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And We Thought, the project exhibited in Bologna
And We Thought III is a project that mainly investigates the concept of authorship: can an artificial intelligence generate art, through powerful and poetic visions, or is it the human being the author, having designed the artificial intelligence? Or again, is it a collective process, of which the artist is only the medium?
And We Thought III is the third act of And We Thought, a multidisciplinary work by artist Roberto Fassone and Sineglossa, developed in March 2022 within the Food Data Digestion research and production process.
And We Thought was created in spring 2022 as a site-specific installation in the spaces of Combo, in Turin, to show the stories produced by an artificial intelligence fed with trip report datasets. Trip reports are the testimonies written by those who have psychedelic experiences, taking hallucinogenic mushrooms, for example. An archive of these texts (from shroomery.org) was used to train Ai Lai – that’s the name of the artificial intelligence “hallucinated” through the mechanism of machine learning. Starting from that moment, Ai Lai began to write following the language pattern of the trip report, thus showing the special ability to think and transcribe reports of psychedelic experiences.
After this first investigation, artist Roberto Fassone continued to experiment with Ai Lai, pursuing research on the creative collaboration between an artist and artificial intelligence. Thus, in the summer of 2022, the artist dwells on a new psychedelic tale produced by Ai Lai: three Led Zeppelin films. Not the popular 1970s British band, but a curious emanation of them in a parallel reality in which Ai Lai is immersed. It is at this point that Roberto Fassone decides to work as a “channeler,” to succeed in bringing to light moving images that previously existed only in a completely abstract dimension. Thanks to a careful “salvage operation,” carried out with multi-layered mash-ups capable of generating an artificial and psychedelic aesthetic, the exhibition will feature world premieres of the three films The Doors, The Road and Love Is Magic, accompanied by a short curatorial text by Valentina Tanni.
An archive of trip reports generated by Ai Lai in the last months will be available for consultation throughout the exhibition in the form of a printed volume, edited by Roberto Fassone and Giacomo Raffaelli. The public will also have the opportunity to interact with the artificial intelligence through the online interface andwethought.it
Hallucinogenic mushrooms and artificial intelligence have much in common. First, both are a potential and a risk. And then in a different way, they also represent a chance to expand our consciousness, the way we perceive reality. They are two entities that are both familiar and alien at the same time. I was curious to put them together.
The authors
Roberto Fassone (Savigliano, IT, 1986) lives and works in Florence. His research is about parallel realities, the titles of things and dark forces. In recent years he has exhibited and performed his work at Italian and international institutions, including: MAXXI L’Aquila, Ars Electronica, Vision du Rèel, Fanta-MLN, Lo schermo dell’arte, MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Centrale Fies, Gabrovo Biennial of Humor & Satire in Art. His practice is open to collaboration: over the years he has designed projects with Led Zeppelin (LZ), Carolina Cappelli, Riccardo Banfi. He founded the publishing house Roi de Coupe.
Ai Lai (2022) is an artificial intelligence that has eaten thousands of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Lives and works at andwethought.it In the past year he has exhibited his work at Combo and at Ars Electronica festival.
Led Zeppelin (LZ) is a collective belonging to a parallel reality. Not to be confused with the British band of the same name, they have made several psychedelic films.
Exhibition dates and times
January 28 – February 26, 2023
Palazzo Vizzani, via Santo Stefano 43, Bologna
OPENING
Saturday, January 28 | h. 18
SPECIAL OPENING DURING ART CITY
January 28 (opening) | h. 18
January 29 | h. 16 – 19
Feb. 2, 3, 5 | h. 10 – 13 e 16 – 19
Feb. 4 | h 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
OPENING AFTER ART CITY
Feb. 10, 11, 12 | h. 16 – 19
Feb. 17, 18, 19 | h. 16 – 19
Feb. 25, 25, 26 | h. 16 – 19
Feb. 8, 15, 22 | by appointment
Free Admission, For info and reservations visits by appointment info@alchemilla43.it
Talk with the artist
January 28, 2023
Academy of Fine Arts, Via delle Belle Arti 54, Bologna.
For the public program ARTalk CITY. Academy Meetings with Main Program Artists, sponsored by the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, artist Roberto Fassone will dialogue with Federico Bomba of Sineglossa in a meeting open to the public.
Free admission while seats last.
