There is a big difference between making a painting OF a photo and making a painting FROM a photo.
It is rare that artists can have the luxury of face to face painting of a person until completion and so knowing how to work from photos can be necessary, but also liberating and quite fun to decide on different backgrounds and so on.
Come to our friendly 5 week course to learn how to avoid pitfalls of working from photo reference, and how to make your paintings stand out as works of art, based on your favourite photo.
Hopefully it will help develop your painting skills along the way. You can decide what image you like and what background you would like and any other ideas for making a personal fantastic painting.
We will be looking at :
Composing a portrait
The limitations of the camera
How to take useful reference pictures
Understanding what we SHOULD see and compensating using logic and knowledge
Theory of light on form
Colour mixing and creating harmony.
The course starts from 22nd February at Leith Academy from 6.30 – 8.30pm but book asap to secure your place.
(£48.30 standard – £24.25 senior citizen/ student – £19.15 benefits)
Opening New Year’s Day 2024, the National Galleries of Scotland celebrates the return of their keenly awaited annual display, Turner in January.
Taking pride of place in one of the upper galleries of Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy, Joseph Mallord William Turner’s watercolours from the Scottish national collection will be exhibited throughout the month of January, free for the public to enjoy. Turner in January is a beloved tradition for many people in Scotland. It signals the dawning of the New Year, and as we leave behind the darkest days of winter, the bright vitality of Turner’s work is exactly what we need.
Scotland’s famous collection of Turner watercolours was left to the nation by the great art collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. Since then, following Vaughan’s strict guidelines, they have only ever been displayed during the month of January, when natural light levels are at their lowest. Because of this, these watercolours still possess a freshness and an intensity of colour, almost 200 years since they were originally created.
With almost 40 watercolours on display, including dramatic landscapes from the Himalayas, the Swiss Alps, and the Isle of Skye, visitors will journey through Britain, Europe and beyond, leaving behind January blues in favor of Turner’s idyllic views of the world.
Turner in January will also include a Smartify audio highlights guide, a brand-new addition to the exhibition for 2024. Freely available on their devices, visitors can immerse themselves further into Turner’s work through this highlighted guided tour of the exhibition, giving fresh insights and expanding on what is presented on the gallery walls.
This mesmerising exhibition captures the essence of the life and career of the 19th century London-born artist, with the works on display covering the breadth of Turner’s artistic talents. In a career spanning 50 years, Turner developed new ways of painting in watercolour and revolutionised ideas of what could be achieved in the medium.
Through a combination of exceptional talent and incredible hard work, he was able to capture in paint the sublime beauty of the natural world. Turner experimented with an array of techniques and colour, creating works which continue to captivate and excite audiences today.
Charlotte Topsfield, Senior Curator of British Drawings and Prints at National Galleries of Scotland said: “Henry Vaughan personally selected the watercolours in the bequest to share the full range and richness of Turner’s work with the widest audience.
“From early landscape drawings to glorious colour studies, delicate literary illustrations and visionary late watercolours, Vaughan’s Turners wonderfully demonstrate the artist’s infinite creativity and technical skill.
“Putting the Turner watercolours on show is a highlight of my year and I hope that it brings everyone else as much pleasure!”
Isabella Miller, Director of Audience at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “Turner in January brings with it an uplifting start to a new year at the National Galleries of Scotland.
“It’s with great joy we witness the excitement from our returning visitors, along with the wonder this display brings to those discovering it for the very first time. Turner in January honors the legacy of Henry Vaughan’s bequest, while creating a now treasured tradition for many.
“It’s also a wonderful opportunity to marvel in the skill of our conservation and curatorial teams, who ensure the year-round care of these beloved watercolours, allowing them to be displayed and enjoyed each January.”
Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: The yearly celebration of Turner’s watercolors invites us to enjoy vibrant colours, showcasing the beauty of our natural world.
“From the Swiss Alps to the Isle of Skye, the exhibition offers an uplifting escape from any January blues. I’m delighted that support from Postcode Lottery players, who have now raised over £5 million for National Galleries of Scotland, is making art and exhibitions like this free and accessible for all.”
Turner in January is open to the public from 12pm on Monday 1 January.
