如何重塑媒介与身体作为中介场域的形态。该作品由"The Lock-Up"艺术家驻留计划期间创作完成，包含一套双通道影像装置与五件配套墙面艺术作品。其中第一声道记录了亨特青年合唱团（The Hunter Singers）借助人工智能（AI）辅助的乐谱，通过人声与肢体动作进行演绎，将算法模式转化为具身化的合唱体验。第二声道则追踪青少年穿行于纽卡斯尔各类技术与军事环境的过程——包括废弃国防场地与F-35战斗机基地，他们的肢体动作与人工智能（AI）生成的影像交织融合，为军事、技术与合成系统如何塑造当代体验构建出一层思辨性的阐释维度。
作品意义：该作品于2024年11月至2025年2月作为“数据心智（DATA MINDS）”展览的组成部分展出，并获得维多利亚州创意者基金（Creative Victoria’s Creators Fund）的资助。其创作实践为屏幕与数字媒体艺术领域内关于人工智能（AI）与数字文化的当下议题贡献了鲜活的思考样本。展览同期与乔恩·拉夫曼（Jon Rafman）、布里·特伦里（Brie Trenerry）与罗伊·阿南达（Roy Ananda）等顶尖从业者的作品一同展出，其协作式创作模式拓展了观众参与度，并激发了围绕技术、社群与文化的深度对话。该作品曾获《Memo评论（Memo Review）》的专业评介，并入选海登画廊（Hayden's Gallery，维多利亚州）与都柏林的aemi与帕拉斯艺术项目（aemi and Pallas Projects）后续展映单元。