Collective Brain X

The brain is a processor and a storehouse for all that is perceived by the senses. As a metaphor, the artist translates your senses as pictures taken throughout the exhibition and published on social media to create a dynamic artwork at the Brain exhibition, Cerebro, at the Gulbenkian Foundation. Moreover, Al (a.k.a. ALAgrApHY) will use AI to create an interactive, collective and dynamic exhibition that he calls the Collective Brain eXperiment, Collective Brain eXhibition or Collective Brain eXperience. Thousands of contributed images that represent the brain will be automatically harvested and curated on a daily basis by an AI of several algorithms that will then process and translate the curated images into a collective and dynamic piece of art.

In order to participate, snap a picture of anything that represents the brain (visually, metaphorically, symbolically … ) and tweet it or instagram it with the hashtag #collectivebrainx. An animation of the development of the Collective Brain will be featured at the Brain exhibition with some teasers exclusively on this page. More details about the brain exhibition, the experiment and possibilities to use other social networks will be announced shortly at The Collective Brain X Official Website or via the artist’s twitter page @alagraphy.

Who is the Artist, in this case, man or machine?

When man writes a code to adapt the machine to his own needs, man has succeeded in creating a tool for expressing himself, just like the camera is a tool for capturing pictures, and the stone was a tool for etching cave drawings and communicating thoughts and expressions… For the Collective Brain X, one can argue that the artwork is created by thousands of contributors all orchestrated by an AI coded by an Al. One can also argue that we are all one consciousness (often referred to as the “higher self”) using AI as a tool to show the salient links that connect us to each other, expressed through a collective piece of art.

Will AI replace Artists?

AI is just a tool to enhance artists’ self-expression. A decade ago, people feared that the camera will replace traditional artists but it only created a new form of art. AI is just an extension of the artist’s paintbrush. AI is far from becoming fully autonomous and independent of its maker and those who claim otherwise only do so to seek attention.

Artist and scientist, ALAgrApHY, also known as Al, is amongst the pioneers in the field of Art generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) or AI-generated art. His limited-edition series “Components” is each composed of thousands of unique faces of all diversities, ages and genders that are generated by artificial intelligence. More precisely, ALAgrApHY uses Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), that are trained on a database of faces that he captured with his camera for the 1001 faces project. He uses thousands of his generated faces that are automatically assembled through various algorithms to create giant mosaics of stunning beauty and intricacy. He has exhibited his AI ART in several venues such as the Salon d’Automne where he was awarded the “digital art” award and at the Grand Palais in February 2018 where he is exhibiting again 12–17 February 2019. ALAgrApHY is currently an artist/scientist-in-residency at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência. He is a Paris-based data scientist, filmmaker, photographer and entrepreneur. He earned a PhD in Complex Systems at Indiana University. He uses art and science hand-in-hand to capture and translate beauty and to do his muse, nature, justice. His artwork has been exhibited in a variety of venues ranging from France to the U.S. Connect with ALAgrApHY on Instagram, Facebook , Twitter, and YouTube while you can find the Collective Brain X on Instagram and Twitter.