The National Galleries of Scotland has announced that its blockbuster exhibition, Grayson Perry: Smash Hits, was visited almost 100,000 times in its four-month run. Since opening on 15 July, 95,852 visits were booked to enjoy the celebration of Sir Grayson Perry’s 40-year career at the National (Royal Scottish Academy) before it closed on Sunday 12 November.
On show exclusively in Edinburgh, Grayson Perry: Smash Hits explored the remarkable 40-year career of contemporary cultural icon, Sir Grayson Perry.
Visitors were able to enjoy over eighty works, including richly detailed tapestries, subversive pots and elaborate plates – some of which were on public display for the first time.
Developed in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition renounced the tradition for chronological displays. Instead, Perry’s work was presented as a journey through themes including masculinity, sexuality, class, religion, politics and identity.
Grayson Perry: Smash Hits was the National Galleries of Scotland’s most visited exhibition in over ten years, and the fourth most visited since the reopening of the refurbished exhibition galleries in the RSA building in 2003.
Surpassing all expectations, over 10,000 people were welcomed in the first two weeks alone. The final weekend, which offered extended opening hours to allow as many people as possible to experience the exhibition, with over 2,200 visitors each day.
Home to Scotland’s superb art collection, the National Galleries of Scotland operates three galleries in Edinburgh.
At the National visitors can discover treasures from Botticelli to Titian, as well as the world’s largest collection of works by artists from Scotland. The Portrait gallery is packed with famous faces from history and contemporary portraits of pop culture icons, while Modern showcases the very best modern art.
As well as conserving and researching the national collection, the National Galleries of Scotland is committed to reaching the widest possible audience through an active programme, including partnerships across Scotland, the UK and abroad, as well as online.
Visitors enjoyed sharing their experience of Grayson Perry: Smash Hits with feedback captured by National Galleries Scotland throughout the duration of the exhibition. Some notable takeaways included:
“So accessible. I loved his commentaries. It is the only exhibition I have ever been to and laughed out loud.”
“I have never been to an exhibition where almost all of the visitors were smiling and laughing.”
“This was the best, most thought-provoking exhibition I’ve been to in years!”
Sir Grayson Perrysaid: “It was one of the most enjoyable and proud exhibiting experiences of my career. Many thanks to the brilliant team at the National Galleries of Scotland and the people of Scotland!”
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland,said: “Welcoming almost 100,000 visitors to Grayson Perry: Smash Hits is a significant and proud moment for the National Galleries of Scotland.
“It has been a privilege from the start to work with Sir Grayson Perry in bringing this phenomenal exhibition to the people of Scotland. The response from our visitors, through their verbal and written feedback, photos they’ve shared and online engagement, has been incredible to witness.
“My congratulations and thanks to Sir Grayson – it has been smashing!’
At Collective, on Calton Hill, and coinciding with their EAF performance, Tarek Lakhrissi presents I wear my wounds on my tongue (II), exploring desire, language and queerness.
Inspired by the work of the late poet, essayist and performance artist Justin Chin, the installation features newly commissioned sculptures and sound work. Also at Collective, Rabindranath X Bhose’s installation work, DANCE IN THE SACRED DOMAIN, is a bog made up of sculpture, poetry, performance and drawing, emerging from time spent meditating on bogland in Scotland.
Further into Leith, at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, a new presentation, tense, by Glasgow based Adam Lewis Jacob will be displayed alongside A New Face in Hell, in which Sebastian Thomas draws inspiration from the mythological fable of the Golem, a being constructed of inanimate material that often ends up becoming uncontrollable.
Travelling Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in a bus, presents a new exhibition by Gabecare, a collaborative art project between Rachel Adams and Tessa Lynch investigating the domestic mess of 21st century living, which will travel across the city for the duration of the festival.
Sierra Metro presents an exhibition of new work by award winning Australia-based artist, illustrator and animator, Haein Kim. For Kim’s first solo show PAIN2POWER the artist presents a series of prints exploring the modern woman’s psyche, materialism and puppies for a show that captures her unique use of colour, humour and honesty.
