Catalyst: Digital Transformation in the Arts Forum

In the midst of rapid digital transformation, artists and arts organizations are harnessing technology to expand horizons, foster connections and redefine boundaries.  Luxe Fête designed, produced and led the branding of “Catalyst: Digital Transformation in the Arts” for our client, Knight Foundation. At Catalyst, leaders at the forefront of innovation considered the implications of digital transformation in the arts through the lenses of sustainability, ethics and exploration and identify opportunities to enhance the creation, application and dissemination of art using AI.

In addition to creating the branding for the event, Luxe Fête designed immersive experiences that highlighted the sustainable use of AI in the arts. Artificial Intelligence Immersive experiences included: (1) Cable-Driven Robots that were dynamically choreographed to a live custom violin composition, in which robots seemingly floated through mid-air; (2) “Floating” art surrounded the space; (3) The use of AI in gamification and,  (4) A series of conversations with one of the world’s most advanced social robots.

Notable speakers, artists and attendees included:

Thom Collins, Director and President of the Barnes Foundation

Craig Webb, Principal Designer and Architect at Frank Gehry Partners

Marco Brambilla a London-based artist known for his elaborate recontextualizations of popular and found imagery, as well as his pioneering use of digital imaging and AI technologies in time-based media art.

Leo Castañeda who premiered, Machine Mangrove Gaming Installation, a new videogame episode and transmedia works expanding Latin American Surrealism for the digital age.

Guggenheim Artist Stephanie Dinkins explored whether an artist and a social robot build a relationship over time and tested this question through a series of videotaped interviews.

Dr. Madeline Gannon, a multidisciplinary designer blending techniques in art, design, computer science and robotics to forge new futures for human-robot relations. Known as the “robot whisperer,” Gannon specializes in convincing robots to do things they were never intended to do.

Howard Herring, President and CEO of New World Symphony

Alberto Ibargüen, President of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Philip Kennicott, Pulitzer Prize–winning senior art and architecture critic of the Washington Post

Barbara London, internationally acclaimed curator and writer

James Allister Sprang, an artist, technologist and researcher