Pioneering digital artist and AI theorist to speak at Arts University Plymouth
Lev Manovich will be in conversation with Dean of Arts, Design and Media, Associate Professor Stephanie Owens
Arts University Plymouth will soon host a visiting lecture by renowned artist, writer and AI theorist, Professor Lev Manovich. In conversation with Arts University Plymouth’s Dean of Arts, Design and Media, Associate Professor Stephanie Owens, the event will be held in Plymouth Arts Cinema and live streamed via Zoom on Monday 29 January 2024 from 10am. The lecture is part of the university’s year-long programme, ‘AI, the post-human and the horizon of creative practice’ and is open to students and staff members from the arts university, as well as alumni and members of the public. The talk is free for all to attend.
Scheduled within Arts University Plymouth’s two-week long ‘Imagination & Curiosity’ event for students, Manovich’s visiting lecture is a highlight in a series of conversations, lectures, workshops on the topic of artificial intelligence, sometimes referred to as the ‘post-human’, and its impact on the creative process. Coming mid-year, the talk is timed to inform a student-led symposium on the use of AI in creative practice to be held in early March 2024. The symposium will be open to students in all BA and MA courses interested in learning more about the impact of AI on creative authorship and those seeking to have a broad, cross-campus conversation about their future careers with the advent of AI.
Lev Manovich is an artist, writer and one of the most influential theorists of digital culture worldwide. After studying the arts, architecture and filmmaking, Manovich began using computers to create digital art in 1984. His projects have been exhibited in 12 solo and 120 international group exhibitions at many prestigious institutions, such as the Institute of Contemporary Art (London), the Centre Pompidou, The Shanghai Biennale, and The ZKM | Center for Arts and Media.
Manovich is currently a Presidential Professor Computer Science at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center and the Director of the Cultural Analytics Lab. Since 1991, he has published 190 articles that have been translated into 35 different languages and reprinted over 850 times. He authored and edited 15 books, including Artificial Aesthetics, Cultural Analytics, Instagram and Contemporary Image, Software Takes Command, and The Language of New Media, which has been called “the most provocative and comprehensive media history since Marshall McLuhan.” Manovich was included in the “25 People Shaping the Future of Design” (Complex, 2013) and “50 Most Interesting People Building the Future” (Verge 2014) lists.
Dean of Arts, Design and Media, Associate Professor Stephanie Owens said:
“I have read and taught the ideas Lev Manovich has offered on art, creativity and computation for many years, and he continues to have a unique capacity to situate new technologies into a much broader timeline than just the contemporary. His deep knowledge of art and media history, as well his uncompromising, careful examination of the transformations in culture that come with widespread adoption of new technologies, is a view that empowers students to be the creative, subjective agents in their world and work, not merely consumers of the digital status quo.”
‘Imagination & Curiosity’ is an exciting two-week period between teaching trimesters that offers a wide range of workshops and events aimed at helping students tap into their creativity, embrace new ideas and nurture their intellectual curiosity. During this period, staff at the UK’s newest arts university focus on promoting both mental and physical wellbeing, encouraging self-reflection to explore what a healthy creative practice looks like for each student. A stepping stone to prepare students for their upcoming units, it allows them to relax, experiment with new experiences and get themselves in the right mindset, both physically and mentally, for creative study.
Other events available to Arts University Plymouth students throughout ‘Imagination & Curiosity’ include free movie screenings, hands-on workshops, yoga and pilates sessions, visiting lectures and trips to local cultural institutions such as The Box.
Join Lev Manovich’s guest lecture on Monday 22 January 2024 from 4.30pm. Open to the public, anyone wishing to attend in person at Plymouth Arts Cinema at Arts University Plymouth’s Tavistock Place campus or online, please register your interest in attending in person or online, please fill out the Google Form.
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