Initiated by The Common Guild, Edinburgh Art Festival will co-present an illuminated artwork by Rabiya Choudhry at Leith Library.
The design is based on a painting by Choudhry, part of the artist’s ongoing project Lost Lighting – a series of lighting artworks for public places intended to ‘act like a vigil in the dark’ Taking shape as illuminated signs, they repurpose Andrew Carnegie’s flaming torch motif; a feature found on many Carnegie library buildings
In Choudhry’s work, the torch is encircled with the words of African-American civil rights activist Ella Baker (1903–1986) who worked to instigate societal change. Baker’s words ‘give light and people will find the way’, are a manifestation of power for ordinary people. The public artwork runs across the full festival dates, visible 24 hours a day.
Initiated by The Common Guild, EAF will co-present an illuminated artwork by Rabiya Choudhry at Leith Library. The design is based on a painting by Choudhry, part of the artist’s ongoing project Lost Lighting – a series of lighting artworks for public places intended to ‘act like a vigil in the dark’ Taking shape as illuminated signs, they repurpose Andrew Carnegie’s flaming torch motif; a feature found on many Carnegie library buildings In Choudhry’s work, the torch is encircled with the words of African-American civil rights activist Ella Baker (1903–1986) who worked to instigate societal change. Baker’s words ‘give light and people will find the way’, are a manifestation of power for ordinary people.
The public artwork runs across the full festival dates, visible 24 hours a day.
National Galleries of Scotland invites audiences to discover a contemporary cultural icon this summer, as it proudly unveils the largest ever exhibition dedicated to the work of Sir Grayson Perry.
Opening this Saturday andtaking over the entire Upper Galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy, Grayson Perry: Smash Hits offers visitors a chance to embark on an exclusive retrospective journey through the celebrated artist’s remarkable 40-year career.
National Galleries of Scotland hosts the one and only opportunity to see this exhibition, granting all who pass through the doors of the Royal Scottish Academy an audience with Perry’s lifetime of creation.
This comprehensive exhibition, which encompasses more than eighty works, some of which displayed for the first time, has been developed in close collaboration with the artist and Victoria Miro gallery. Grayson Perry: Smash Hits has been kindly sponsored by the Jigsaw Foundation and Friends of National Galleries Scotland.
Sir Grayson Perry has gone from taking evening classes in pottery to winning the Turner Prize.
He’s renowned for presenting television programmes on Channel 4, writing acclaimed books and commanding audiences far and wide during his live tours. An artist in every sense of the word, his accessible approach to art and engaging public persona has elevated Perry to the status of household name, and more recently, earned him a knighthood.
Always keen to do the unexpected, pottery was Perry’s chosen method in which to indulge his fascination with sex, punk, and counterculture amongst other things, showcasing his interests in the most unlikely and polite of art forms.
Today, he is one of Britain’s most celebrated artists and cultural figures. Grayson Perry: Smash Hits not only includes his most famous works, but also the first pieces he made as a student in Portsmouth. Works that would ignite a passion and pave the way for an illustrious career to be born. One such treasure on display is Perry’s earliest plate, made during his first week at evening class, Kinky Sex (1983).
Much like Perry, the exhibition doesn’t play by the rules, renouncing traditional chronological displays in favourof presenting his work as a journey; one which will lead audiences through the many themes embedded within his provocative art, including masculinity, sexuality, class, religion, politics and identity.
Expect subversive pots, intricate prints, elaborate sculptures, and huge, captivating tapestries – each imbued with Perry’s sharp wit and social commentary.
Grayson Perry: Smash Hits brings together almost all of the artist’s meticulously detailed prints and imaginary maps along with many of his tapestries, such as the rarely shown Walthamstow Tapestry (2009) which, at a striking 15-metres in length, presents a birth-to-death journey through shopping and brand names.
There’s also an opportunity to encounter the intricate cast-iron ship, Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman (2011) which was the centrepiece of Perry’s 2011 exhibition of the same name at the British Museum. The tomb is a memorial to all the anonymous craftsmen of history.
Two rooms centre on the monumental tapestry series: Vanity of Small Differences (2012), which focus on class and are loosely based on William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, as well as A House for Essex tapestries(2015), which explore the life of a fictional Essex woman Julie Cope.
