As a pioneer of future art directions, Jeroen van der Most (1979) uses algorithms, big data and artificial intelligence as his instruments. He is not concerned with 'ooh' and 'aah' but with 'huh?': his art is mainly there to provoke discussions. “I want to break existing thinking patterns.”
Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
“Art for me is what inspires. So a very broad definition. It can be a painting, a cloud in the sky... But it must meet one or more of the following four elements: it touches you emotionally, rationally, excels in craftsmanship and is innovative.”
“I strive to include all those elements. A good example is Letters from Nature, a project I am working on together with Peter van der Putten. Letters written by AI on behalf of nature. There is clearly a rational element in this: is technology our toy or does it bring us closer to nature? But there is also something emotional in it. Take the following letter: 'Dear Mr. President, As one of the largest ice caps in the world, please don't forget about us, please fight for us, please do not listen to the conservatives who call for you to leave us alone. We are melting. It hurts. We are sad. We are dying. Please don't forget us. Your friend, Ice Cap.' There is also a certain craftsmanship behind it, an expertise. And it is new in time, this has not been done before. We have now created hundreds if not thousands of those letters. We're going in February Letters from Nature participate in Testlab Highlight Delft.”
“I want to break existing thinking patterns. Technology is of course 'our thing', we use it to make our lives easier. The fact that it is now entering into a relationship with nature, outside of us, is confusing and slightly provocative.”
“Data science and market research. I investigated how people talked about certain brands on Twitter and used algorithms to collect tweets and analyze them. Eventually I got tired of that work and wanted something more creative. Then I started using those algorithms to create art visuals. So I didn't go to art school, although I have been drawing and painting since childhood and have always been fascinated by Van Gogh and Rembrandt. At some point, some algorithms went viral and I started calling myself an 'artist', partly because I was labeled as such by others.”
“Computer art has been around for some time, but making art with AI was a super niche when I started working on it. It has exploded in the past year and a half. Now I'm looking at the next technologies that will have a social impact, such as quantum computing. That's why I did the project last year Quantum Cat done, the first Dutch work of art created with a quantum computer. It is not only technically but also philosophically very interesting. There are principles behind it that are incomprehensible in our reality. Such as the phenomenon of superposition, in which a particle can be in multiple places at the same time. In our reality, something can only be in one place at a time. This principle allows much more powerful calculations and therefore also more powerful AI systems to be made.”
“I don't make art that needs to be found beautiful, but art that confronts. I hope people do something with it”
“With this work I explore the ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence. The interactive installation is made up of a stack of wooden boxes from the last century. Two of them contain a screen showing varying texts generated by AI. The texts are based on a live scan of Twitter by an algorithm that was developed especially for this artwork in collaboration with scientists from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. The algorithm searches for Dutch messages about moral issues. An AI system can only make zero-one decisions, but to make a good ethical decision you need to be able to look at an issue from different points of view. According to artificial intelligence, economic inequality is not undesirable, because, for example, the strongest shoulders can bear the burden for the weaker. At the same time, the screen shows that inequality provides less access to education and is therefore undesirable. Ultimately the question is: how valuable are these ethical reflections? I wanted that debate with Quantum Cat boost. And the role of the virtual cat? It weighs and weighs, and constantly presents two more or less opposing moral considerations.”
“What I think goes too far ethically is when images of contemporary artists are used as a prompt when generating an image. So 'make a picture à la Jasper Krabbé' and then use his drawings as input is, I think, illicit. That comes too close to copying.”
“A work like Quantum Cat is of course not comparable to a Rembrandt or a Van Gogh. Just the history attached to such painters. Moreover, traditional art is very static. A painting is a painting: nothing changes that. Okay, you also have video art. That is less static, but the same thing is played over and over again. AI can be used to create art that continues to change infinitely. A good example is Unsupervised by Refik Anadol, an installation for which he used 180.000 works of art from the MoMA archive as input. Art that continues to transform infinitely and can always be different based on data.”
“When I was working with algorithms as a market researcher, I came up with the idea of creating a profile photo of someone who was on Twitter by building it from his or her own tweets. Just like you see portraits that are made up of all kinds of small photos. I built a site around that, so people could order their own profile photo. That concept went completely viral. From Japan to Silicon Valley, everyone was tweeting about those portraits. I have sold quite a few of them. At the end of February 2011 I received an email from someone in New Zealand, where an earthquake had just occurred. The city of Christchurch was particularly hard hit. I was asked if I could create a similar artwork to inspire the rebuilding of central Christchurch. I collected thousands of tweets about the earthquake and processed them into an op The Starry Night van Gogh inspired urban landscape. I had chosen a shape in which the partially collapsed cathedral of Christchurch stood upright again in that landscape. The work first hung in the church there for six months, then it was added to the collection of the National History Museum of New Zealand.”
“As an artist I find that less interesting, because then I repeat myself. I would do it for a good cause if asked, but I would rather continue experimenting with the use of data in art.”
“As far as technology is concerned, I find it all interesting, but what really matters to me is that AI is a mirror of ourselves. If we let a machine make a new Rembrandt, what does that say about us? Aren't we, in fact, also some kind of machines? Although machines, robots, can do more and more and come closer to humans, in my view there is still a clear distinction. Humans have a higher degree of creativity and can think out-of-the-box. A machine cannot do that: it relies on historical data. Moreover, robots lack a lot of context, for example they cannot smell or feel. But there may be very major developments in the pipeline. It could be that AI will match, if not surpass, human intelligence. And that in the future we will live together with a hyper-intelligent system. I'm not saying this is the most realistic scenario, but it would be possible.”
"Don't know. That's a science fiction idea that says more about ourselves than about AI. In any case, we are moving towards a situation with two movements: machines are becoming increasingly intelligent, people are increasingly focusing on what makes us human. Like human contact. Who knows, robots might soon serve a beer while we chat with others. The utopian ideal is that we no longer have to work for money – the robots will take over the work – and can enjoy a basic income. Until then, AI will still have to make significant strides.”
“We are now at the breaking point of video AI. Within a year we have learned how to create texts and images with AI. This development is now being extended to moving images. In the long term you will be able to make Hollywood-quality films yourself.”
“For now I'm still being called flat, haha. And I also want to be part of the vanguard. As an artist I want to continue developing and embrace new technologies.”
“I understand your question, AI actually 'paints' the pattern. But I'm mainly concerned with the discussion that my work causes, the human element surrounding it. I don't make art that needs to be found beautiful, but art that confronts. I hope people do something with it.”
Curious about the rest of the interview? You want this edition of MASTERS. A milestone in print, pushing the boundaries. Innovative. Surprising. Stunning. Including a very extraordinary guest editor. An interview with the man who pointed out to the Ajax Supervisory Board in 2015 the gaps within the organization that have now come to light. Merijn Zeeman explains how Jumbo-Visma has developed into a top sports company. Quoteman Paul van Riessen calculates how much you need to no longer have to work. Sabine Riezebos explains what sets Bernardus apart from other golf courses. A look at the Stratos Yacht yard, where the ultimate boat for carefree sailing pleasure is being built. And also the rise of robots (where is the sex robot?), Fake News and, exclusively in MASTERS: the 'new Doutzen Kroes'.
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