The New Real at Beyond Conference 2024
Discover The New Real Magazine’s second edition, Planetary Futures: AI, Arts and the Environment, from The University of Edinburgh’s hub for AI, creativity, and futures research. This open-source journal brings together leading creatives, technologists, and academics to explore the intersection of environmental sustainability and digital innovation.
The launch event also features an exclusive preview of new commissioned work by interdisciplinary artist Kasia Molga, highlighting AI’s role in preserving memory and shaping our planet’s future. Join us to engage with critical insights and pioneering innovations at this inspiring event.
This event is made possible by generous contribution from Creative Informatics.
Speakers:
Courtney Bates, Project Manager
Courtney is the Project Manager for The New Real, she focuses on the intersection of AI and the arts and produces insightful resources for the arts community for future thinking and work with AI and emerging technologies. Previously, she served as the Programme and Finance Administrator for Creative Informatics, a UK Creative Cluster Programme, supporting R&D funding in the creative industries. Formerly, Courtney was Executive Director of both The Flowertown Players and Threshold Repertory Theatre in Charleston, SC before moving to Edinburgh. She holds a MA in Arts, Festival, and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University and a BA in Arts Management from The College of Charleston.
Matjaz Vidmar, Deputy Director
Matjaz Vidmar is Lecturer at The University of Edinburgh and Deputy Director of The New Real programme, hosted between the Edinburgh Futures Institute and Alan Turing Institute. His research spans collaborative R&D practices and interdisciplinary knowledge making, especially between engineering and arts/humanities. With a background in Science and Technology Studies, he is currently examining sustainable futures of high-tech fields, especially in artificial intelligence and data.
How to Find the Soul of a Sailor
The New Real Unveils First Iteration of Kasia Molga’s Immersive Multimedia Experience, How to Find the Soul of a Sailor, at Inspace Gallery, Edinburgh
Exhibition Dates: December 12 - 21, 2024; January 6 - 11, 2025, closed on Sundays.
Times: 10:00-17:00
Exhibition launch: December 12, 2024 5pm - 8pm, artist talk and light refreshments. Tickets are limited.
Please reserve a ticket on Eventbrite - How to Find the Soul of a Sailor Artist Talk and Opening Event Tickets, Thu, Dec 12, 2024 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite
Free admission
Location: Inspace Gallery, 1 Crichton St, Newington, Edinburgh EH8 9AB
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible venue
Commissioned by: The New Real
Sponsored by: The Scottish AI Alliance
Hosted by: Inspace Gallery
Additional support by: Arts Council England
Edinburgh, Scotland - Kasia Molga, an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist, designer and storyteller invites you to explore her first iteration of How to Find the Soul of a Sailor, a deeply personal and innovative project that fuses the past, present, and future through the lens of artificial intelligence and memory. This work is the result of The New Real 2023-2024 commission “Uncanny Machines” supported by the Scottish AI Alliance. Hosted at Inspace Gallery with additional support from Arts Council England, this unique early access version runs from December 12-21, 2024, and January 6-11, 2025.
Immerse yourself in a deeply personal journey to the future of our oceans and sailors’ time at sea. Experience the Mediterranean sea through the eyes of Molga’s late father, Tadeusz Molga, a devoted sailor. During his voyages, he meticulously documented his passion for the ocean, a love he shared with young Kasia as she accompanied him on his ship. Fifteen years after his passing, Molga is left with a profound sense of loss and a collection of his cherished diaries. When the memories of their time together begin to fade, she turns to these diaries, clinging to the remnants of his voice and their shared experiences at sea. Molga's work captures an emotional and environmental journey highlighting the fragility of our oceans, the ever-changing work conditions of sailors, and speculates on the future and what her father would say.
Molga uses The New Real’s specialised experiential AI platform, The New Real Observatory, to reimagine her father’s words, projecting them 50 years into the future. This project is a powerful fusion of memory and technology, blending generative AI tools with climate data to create an emotionally charged narrative that visualises both the past and future of our oceans.
Molga’s exhibition uniquely combines English and Polish, creating a bilingual experience that delves into the profound topics of personal connection to climate change and the digital afterlife. Her work not only honours the enduring power of memory but also showcases the potential benefits and drawbacks of various artificial intelligence tools to preserve and transform our personal histories.
This exhibition is a must-see for those interested in the intersections of art, technology, and the environment, offering a poignant reflection on the future of our planet and the boundless possibilities of human-AI collaboration.