While the breadth of the exhibition offers a retrospective take on the artist’s career to date, it also looks to the future. A collection of new works, some completed within the last few months, will be displayed for the first time, including the richly detailed tapestry Sacred Tribal Artefact (2023), and a series of pots and plates, all of which explore themes of national identity.
Perry’s latest pots, such as A Plague of Diaphobia (2022) and Ye Olde English Pot (2023), are presented in the form of medieval beer flagons. Decorated with traditional slipware techniques, they reference subjects ranging from the polarising effect of internet debate to heraldic iconography.
Finally, fans of the recent Channel 4 docuseries Grayson Perry’s Full English will come face to face with notable objects featured on the popular series.
Full English followed Perry as he travelled around the country to try and uncover what Englishness means today, inviting interviewees to select personal items which to them represented English identity.
Piqued by the opportunity to show some of these items, alongside his new works which focus on Englishness in Scotland, Perry has included several objects in the exhibition. From a pub sign to a football flag, and a teacup to a letter from the Queen, they highlight not only the individuality and significance of cultural identity, but how artistic treasure can be found in many forms.
Sir Grayson Perry said: “I feel honoured, excited and also daunted by the thought of seeing the largest ever exhibition of my work this summer in Edinburgh.
“Honoured to be given such an opportunity in such a fine gallery, excited to share my smash hits with the Scottish audience and the festival crowds. Daunted because whenever I walk amongst a substantial show of my art the same thought floods into my head, ‘oh my god the man hours!’
“Just one of the grand rooms like those of the Royal Scottish Academy could easily hold two, three, four years of my studio life such is the density of my works. These objects contain so much for me, my hopes, my ideas, my lusts, my laughter, my pride, my love. What they contain more than anything is my time. Forty smashing years.”
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland,said: “This exhibition, the biggest Grayson Perry show ever held anywhere in the world, offers a unique opportunity for visitors to discover the scope of the artist’s practice.
“It has been forty years since Sir Grayson Perry first started making his pots and plates, and twenty years since he gained international acclaim when he won the Turner Prize; it is the ideal moment to celebrate Perry’s achievements to date.”
Beth Butterwick, CEO of Jigsaw said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring ‘Grayson Perry: Smash Hits’ at the National Galleries of Scotland. It’s an honour to be a part of such an all-encompassing exhibition, showcasing the work of one of Britain’s most celebrated artists: Sir Grayson Perry.
“Along with an unwavering passion for the arts in Britain, and a trailblazing reputation, Jigsaw’s partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland was a natural fit. Dedicated to supporting the arts in many forms, the Jigsaw Foundation is proud to be one of the lead sponsors for the Grayson Perry: Smash Hits exhibition’.
Discover Grayson Perry: Smash Hits at the National (Royal Scottish Academy) from 22 July until 12 November 2023. Pre booking is advised.
An inspirational sculpture created by school children in Orkney goes on display at the National Galleries of Scotland: National
Your Art World
FREE
National Galleries of Scotland: National
24 June 2023 – 14 April 2024
A sculpture created by school children in Orkney will arrive at its new home in the National at the National Galleries of Scotland this month. Named Bob, the inspirational artwork has been travelling across Scotland touring to schools and communities to highlight the importance of art for young people.
Bob has become a school mascot, spreading the children’s important message to protect our world from pollution.
Created by Dounby Community School the sculpture will join the Your Art World exhibition, which opens today (24 June).
The exhibition aims to engage with young people and encourage them to think creatively, supporting future generations of artists.
Digital screens will also display the artwork from over 270 incredible 3-18 year olds who uploaded their creations to the website. The young people could be as imaginative as they liked and use any type of materials for their creations, resulting in a superb and broad range of artwork.
The exhibition is a celebration of what happens when young people are encouraged to be wildly imaginative with no limitations.
Families and young people inspired by the creativity will also be able to get involved in making their own creations in the galleries this Summer.
With a specially created ‘make and share’ area allowing them to produce and upload their own work to the website. There is also the added bonus of having their artwork added to the digital showcase on the screens.
