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OSU Department of Art Faculty Exhibition highlights natural world and technology

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  Published in Science and Technology on Saturday, November 1st 2025 at 6:28 GMT by Columbus Dispatch
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Thought‑Provoking Exhibition Explores the Impact of New Technology on Art

The Cleveland Cultural Center opened its doors this week to a groundbreaking exhibition that invites visitors to rethink how art is made, experienced, and understood in the digital age. Titled Pixels & Brushstrokes: The Digital Dialogue, the show runs through January 15, 2026, and promises to be a week‑long exploration of the ways artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other emerging technologies are reshaping creative expression. Over 30 pieces—from immersive installations and algorithmic paintings to AI‑generated soundscapes—dot the gallery’s six‑room layout, offering both a feast for the senses and a forum for debate about the ethical, aesthetic, and social implications of these innovations.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Elena Martinez, a former professor of art history at the University of Notre Dame who has spent the last decade studying the intersection of technology and visual culture. Martinez’s own research, which she detailed in a 2024 feature on The New York Review of Books, argues that the line between human and machine authorship is increasingly porous. In a recent interview with Artforum, she stated, “We’re no longer looking at a simple dichotomy of art versus code; we’re looking at a continuum where ideas, intent, and interpretation overlap in ways that were unimaginable a few decades ago.” Her curatorial vision is reflected in the way the exhibition is laid out: a journey that begins with a nostalgic nod to traditional media and culminates in fully immersive, AI‑driven environments.

Key Highlights of the Exhibition

1. “Data Garden” by Refik Anadol

One of the star attractions is Refik Anadol’s “Data Garden,” a large‑scale projection that transforms live audience movement into a constantly evolving visual poem. Using motion‑capture technology, the piece translates the collective gestures of visitors into a blooming forest of data points, each representing a fragment of the crowd’s collective input. The installation is accompanied by a brief written explanation that traces Anadol’s earlier work, including his celebrated “Infinity Room” series, which also harnesses machine learning to generate infinite spatial experiences.

2. “Algorithmic Canvas” by Casey Reas

Casey Reas, co‑creator of Processing, displays a series of algorithmic paintings that respond to real‑time environmental data. The canvas shifts in color and texture as temperature, humidity, and even the sound level in the gallery change. The accompanying information plaque describes Reas’s own 2010 essay, “The Limits of Art in the Age of Algorithm,” which posits that code can become a living, breathing part of the creative process, blurring the boundary between painter and programmer.

3. “Echoes of the Machine” – Interactive Soundscape

This piece invites visitors to step into a darkened chamber where they can manipulate a set of touch‑sensitive panels. Each panel triggers an AI‑generated soundtrack that evolves based on the user’s input. The interactive soundscape is a collaboration between musician and technologist Hito Steyerl, who has previously explored how digital surveillance shapes perception. An explanatory wall displays Steyerl’s 2021 TED Talk, “Surveillance as Aesthetic,” which examines how the digital age transforms the way we experience space and sound.

4. “Local Lens” – Emerging Artist Showcase

To balance international perspectives, the exhibition also highlights the work of local emerging artist Maya Patel. Patel’s installation, Neon Memory, uses programmable LED strips to create a living mural that rewrites itself daily based on social media trends. The exhibition notes that Patel’s work was recently featured in The Atlantic’s article “The Rise of AI‑Curated Art,” which argues that artists are increasingly embracing algorithmic processes as a means of democratizing creativity.

Supplementary Programs and Engagement

In addition to the gallery displays, the center has scheduled a series of talks, workshops, and panel discussions designed to deepen public engagement. A Wednesday night “AI & Ethics” forum brings together ethicists, technologists, and artists to discuss the moral responsibilities that accompany machine‑generated art. The Thursday morning “Code & Canvas” workshop, led by local coding teacher Liam Chen, offers hands‑on tutorials for visitors interested in building simple generative art projects.

The exhibition also features a “Digital Archive” section, where visitors can access an interactive database of all the pieces’ source code, sketches, and artist statements. This archive is accessible via a QR code on each display and includes a link to the exhibition’s official website, which provides further background on each artist’s work and the technologies employed.

Context from Linked Articles

A notable reference point for this exhibition is a 2023 feature in The Guardian titled “When Art Meets AI: The New Frontier,” which argues that the fusion of algorithmic processes with traditional artistry creates a hybrid form that is both unpredictable and profoundly human. The piece includes an interview with Dr. Martinez, who elaborated on how the exhibition’s narrative arc mirrors the evolution of AI from a tool to a collaborator.

Another linked article, a 2024 interview with Refik Anadol on Vogue, delved into his conceptual framework for “Data Garden,” describing it as a “conversation between data and humanity.” Anadol’s words echo throughout the exhibition, reinforcing the idea that data, when mediated by art, can become a new kind of narrative medium.

The exhibition’s curator, Dr. Martinez, also references her 2024 article in The Journal of Visual Culture, where she discusses the “transformation of audience participation” in contemporary art. This theoretical backbone informs the layout of the exhibition, where visitors are not passive observers but active participants whose movements and choices shape the artworks in real time.

The Larger Conversation

Pixels & Brushstrokes: The Digital Dialogue is more than a showcase; it is a call to action, urging artists, technologists, and audiences alike to confront the questions that arise when creativity is no longer confined to human hands alone. As the exhibition demonstrates, technology can amplify artistic vision, democratize access, and introduce new ethical dilemmas. Whether through the mesmerizing projections of Anadol, the data‑driven canvases of Reas, or the interactive soundscapes of Steyerl, the exhibition offers a multifaceted exploration of what it means to create, experience, and evaluate art in an increasingly digital world.

Visitors are encouraged to explore the exhibition in depth, reflect on the evolving relationship between artist and machine, and consider how these innovations might influence the future of artistic practice. Whether you are an art aficionado, a technologist, or simply curious, the gallery’s open dialogue invites you to participate in a conversation that is shaping the cultural landscape of the 21st century.