About Kasia Molga:
Kasia Molga (UK/PL) has refused to be labelled – design fusionist, artist, environmentalist, creative coder and technologist who for over a decade has sought ways of collaboration with nature, predominantly focusing on the ever-changing human relation to and perception of the natural environment and fellow ‘earthlings’. Her award winning work has been exhibited worldwide (i,e. Ars Electronica, Tate Modern, MIS (BR), Centre Pompidou and more). Kasia has taken part in many international art & science residencies and has lectured and mentored regularly in the EU and UK. An affinity with the ocean is evident in Kasia’s work, born from her time growing up on merchant navy vessels with her sailor father and she is the proud holder of a diving licence. studiomolga.com
About The New Real:
The New Real is a leading research hub on arts and AI at The University of Edinburgh, fostering innovative projects at the intersection of technology, creativity, and society. The New Real explores how AI impacts life at a profound level, often interacting with us in fascinating and unanticipated ways, and illuminates how emerging technology can become a creative, playful and deeply impactful part of everyday living. The New Real is developed in partnership with The Alan Turing Institute, Edinburgh College of Art, and The Edinburgh Futures Institute. The New Real | Home
About Scottish AI Alliance:
Scotland’s national Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy was launched in March 2021 and set out a vision for Scotland to become a leader in the development and use of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI.
The Scottish AI Alliance is tasked with the delivery of the vision outlined in Scotland’s AI Strategy by empowering Scotland's people, supporting Scotland's businesses and organisations, and influencing policy impacting Scotland. The Scottish AI Alliance is a strategic collaboration between The Data Lab and the Scottish Government and is led by a Minister-appointed Chair and overseen by Senior Responsible Officers from The Data Lab (CEO) and the Scottish Government (CDO). Its activities are overseen and advised by governance and outcomes focussed advisory groups with representation across society and Scotland’s AI community. www.scottishai.com
About Inspace Gallery
Inspace is part of the Institute for Design Informatics and is a collaborative hub, commissioning and producing creative activity. Our public programme connects data, research and creative talent. We host events and exhibitions where people can explore, learn, debate and create. Our programme unlocks digital technologies, tools and data and explores their role in society through a creative lens. We are home to Inspace City Screens, a unique seven screen street front projection space visible from Potterrow in Edinburgh. Inspace – art | design | technology | research (ed.ac.uk)
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. They help people in every corner of the country to experience and benefit from creativity. They do this by investing in artists and organisations that make and deliver exceptional, inspirational work for our communities. Homepage (artscouncil.org.uk)
Edinburgh Futures Institute Welcome Week - Building Near Futures Exhibition
Come and visit 16 creative future prototypes that address particular challenges posed by the theme of Living with/in intelligent environments.
We may think we're already living with/in intelligent environments, but the students of the Building Near Futures 2023-24 course at Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) have posed extraordinary concepts to what these future intelligent environments will look like. Addressing particular world challenges students are presenting a digital exploration of future human-machine cohabitation.
Come along to the special exhibition of their work in the new EFI building this September to be inspired by these insights into near-future scenarios.
The Building Near Futures Course is supported by the research of The New Real.
The exhibition can be found on the 1st floor of the Edinburgh Futures Institute building on Lauriston Place.
TikTok: Work, Time, and Play in a Platform Economy
TikTok: Work, Time, and Play in a Platform Economy brings together papers that analyse emerging digital visual culture(s) and aesthetics through critical platform analyses. We are particularly interested in TikTok, as it is a platform where many dynamic digital subcultures proliferate and circulate.
Building Near Futures Student Exhibition
Edinburgh Futures Institutes masters students taking the Building Near Futures course will be presenting their creative future prototypes which address particular challenges posed by the theme of Living with/in intelligent environments.
Come along to their Exhibition Event on Friday, 5th April 2024, at 3pm to be inspired by their insights of near-future scenarios and decide for yourself whether, and how, they could affect real-world change.
Hosted by: Prof Drew Hemment & Dr Matjaz Vidmar
The New Real at AI UK
Get ready for an exhilarating kickoff at AI UK 2024, where The New Real takes the stage to deliver the opening provocation! We're not just diving into the usual realms of optimization and cost savings – brace yourself for a journey into the extraordinary.
Our team is set to unravel transformative expressions and novel ways of existence, pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve. This session isn't just about showcasing capabilities; it's a thrilling celebration of AI's potential, all done responsibly.
Immerse yourself in a spectacle of artwork depicting alternate futures, unconventional utopias, and surprisingly optimistic apocalypses. Whether you choose to be there in person or join us online, this is an experience you won't want to miss. Buckle up for a ride into the future with us!
The New Real Team, Drew Hemment and Matjaz Vidmar, will also be joining Turing Institute Skills and Training Manager, Mishka Nemes, and Turing Innovation Director, Simon Reeve to lead the Innovation Lab at AI UK. The Turing Innovation Lab workshop presents a brilliant opportunity to engage directly with current innovators to explore how to turn research ideas into novel scientific innovations. Whether it’s a commercial business idea rooted in deep tech, a start-up pitch for investors or a social innovation idea aimed to improve welfare and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
We’re also co-hosting the Driving Decarbonisation with AI workshop, with stakeholders from the manufacturing, marine, infrastructure and energy sectors.
With decarbonisation an urgent matter, this workshop will focus on Data-Centric Engineering to turn complex data into solutions that dramatically reduce carbon emissions and pave the way for a sustainable future.
Useful links:
Protecting Creativity in the Age of AI
The New Real is participating in an event on supporting the creative industries in the age of AI.