Four core groups have created spectacular physical installations for the exhibition, which will be displayed alongside the collection of digital art works.
Dounby Community school’s installation will feature, as well as creations from young people in their final year at Galashiels secondary school and Granton Primary.
A group of children and their families from PAMIS, an organisation in Scotland working with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities for a better life, are also featured.
Touring to schools and communities, Bob has challenged children across the country to make and share their own creations.
Giving them the opportunity of having their own works displayed on digital screens as part of the final exhibition at the National. Bob visited Inverness, Skye, Aberdeen, West Lothian, Dundee, Fife, Stirling, Glasgow and Galashiels along the way.
Even taking a trip to Holyrood to join Orkney MSP Liam McArthur (top), where the school pupils were commended in the Scottish Parliament for their hard work.
The creation was inspired by Dounby Community School’s chosen theme of ‘protect’, with the children making a life size character named Trashy.
Made of rubbish found on the beach, the sculpture is a meaningful representation of their desire to protect the world from climate change. As a friend for Trashy they created Bob as their mascot.
Bob will soon re-join Trashy at the Your Art World exhibition, as part of the wider installation created by the 152 pupils from Dounby Community School.
Dounby Community School Head Teacher, Islean Gibson, said:“Being part of such an amazing gallery exhibition has given everyone here at Dounby School such a sense of pride and motivation.
“Sharing our thoughts and ideas as part of a national project has really inspired our whole school community. The power of creation will have a lasting legacy.
“It makes me swell with pride every day seeing just how impactful creativity can be for a wee school and its community. I would wholeheartedly recommend everyone take that step into Your Art World and see where it takes you!”
Siobhan McConnachie, Head of Learning and Engagement, National Galleries of Scotland, said: ‘I feel so excited and proud to be showcasing the art work of the talented young artists of Scotland.
“The response to challenges has been truly inspiring and we have been so impressed with everyone’s creativity. The Your Art World project is incredibly important to us at National Galleries of Scotland as it hands over the creative process to young people and celebrates their work.
“Art has its place in every school, home and young person’s life, whether that be encouraging people to think creatively, use it as an expressive outlet or simply for some fun, this project and exhibition celebrates that art really is for everyone.’
This exhibition is made possible thanks to funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, who have raised more than £5 million awarded by Postcode Culture Trust to support National Galleries of Scotland.
All submissions can be viewed via the online gallery and will also be displayed digitally at the National until spring 2024.
Launching Thursday 8 June at Calton Hill from 12noon – 6pm
Travelling Gallery is pleased to announce the second season of its 2023 programme which takes a new approach to touring with environmental concerns and community partnerships at the heart.
Season two hits the road in June 2023 with the exhibition High on the Summit Ridge by Gabecare; a collaborative art project by Rachel Adams and Tessa Lynch which investigates the domestic mess of 21st century living.
Gabecare take their name from little known American inventor Francis Gabe who devoted much of her life to designing and building the world’s one and only self-cleaning home.
In an attempt to rid herself of the thankless, unpaid, and never-ending housework, Gabe used her own money and construction skills to develop and build a house that cleaned, rinsed, and dried everything from the dishes in the cupboard to clothes in the wardrobe. She eventually received a patent for her design in 1984.
Exploring the unpaid labour that goes into housework, Gabecare draw our attention to who carries out the care and maintenance at home (tidying is a task that is noticed when it’s not done but unnoticed when it’s done) while at the same time managing to embrace and even celebrate the continual messiness of our daily lives.
Taking inspiration from social history and the evolution of housework, Gabecare have created an enjoyable installation which provokes storytelling and memories from our own families while also digging deeper and questioning the economy around housework and care.
Launching in Edinburgh on Calton Hill on Thursday 8 June from 12noon – 6pm the exhibition will tour to the following locations:
Western Isles, in partnership with An Lanntair
Argyll & Bute, in partnership with talc
West Dunbartonshire, in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council
Scottish Borders, in partnership with Borders Live
North Lanarkshire, in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council
Falkirk, in partnership with Falkirk Community Trust
Edinburgh, in partnership with Edinburgh Art Festival
Claire Craig, Curator of Travelling Gallery, said: “We are so excited to take Gabecare’s exhibition to audiences across Scotland. Tessa Lynch and Rachel Adams have made a really enjoyable exhibition which also raises important questions around unpaid labour and care.
