Artist Residency at the Social Brain in Action Lab
Who: Contemporary performance artists based in Germany or in France who work with Artificial Intelligence and spaces where social relations and our reactions and behaviour are under scrutiny.
Section: Performing Arts
Duration: 5 weeks
Information about the last call for application:
The Goethe-Institut Glasgow (GIG), the Alliance Française Glasgow (AFG) and the Institut Français d’Ecosse (IFE) will collaborate in order to create a sustainable and substantial interdisciplinary discourse between artists and partner institutions around the topic ‘Artificial Intelligence’.
The GIG, AFG and IFE are inviting cultural producers based in Germany or in France to apply to take part in a 5-week residency with the Social Brain in Action Lab (SoBA Lab) in Glasgow. The outcome of this residency will be presented during work-in-progress showings throughout the residency. Additionally, the artist will be developing their artwork over the summer months with the perspective of presenting their finalised work in Scotland in autumn. The selected applicant will have the opportunity to share their research/work in an event based format at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow. Another occasion to present the outcomes of the residencies will be at the NEoN Digital Arts Festival which will take place in Dundee from 12th to 15th November 2020. NEoN (North East of North) aims to advance the understanding and accessibility of digital and technology driven art forms and to encourage high quality within the production of this medium.
“New Forms of Togetherness: Human-Robot Interaction”
The Social Brain in Action Lab in Glasgow explores how we perceive and interact with other agents in a social world. Its research falls within the domains of Social Cognition, Social Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroscience, and has applications that range from social robotics to aesthetics.
AI technology is essential in robotics research and development: from computer vision, to natural language processing and the prediction of motion, many pieces come together to power social interaction with a robot. Already, artificially intelligent robots are used in social care settings and offer companionship for people who experience social exclusion and feelings of loneliness.
Research in the SoBA Lab investigates the neuroscientific and behavioural underpinnings of our social encounters with artificial agents, which is becoming especially salient in a time when technology intersects more and more with our daily lives. Important questions remain regarding the extent to which we are able to connect with humanoids or androids on a social level, or whether they might someday replace pets.
How is the increasing presence of robots in our social lives impacting our social behaviour?
The artist residency is directed at contemporary performance artists who work with Artificial Intelligence and spaces where social relations and our reactions and behaviour are under scrutiny. The particular interest of the practitioners should be centred around AI technology and their impact on our future social relations and behaviour, in regards to developments in robotic engineering.
The aim of the project is to contribute to the discussion around the use of Artificial Intelligence from an interdisciplinary perspective and to make the discourse around AI technology accessible to a wider public.