Images, Artists and AI – evening event with The New Real
Join us in the V&A’s Photography Centre for an evening event about images, artists and AI. Delve deep into how images and image-making have been impacted by recent advances in machine learning, and hear from artists who have long engaged with the creative potential of AI.
The New Real Salon: “Voices of Artists in the Generative AI Era, We Speak for the...”
Dive into future landscapes of creative AI and celebrate the vital role of artists in shaping AI practices and policies.
Navigating Generative AI in the Creative Arts (Workshop)
Delve deep into insights and strategies surrounding AI in the arts and creative sectors. Discover the latest thinking on transformative experiences for audiences, new AI tools, and fair and ethical business models.
The New Real Salon: The Algorithmic Turn
Join us for the opening of the second New Real Salon, as we gather our community together across a weekend of events, to explore how the new generation of powerful AI tools is opening unprecedented opportunities for human-machine creativity.
It’s All About the Feelings: A Performance on AI and Emotion Recognition
Come and join us for a performance event that takes a peek inside AI and emotion recognition to explore the emotional, empathic, sentiment recognition systems that have significant implications for our current and near future lives.
Uncanny Machines Talks at the Scottish AI Summit
As part of the 2023 Scottish AI Summit The New Real announces inspirational AI Artists, awarded our five development awards, who have been funded to explore the uncanny interplay of humans and machines, and the social implications of recent developments in AI.
AI & Arts Lunchtime Talk: Experiential AI & The New Real Art Commission 2023
This seminar will explore the potential for artists and cultural organisations to develop AI-fuelled experiences fit for the next generation of globally connected audiences. It will present a vision for Experiential AI as a novel paradigm for fair and inclusive creative AI. The New Real invites the AI community to join them in the challenge of developing creative tools that are accessible and legible.
The New Real Salon Showcase
Join The New Real, a project out of the Edinburgh Future’s Institute, as we present a programme of work, Exploring the future of AI and the arts, across the weekend of October 28th - 30th. The New Real Showcase, taking place on the 29th and 30th, presents a suite of artworks and interactive exhibits from The New Real making the Artificial Intelligence systems more legible, transparent, fair, and environmentally sound through arts and design. Come along to delve deeper into the ideas and concepts behind the work and to participate in the research.
The New Real Salon Opening
Join The New Real, a project out of the Edinburgh Future’s Institute, as we present a programme of work, Exploring the future of AI and the arts, across the weekend of October 28th - 30th. The weekend will kick off with the New Real Salon Opening event on Friday the 28th, where leading contemporary AI artists, designers and scientists will explore the most transformative technologies out there and announce a major new programme on Next Generation Intelligent Experiences. Experience our ground-breaking ideas around the arts and culture of tomorrow and how AI intersects with society to allow us to reflect back on ourselves.
Designing The New Real
The New Real invites you to join this Friday morning workshop session followed by networking lunch - As part of this workshop we will devise imaginative ways to research and experiment with new experiences, practices, infrastructures and business models, and to empower people to be agents of positive change. Immerse yourself into The New Real and experience exciting and groundbreaking ideas for the arts and culture of tomorrow and help us define the agenda for future research and teaching in this area.
The New Real AI Brunch @ ARS Electronica
We are delighted to be part of Ars Electronica 2022: Welcome to Planet B, where we will be inviting visitors to our A.I. Brunch: Here Be (Intelligent) Dragons, which will explore new horizons for creative AI in the arts. This dynamic workshop you will provide opportunities to collaborate with other expert practitioners on stimulating challenges. Join our growing interdisciplinary network of engaged minds.
The New Real Observatory: Exhibition @ ARS Electronica
We are delighted to be part of Ars Electronica 2022: Welcome to Planet B, where we will be presenting The New Real Observatory exhibition featuring artworks by Inés Cámara Leret, Adam Harvey, and Kizziah McNeill presenting multi-sensory explorations of possible futures and investigating the entanglements of people, data, machines and environments
Edinburgh International Culture Summit
We are delighted to be part of Edinburgh International Culture Summit 2022 where we will be presenting our exciting research Programme. At this year’s Edinburgh International Culture Summit, The New Real team will introduce policy makers and cultural professionals from participating nations to exciting new ways to combine art and technology in delightful and transformative digital cultural experiences for global audiences.
It's all about the feelings...
It’s all about the feelings…’ is a creative research project led by Beverley Hood, an artist and Reader in Technological Embodiment & Creative Practice at the University of Edinburgh, featuring actor, Pauline Goldsmith and PhD candidate in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, Benedetta Catanzariti.
The Overlay Exhibition & Drop In Sessions @ Edinburgh Science Festival 2022
The Overlay by artist Inés Cámara Leret is an exploration into the entanglements that arise when attempting to make global climate data tangible
The new real @ scottish AI summit
We are delighted to be part of the inaugural Scottish AI Summit this year. The New Real team will showcase projects developed over the last year, and present a lunchtime demo of our new climate AI platform for artists.
The new real observatory @aiuk
We are delighted to be part of AI UK 2022 where we will be launching our exciting new project partnered with The Turing Institute, The New Real Observatory