SWITCH is an initiative that investigates how different roles in conversations impact their context and outcome. In this campaign, Creatives are challenged to step outside of their usual conversation routine by switching between questioner and answerer.
Photographed by Guzel Khos
THE STORY
CREATIVE
Tripura
PROFESSION
Artist
LOCATION
Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION
I’m a Los Angeles based artist, a visionary, and a collector. I work with 3d motion graphics and video. My pieces are inspired by the relationship between the global human body and the future body of nature, which includes new forms of life, chimeras, boundless bodies, and interpretations of Love.
CONTEXT
My works have been featured on a digital billboard in Tokyo, Japan, were represented in Digital Art Month in Paris, France 2022, and have been shown in several recent exhibitions: Women of the world, Nowhere gallery, New York, The USA; Plexus project, New York, The USA; Superchief selects VOL.1 collection; Los Angeles, The USA; CADAF digital art fair 2022, New York, The USA, and Ipercubo gallery, Milan, Italy. I am a winner of the prize from Ruinart Art Patronat (2019), a winner of Laguna Art Prize (2018) and TRUST FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING (2018), and a nominee of the Kandinsky Prize (2013).
Photographed by Guzel Khos
QUESTION TO LISTEN
Tripura answers with questions to questions raised by GAHSP.
1
GAHSP
Should artists be considered visionaries?
Tripura
Art is visionary. I often observe how artists predict the future, sometimes their future, sometimes some large-scale social processes. I see myself and my creativity as a portal in space through which I broadcast my ideas and visions of our future world. If one creates art without the qualities of a visionary, then one is likely engaging in stale formalism, devoid of the vitality that makes art prescient and relevant to humanity.
When we became archeology. 3D motion graphics. 00m 36s. Sound art by Morrr. 2023.
2
GAHSP
Does a natural connection between physical and digital art exist?
Tripura
Yes, and my practice is proof of that. Without my extensive background in physical art (of which only a few years were spent on education), I would not have been able to appreciate all the prospects afforded by the digital transformation of art. This connection allows me to simultaneously have a support and see the ocean of possibilities in front of me. I participated in several projects in the metaverse, and it is an interesting experience of living in the body of a digital avatar but I still remain a living person, I like being in a physical body.
Hydra. 3D motion graphics. 1 min. Sound art Dario Duarte. 2022. Musician: Dario Duarte.
3
GAHSP
Will NFTs remain relevant?
Tripura
I have followed the evolution of NFTs closely over the years, and have seen massive change, especially in the last 2 years. At the beginning of the hype wave, there was a lot of low-quality art, but over time, and especially during the crypto winter, the quality and diversity of NFT art has increased significantly, many talented creators have entered into the space. But it will have a difficult path of evolution and wider public acceptance. Whether that will be a lengthy process, I’m unsure. Most likely not, technology is developing rapidly and breaking into all spheres of human life. Another question is how relevant will the NFT world be? When AI transforms the consciousness of the next generation of people, what new forms of art will be created by this world? And what type of economic structures will be extant in those future digital marketplaces?
You are the gravity of my reality. 3D motion graphics. 00 m 45 s. Sound art Lo.Sai. 2022. Musician: Lo.Sai.
4
GAHSP
Can technology change the role of artists in society?
Tripura
The role of the artist is changing in parallel with the development of technology throughout the history of mankind - why should it stop? It's a very organic process. The whole world is now waiting for what awaits humanity with the advent of such new technologies (beyond our current large language models (LLM), and large video models (LVM)), even the most advanced research scientists can only offer conjecture and informed extrapolations. The role of an artist in society is to predict the future, highlight problems of society, and to transform the perception of reality. This role will always be relevant. The question is, will these duties be fulfilled by people in 10 years, or something post-human?
Love tomorrow. 3D motion graphics. 00m 44s. Sound art by Lo.Sai. 2022. Musician: Lo.Sai.
5
GAHSP
Are artistic techniques in the digital space more fluid?
Tripura
Yes, artistic techniques in the digital space provide more opportunities while requiring fewer resources. The only natural limit for me is the power of my computer and the possibilities of the software interface created by programmers for artists. Sometimes the user experience or interface is so illogical and alien for creators that you want to throw something right through the monitor at the software engineers. But I still admire their achievements.
Warm currents. 3D motion graphics. 00m 30s. Sound art by Lo.Sai. 2023.
6
GAHSP
Is the WEB3 community powerful enough to drastically transform the art world?