“I can’t wait to discuss the artwork and themes with our visitors.”
Exciting FREE annual open studios event returns to Out of the Blue Abbeymount
Featuring over 30 artists from paintings to photography and mosaics to fashion
Meet the makers, watch demonstrations and get the chance to win an original piece of art in a free raffle
Out of the Blue Abbeymount Studios are delighted to be opening their doors to the public again this spring for another exciting Open Studios weekend onSaturday 20th & Sunday 21st May from 12noon – 5pm.
Come along to see their creative spaces, meet the makers and browse a wide range of original artworks and gifts. Everything is handmade by local designers and makers here in the heart of Edinburgh.
Fine art / painting / ceramics / illustration / animation / mosaics / fashion / textiles / photography
There will be FREE art/craft/animation demonstrations and workshops taking place over the two days, plus a FREE raffle featuring exclusive prizes donated by Abbeymount Studios artists.
With over 30 artists and creatives taking part, there really is something for everyone. Artists include wildlife painter Kirsten Mirrey whos work for the past five years has focussed on both exotic and endangered wildlife in a highly realistic style.
Award-winning filmmaker Holly Summerson is one of several animators taking part. Her work includes short films, music videos, projections for events, interactive online art and community workshops. The world of textiles and fashion are also covered with the work of ByJenByre. She specialises in creating one of a kind reimagined fashion from vintage second hand materials.
The poster for the Open Studios weekend was designed by resident children’s print designer Blythe Mackenzie of Little Yellow Scribbles who will also be taking part on the 20th and 21st. Little Yellow Scribbles is a children’s textile brand specialising in vibrant, illustrated textile accessories and clothing.
Out of the Blue Abbeymount Studio Manager Bob Guilianotti says: “We’re delighted to be opening the doors of Abbeymount to the public again for our Open Studios weekend.
“There’s an exciting choice of artists and makers to meet as well as the chance to explore this historic building. It’s a chance to meet our resident artists and makers as they demonstrate their work and discuss their inspirations.”
Details of the Open Weekend, as well as a list of participating artists and makers can be found on the Abbeymount Studios website.
The New Real, a world-leading and Edinburgh-based AI research hub. has premiered its leading international AI Art award and commission that brings together the foremost institutions in both the AI and the arts, and announced UK and Netherlands-based Polish artist Kasia Molga as the winner ofThe New Real 2023 AI Art Commission: Uncanny Machines.
This award and commission gives artists an unrivalled opportunity to extend their practice by providing them a powerful and accessible generative AI tool, The New Real’s own AI Platform.
This is a fascinating and unique ‘tool box’ created with and for artists, to gain increased access and control over an AI model and to creatively explore AI.
This addresses limitations in the current crop of generative AI applications, in order to open new thinking which can lead to better art, and also provides a basis to probe and question urgent issues of today. Introduced as part of The New Real’s AI Art Programme: Uncanny Machines which explores the uncanny interplay of humans and machines, and the social implications of recent developments in AI.
The event culminates the EFI’s Love Machine season of events bringing into light the intimate relationships between humans and algorithms.
At this event the artist was joined by guest speakers; activist and self proclaimed cultural engineer Phoenix Perry, who shared insights into generative AI creative work, and leading academic in the fields of AI, Data Arts and Society, and Drew Hemment, who hosted a debate with Kasia Molga on the societal and ethical issues of digital reincarnations of deceased persons, a topic the art commission will explore.
The Open Call received a huge volume of outstanding submissions which the Jury whittled down to just five astonishing candidates who each received Development Awards. Kasia Molga is now revealed as the artist awarded the full commission allowing her to bring her concept to life.
The commission is designed to provide transformative experiences for audiences, fuelled by AI, and present an artwork that addresses key challenges in AI, such as consent, agency and confusion of humans and machines
In her project entitled How to find the Soul of a Sailor, Kasia Molga presents a very personal journey to find the soul of her father in data from a life spent on the seas. As a child, Molga travelled with her sailor father on merchant navy vessels. Her father often was the lone parent caring for her on board the ship.
