Living through an era of rapid technological change got you down? Drowning in a sea of LLMs, diffusion models, and generative tools? This studio explores how AI can be a meaningful creative companion rather than just a shortcut. Through experimentation, students will critically explore AI, culminating in an arts-based outcome. 

This studio is focused on how technological shifts impact creative practice and how artists and designers can critically adapt. We will explore historical precedents—how artists responded to past technological revolutions—alongside contemporary AI-driven experimentation. Readings and presentations will engage with discourse on AI, technology, authorship, labour, and originality.

Students will develop research-based approaches, using a visual platform of their choice to curate their findings. Through gallery visits and arts presentations, they will gain insights into exhibition practices and research-based artmaking, ultimately positioning their own work within the evolving intersection of AI, art, and design.

Students will build a visual research archive, forming the foundation for their final artwork, which could be a video piece, printed material, digital site, AR experience, or another experimental format of their choice. This open-ended approach allows students to explore AI’s potential within their personal style and interests. Students will be assessed on both creative execution and critical thinking in relation to AI. To contextualise their practice, they will also produce an 700-word written response, which may be published digitally or physically.

This studio combines hands-on experimentation, research, and critique. Students will:

—Engage in group discussions and critiques, drawing from weekly readings and presentations.
—Develop a personal research archive using Miro, Roam/obsidian, or a custom-built platform.
—Experiment with AI tools, from image diffusion models to text-based generative systems.
—Participate in two excursions to arts spaces, meeting with artists and curators to understand presentation strategies and research-based practices.
—Present their final artwork in an exhibition format with their peers. 
—Explore different writing approaches, leading to a final written reflection contextualising their artwork and theoretical position.
 

SKO– 30% - Students will curate and organize their research using a visual platform (such as Miro, Roam, or a site of their choice) forming the intellectual basis for their final Artwork. 
 
Artwork– 45%- Students will develop a unique AI-driven or inspired artwork for a curated exhibition. This could include video, printed material, digital, AR, or other experimental formats. 
 
Writing– 25% - An 700-word reflection on the artwork, in any chosen style, addressing key concepts and influences, published either physically or digitally.
 

Essay: ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ by Walter Benjamin (pages 1-26) 
Essay: In Defense of the Poor Image - Hito Steyerl, E-Flux
Article: ‘How To Picture AI’ by Jaron Lanier, The New Yorker  
Video: Kevin Munger on Vilém Flusser's "Communicology: Mutations in Human Relations?", New Models