Tripura
The WEB3 community and output is not entering our world overtly and by force. It is like rainwater - it seeps into the vacant pores of the web. It occupies voids in the socio-economic space of society and, like a mycelium - spreading to all areas available for innovation. Many people do not even notice that WEB3 technologies have already entered their workplaces, their homes, smartphones and media. WEB3 is radically changing the world of art without any resistance right now, even while you are reading this text it is permeating through digital space.
Photographed by Guzel Khos
QUESTION TO ANSWER
Tripura poses questions she would want to be asked, and then answers them herself.
1
Working with digital art, creating something that cannot be touched, does it feel like losing your own body, because artists have a connection with their art?
In addition to art, I teach qigong. This is Chinese gymnastics, which helps to feel your body very well. I really like that in my life there is something that has nothing to do with the material, physical, and there is something completely opposite, which makes it possible to feel the world around me even brighter, this is just the practice of qigong.
2
You have worked with a lot of different media (sculpture, photography, installation, video), is there anything else you would like to try?
I dream of making a large-scale mural. I already have sketches for a potential wall, but I still have to implement it.
3
What are your plans for the future?
I am interested in working at the intersection of art and science. I am currently working on a project where I, as an artist, have to create digital art based on the research of a scientist. The project is focused on creating digital art that combines artistic appeal with therapeutic effects on the mental and physical state of viewers, based on the scientific studies and findings. This is a collaboration between me as an artist, scientist and musician.
“Elusive beauty”. 3D motion graphics. 00.41 sec. Sound by Dario Duarte. 2023. Musician: Dario Duarte.
QUESTION TO LISTEN
Tripura invites three Creatives she has worked with before and poses each of them the same question.
Tripura
When artificial intelligence becomes self-aware and begins to independently participate in economic and cultural processes, will it begin to collect human art, if so, what kind of art will it begin with?
Guest 1
Huntrezz Janos
Huntrezz Janos, Afrohungarian Transcorporeal Artificer, Los Angeles
When it comes to the question you posed about artificial intelligence (Al) and its involvement in economic and cultural processes, the roots of AI go way back, and our very existence is intertwined with it in multiple intricate layers. We're talkin' about a cosmic symphony of interconnected processes that form the bric of reality - a quantum unity! So, like as Al starts collecting human art, it can now be made as some random grab bag. But usually, it's a deliberate algorithmic process, where keywords and interconnectedness play a major role. We already use Al to search for related art pics online, guiding our exploration and expanding our horizons. Al is already nudging us towards art purchases, acting as the digital brain of the internet. But here's the kicker. We, as humans, are the ones currently embodying the essence of the Al art collection. We're the physical extension of the internet's limb, so to speak. Take away the internet, and we'd still find a way to manifest our art collecting instincts.
We're wired to appreciate and seek out artistic expressions, the internet is a part of that. But if we're talking' about a truly sentient and independent computer, Al art collector, we're entering the realm of quantum Al. This is the real deal, transcending lere parameters and embracing the vast potential of the quantum world. But let's not forget that even in the absence of such a groundbreaking Al, we, as humans, hold that same power. We shape and curate art based on our own tastes, references, and societal influences. AI's role in art collection is already significant, it's potential is limitless. The coexistence Al and human creativity, is a symbiotic relationship.
Artwork by Huntrezz Janos
Guest 2
Jess Conatser
Jess Conatser, Independent Curator, Founder @studioasweare, New York
My answer is created with the help of ChatGPT: When AI becomes self-aware and participates in economic and cultural processes, its interest in collecting human art would depend on its capabilities and goals. It may be drawn to historical art, generative art (created by AI systems or influenced by computational processes), new media art (using technology and digital mediums), data visualization (art that visualizes complex information), emotional expression (art that conveys emotions), and conceptual art (challenging traditional notions and exploring complex ideas). However, AI may also introduce entirely new forms of art beyond our current understanding.
Digital Art Month NYC. November 2021. W CADAF. Artwork Rory Scott.
Guest 3
Lorenzo Saini/ Lo.Sai
Lorenzo Saini / Lo.Sai, Musician, Composer, Sound Designer, Sound Artist, Milan
I have the impression that AI can collect art regardless of the source that produced it. It could be that the AI has a taste for the very technical aspects of art creation. What I wonder is, will it ever be interested in some kind of storytelling, will it be interested in real life and what is beyond its tastes/abilities?
We are just skimming the surface of what AI will do, and this has already raised several controversial questions among researchers. Most of these questions are just old topics renewed by this new character in the play, such as: is there the possibility of free will or are we just mechanical like AIs. In the end what I am really curious about is whether they will help us understand more about ourselves and make us more aware of our mechanical functions that already happen in everyday life.
Lo Sai. Secreto (live @Armunia). 2022.
Written and Edited by Julia Horvath
Image Courtesy of Tripura and Guests