The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the curator-as-artist: revisiting Ventzislavov's concept in two cases of AI-based curating

Abstract

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in art is increasingly widespread, and yet its effects are still far from being clear. The professional boundaries between the artist and the curator, particularly the curator-as-artist organizing thematic exhibitions are increasingly blurred, and AI complicates their division of labor even further. By performing theoretical analysis and case study, this paper examines how AI's recent entry into the artistic realm is impacting the role of the curator-as-artist using the theoretical framework offered by Rossen Ventzislavov's essay Idle Arts: Reconsidering the Curator (2014). Drawing upon the curatorial studies literature, it revisits the two central themes explored by Ventzislavov, i.e., the generation of artistic value, and the division labor between the artist and the curator. Using the theoretical instruments obtained from this examination, it comparatively analyzes two AI-based curatorial projects, namely the Helsinki Biennial titled New Directions May Emerge hosted by the Helsinki Art Museum and Act as if you are a curator: an AI-generated exhibition at Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art. The study finds that the art worlds emerging around AI are collaborative and interdisciplinary, and despite the growing pressure on the figure of the individual curator in charge, AI assemblages still rely on human curatorial agency and authorship, especially for curatorial storytelling and the mediation of the negotiations among the human participants in the cooperative network.