Speakers: Bager Akbay, Vahit Tuna, Ebru Yetişkin
How does learning take place? How do machines learn? How and what do artists working with machines learn? What are the current examples of artificial intelligence in contemporary art?
The artist Bager Akbay – who utilises speculative methods to contemplate on and produce artworks about machine learning – examines the development and production processes of the artworks of “Deniz Yılmaz” (2015), a robot poet who attempts and fails to get his poems published in the poetry column of a newspaper; “Çoban” [Shepherd] (2016), a curatorial and management system that single-handedly(!) organises an exhibition; and the work in progress; and, “Mahlas” [Pen Name], a decentralized interface of collective art production. The relationship between machine and instructor constitutes the focus of his artworks.
Bager Akbay studied Communication Design at Yıldız Technical University and Interface Cultures at The University of Art and Design Linz. After working at Kara Tiyatro theatre company as an actor and puppeteer, in the past 10 years Bager has been giving lectures at various universities on his field. He is currently providing consultancy to institutions active in the fields of education and design, and creating artworks at his studio, iskele47, in Istanbul.
Vahit Tuna (b. 1971, Edremit) graduated from the Department of Graphics at Marmara University, Faculty of Fine Arts. Since 1995 he has been producing artworks within the realm of visual arts. While pursuing his personal art practice, he also supported the productions of various art groups. He opened his first solo exhibition, “Europe Hear Us”, in 2002 at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart that he was visiting on a scholarship. Following the exhibitions “Egzersiz” [Exercise] (Hafriyat Karaköy, 2008) and “Hep seyirciyiz...” [We were always spectators...] (Tütün Deposu, 2011) in Istanbul, he realised a solo exhibition consisting of a single show organised to take place at four separate venues, titled “Pşisel Sergi” [Psolo Exhibition] in 2017, and most recently, in 2019, he had two solo exhibitions, “Mağara” [Cave] at Versus Art Project, and “isimsiz” [untitled] at Yanköşe. The “Masa” project that Tuna had initiated in 2006 currently continues running in two cities, Istanbul and Berlin. A mobile art space that makes room for the exhibition and experiencing of artists' productions, Masa allows the artist to enquire into and produce works based on concepts such as space within space, and time within time. In his works, the artist makes a rereading of, and invites the viewer to reread, imprints that pertain to the mind, such as resonance, sound, and memory, through mentalities that pertain to society, such as social roles, ultra-nationalism, and the undermining of authority.
The event is free of charge.
Invitations available from the Akbank Sanat ticket office on the event day, one hour before the event begins.