S1/E3: An Eye for AI

LABNOTES is a production of SECTORLAB and is designed to help people at cultural organizations to challenge conventional thinking by presenting ideas from inside and outside our sector. These ideas are also put to use in consulting.

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Season 1 / Edition 3

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We hear lots of “doom” these days about it… but I recently talked to an artist who, if it weren’t for AI, would never have been able to bring his vision to life.

Cameron Kostopoulos is the creator of Body of Mine, an immersive VR experience that allows anyone to have the feeling of being in a body that doesn’t feel right: as you look down, you might be a different sex or gender; have a different body type… or a different skin color.

And, as you experience this tiny slice of the trans experience, you hear prerecorded, first-hand accounts of people’s real-life experiences with body dysmorphia.

Of it, WIRED wrote that it “broke through a psychological barrier that few pieces of media ever have” – and it recently won awards at the Venice International Film Festival and SXSW.

Incredibly, though – this was a passion project, self-funded for under $3,500.

While he was a filmmaker, Cameron lacked the skills to design the kind of immersive experience he had envisioned, but realized: “I don’t know how to code, but Chat GPT can”. The AI art generator Midjourney also helped with art design - alongside other collaborations with friends (for movement capture, music composition, etc.).

AI allowed him to realize his vision in a fraction of the time that it would otherwise have taken to apply for funding, win support from external organizations, or hire a team – and potentially water down his vision.

He feels that these tools help to democratize the ability to act upon creativity – with the benefit of bringing to light stories underrepresented by the larger culture.

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OBSERVATIONS

• I went to college for Music Industry at a time (’04-’08) of intense upheaval in that sector – where musicians could now cheaply produce a professional-sounding recording from home and promote it themselves (removing much of the benefit of labels), and where downloads (illegal and legal) completely bypassed existing distribution structures. I see parallels here - the power of the artist is growing.
  

• …and Cameron sees a tipping point – which he feels is close – where tools like this lead to another explosion in user-generated content: allowing visions to be realized faster, in more complex mediums, with fewer gatekeepers.
  

• Yet Cameron is still very much an “outsider” – he has little awareness of traditional fundraising methodology (he ran two campaigns on Kickstarter to help him get his work to festivals, but that’s about it) and he will be challenged to pursue this should he want to take next steps in this area. In particular, he mentioned how impenetrable the foundation/grant environment seemed to him. Is there an opportunity to lend this kind of administrative heft (or other help) to this “new generation” of artists & creatives?
  

• Can those of us in cultural organizations use AI in ways similar to Cameron? To realize, at minimum, concepts more easily and cheaply - and/or fill in for lack of technical knowledge.
  

• I find this application of VR compelling – many of us who work at cultural organizations often claim that engaging with our art allows us to consider other perspectives, develop empathy, etc. – but Body of Mine seems to achieve that in a profoundly more personal way. Many VR experiences can feel pretty gimmicky, and the hype has died down a bit, but Cameron believes that VR, like all technology, will grow in fits and starts. And I can easily see applications: imagine a VR experience where you could perform a concerto on a stage with a simulated orchestra – an experience few others could ever have IRL, and practically useful in educational contexts.

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