They were two people who understood each other without words – sometimes Molga felt she could read her dad’s thoughts. He passed away quite unexpectedly 15 years ago leaving a huge hole in Molga’s heart and many diaries from his journeys.
Sometimes when Molga fears that her memories of being on the open sea with him are fading, she rereads his diaries trying to hang on to his voice.
In her commission, Molga will draw on her experiments using The New Real’s AI platform to recreate stories in his voice.
Having constructed a dataset from ships’ logs, her dad’s own diaries, and a British Library collection of maps from the Mediterranean Sea, Molga uses a Word2vec feature to explore, among others, whether AI can convincingly recreate a way of writing such that aspects of her dad’s personality can be ‘sensed’ and what are the implications and emotional effects of such a way of ‘resurrecting’ a person who is no longer with us. More on Kasia Molga’s project can be found here.
Announced earlier this year, The New Real 2023 Development Awards allowed five artists; Kasia Molga, Johann Diedrick & Amina Abbas-Nazari, Alice Bucknell, Sarah Ciston and Linnea Langfjord Kristensen & Kevin Walker, to conduct research and development (R&D) using The New Real’s AI Platform: a fascinating and unique ‘tool box’ created with and for artists, allowing them to manipulate a model, in order to enable profound artistic experiments with AI.
The output of the R&D phase is a visual presentation and talk. These five talks were screened at Inspace alongside this event.
The Uncanny Machines Art Commission will be presented later this year. Details to follow.
Drew Hemment, Director and Principal Investigator of The New Real, said: “We have achieved something truly unique in bringing together new ideas in both science and the arts to tackle urgent challenges just at the moment that Generative AI has exploded into the world’s consciousness.
“It is with huge pleasure we announce today that Kasia Molga has been awarded our coveted New Real 2023 Art Commission. Kasia blew us away with her vision and the intensely personal journey she wants to take with The New Real. She hopes to use AI to give new life to her father’s memories, and to bring a fresh perspective on the world’s oceans that he travelled his entire life.
“This is the next step in our journey to develop more fair and inclusive technologies, and to support artists to develop significant works.”
Winning artist, Artist Kasia Molga, said: “It is a huge pleasure and delight to work with The New Real, they are the leading group spanning the arts and AI in this way.
“This project is of the greatest personal importance to me. My dad’s diaries are extremely precious, and this is my way of showing my love for my father, and my shared concern for the ocean, his life’s passion.
“I’m excited to go to places I could not have imagined before using AI, and I can think of no one better to share this journey than The New Real.
“On one hand, this new body of work is about the transition of marine ecosystems. Yet it also probes the emotional implications of giving away data – almost fragments of personality – of departed loved ones and the ethics of AI in the context of digital afterlives.
“The work will use AI wisely to reveal unexpected interconnections between the words of those no longer with us and such large subjects as oceans and climate change.”
2-3pm: In conversation: Sebastián Díaz Morales and Luciano Piazza 3-4pm: Opportunity to watch Smashing Monuments and enjoy refreshments.
Exhibition dates 25 March – 11 June 2023
Join us for the opening ofSmashing Monumentsby Sebastián Díaz Morales, from 2–4pm on Saturday 25 March 2023.
Originally comissioned for documenta fifteen, Smashing Monuments explores the relationships we have with urban monuments. The film follows five members of the Indonesian art collective ruangrupa as they walk the streets of Jakarta, engaging in one-sided conversations with the monuments around them.
The afternoon will include an ‘in conversation’ event with Sebastián and fellow artist Luciano Piazza, who has created an accompanying essay for the exhibition.
Sebastián and Luciano will discuss how urban developments, along with the passage of time, impact our everyday relationships with the statues and monuments that populate our cities. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to watch the film and enjoy refreshments.
Capacity for the artist talk is limited, so please book your free ticket here if you wish to attend.
All welcome from 3.00pm to view the work.
Access information about our site can be found here.
Smashing Monuments produced with financial support of documenta fifteen, Mondriaan Fonds and The Kingdom of the Netherlands.
