By Brinadee Bratcher
February marked the opening of Mercer Labs, an expansive 36,000 square foot, immersive, art exhibit created by Roy Nachum. Nachum is an Israeli native whose celebrity collaborators include performers such as Kanye West, Arianna Grande, and Rihanna. It should come as no surprise that the opening of this exhibit was highly anticipated. Despite little to no information on social media prior, many patrons were eager for the chance to walk through the sprawling installation, myself included.
The ticket page promises participants a show that will “unveil a tapestry of childhood memories, nature’s beauty, and digital innovation. Step inside (Nachum’s) dream where each piece is a living, breathing entity, redefining your perception of art.” After experiencing it for myself, I must say that the description could not be more fitting.
Each room you enter has the palpable quality of life. Vivid imagery, immersive acoustics, and tactile experiences titilate every sense from the moment you walk in. Powerful visceral emotion juxtaposed with the obvious sterility of technology begs the question all good art should inspire—“What do you think it means?”
As I traveled through each room I was most struck by the young boy and girl who reappear in nearly every exhibit. Blinded by their crowns which have fallen over their eyes, they seem oddly misplaced.
In what may have been a stupidly serendipitous moment of clarity, I stumbled upon what I think Nachum’s work at Mercer Labs could mean. As could be expected, I spent a large portion of my time at the exhibit trying to capture it on my phone. Excited to show my friends and family, I posed and snapped in a joyful frenzy. When I left I returned to my camera roll with great anticipation and marveled at the art I myself had just “created”. But who is the true creator? Surely capturing something breathtaking is not akin to true creation.
Is it Nachum? Whose designs, inspiration and oversight on the project was most certainly necessary to bring the project to life.
Or, is the true creator technology itself? Hear me out. Vision is necessary but not sufficient for creation. In order to create something that transcends the status quo, you must acquire new tools. The advent of AI has opened up endless opportunities for visions previously relegated to the realm of fantasy to now begin materializing in our everyday lives. If you can think it, AI can make it.
Truthfully, had it just been me in a room full of mirrors, the photos I took would not be nearly as interesting. In that same breath, I am going to go out on a limb and say that I think Nachum makes a powerful commentary in this exhibit — the meta reality of the artist vs the observer of art. Humanity vs. its reflection.
Technology has provided us with a unique toolset to evolve our creative expression more rapidly than ever before. In addition, artificial intelligence has the potential to help make artistic expression accessible to all. But who is the true artist in that case? For the first time in history the paintings are being painted by something non-human. So is it the evolution of human creativity or the death of it entirely?
The value of art lies in its ability to reflect the human consciousness — A portal into the underworld of human psyche and the human experience. Call me a purist but if an artist has no skin in the game, I personally find the energy of their art to be flat and lifeless. In an ironic way Mercer Labs embodies this disconnect. The qualities of life are all there but the essence of life, the energy of humanity, is missing. Perhaps this is the metaphorical meaning behind the crown. Part of the experience but blind to it entirely, humankind has embarked on a new frontier with little to no thought of the consequences.
Should there be some type of warning label telling us when something is real and when it has been created/written by artificial intelligence? Could the sterilizing effect of technology have the same effect on the soul as GMO food products have had on our bodies? If we reflect on the brief but eventful history of the last twenty years, one lesson we continue to learn is how poorly we are able to judge the full scope of impact that will be felt by new tech. For that reason, I wholeheartedly hope that Roy Nachum’s work begins the vital discussion of informed consent in media consumption. I’m not arguing that we shouldn’t create in these mediums, but we have a right to know when we are vs when we are not.
Prior to this new age, the influence of social media was tempered by the fact that humans were still the ones behind the screen creating the content. It is an inevitable thing to be influenced by your peers. However, this will mark the first time in history where we may fall prey to the influence of something non-human.
Media is arguably the single most powerful influencer of human behavior. The evidence of how media consumption can actually mold your opinions and behavior is unanimous. For this reason there needs to be a certain level of protection and morality employed when it comes to mimicking the consciousness of humanity. Artificial intelligence is an incredible feat and undoubtedly holds the potential to expand and elevate the world, but let us push the crown above our eyes and place it on our heads where it belongs.
