Fiction Meets Tech

The metaphors of windows, mirrors, and frames have historically shaped Western art, setting boundaries that can restrict innovative, immersive artistic expressions. These metaphors suggest that art is something to be viewed from a distance, like looking through a window, which positions the viewer outside the artistic experience, merely observing the intangible from afar. This idea is reinforced by the physical attributes of traditional display technologies. Rectangular screens, prevalent in everything from cinema to smartphones, align well with the human binocular field of vision, which is approximately 155° by 120°. Thomas Edison standardized this alignment in 1892 with the 4:3 NTSC aspect ratio, shaping the early visual formats of cinema and television, and establishing a viewing experience that mimics looking through a window. The practicality of rectangular screens further cements this metaphor. Their shape efficiently organizes visual data into rows and columns, maximizing the us

  People often dismiss computers as non-creative, arguing they only execute pre-programmed instructions from humans. Yet, modern computers are crafting novel art, literature, and music, often revealing solutions to problems we didn't know existed. Consider Chester Carlson, a physicist turned law student, who, while too poor to buy books, spent hours in libraries hand-copying texts. Frustrated by this laborious process and the limitations of existing duplicating machines, Carlson envisioned a simpler method. In 1938, in his modest New York City kitchen, Carlson devised an early photocopier using electrostatics and powders—despite the danger and primitive conditions. Lacking funds and wearing threadbare clothes, he struggled to convince over twenty companies, including IBM, of his invention’s potential; they failed to see the necessity for such a device. In 1946, John Dessauer of Haloid Company in Rochester took a chance on Carlson's concept. By 1956, they introduced the groundbr

  Envision a scenario in which machines can generate innovative works of art and music, formulate scientific hypotheses, craft narratives, make strategic business decisions, deliver humorous anecdotes, or serve as a robot's central processing unit. How will this advancement impact the landscape of employment? Is it conceivable that a machine could be the recipient of the prestigious Turner Prize, Pulitzer Prize? Ian Goodfellow, a Google employee credited with inventing generative adversarial networks (GANs), asserts that machines can be creative. Gerfried Stocker, from Ars Electronica, proposes that utilizing machines to create art can facilitate communication and understanding with them. Blaise Agüera y Arcas, also from Google, controversially argues that there is a blurred line between human and machine involvement in art creation when using machines. Computers have already demonstrated their prowess in areas traditionally reserved for highly skilled individuals, surpassing human

  The idea that there exists an unseen world, encompassing everything from spiritual realms to scientific concepts, has captivated human thought across various disciplines since ancient times. This unseen world has been expressed through various mediums: artists depict it through visual arts, musicians capture it in melodies, writers describe it in prose, and scientists delineate it through mathematical equations. The interplay between what is seen and unseen forms a central theme in Western culture, both in artistic expression and scientific exploration. The historical intertwining of art and science was particularly evident during the Renaissance, a period when distinctions between these fields blurred. In the fourteenth century, as the painter Giotto was pioneering the use of geometric planes to approach perspective in art, Nicole Oresme in France was developing graphical techniques to visually represent the dynamics of falling objects. This period culminated with Renaissance master

  Can art, science, and high-tech research mutually influence one another? Artists and researchers operate differently. Contemporary art frequently incorporates commentary, irony, and critique elements that are absent in traditional research. While scientists and technologists aim for objectivity, artists embrace their unique subjectivity as a key aspect of their work. Yet art, science, and technology have historically had a symbiotic relationship, each influencing the development and progress of the other. In the early days of photography, for instance, artists who were also skilled in chemistry and optics played crucial roles in advancing the medium. Their experiments were not just artistic but also technical, contributing to the evolution of photographic techniques. Similarly, the development of cinema, sound recording, and even electrical lighting involved artists who often acted as inventors and technicians. This crossover tradition has a deep historical root, stretching back to t

Computational creativity encompasses the various forms of art that have emerged through the use of advanced technological media since the late 1980s. Initially, these innovations included a variety of interfaces that allowed for a more immersive experience—such as visualization helmets, stereoscopic glasses, three-dimensional sound systems, data gloves, sensor-equipped clothing, and feedback devices. This period also saw significant advancements in Internet technology and communication, contributing to an evolving digital landscape. During this time, domains like computer graphics, computer animation, 3-D modeling, digital video, interactive multimedia, and Web art began to revolutionize the art world, and by the 1990s, these fields had become mainstream. The rapid development in this area means that what once was cutting-edge is now readily accessible. For instance, computer-generated visual effects that were once the domain of high-end artistic exploration have now been democratized