Giuseppe Lo Schiavo is an award-winning visual artist based between London and Milan who is currently conducting research that aims to create a bridge between art and science. Using AI and machine learning, virtual reality, infrared systems, or microorganisms in the lab, the artist’s research often focuses on opposing elements: creation-destruction, past-future, analog-digital, real-virtual.

I describe Onirica as a trip inside the mind. I was inspired by recent developments in a new scientific field called functional neuroimaging where scientists discovered new ways to recreate an image a person sees or dreams by looking at the person’s brain activity. These procedures are made by analysing the brain waves from monitoring devices such as fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging), EEG (electroencephalogram) or by implanted electrodes such as those from the company Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk.

Working with scientists is not new for my practice, and for this specific project I had the chance to meet with Professor Yukiyasu Kamitani from Kyoto University who shared his views regarding developments with neuroimaging.

I used an Artificial Intelligence model “Image to text” to create an audio caption of the video scenes.

The AI struggles to identify complex and artistic compositions, but using the generated caption—even if it’s not accurate—as the audio description of the scene introduces a new layer of creativity to the artwork and underlines the limitations of the current stage of the technology.

For the creation of the music, I have experimented with Magenta Studio, an open-source software developed by Google that uses cutting-edge machine learning techniques for music generation. In my opinion, the future of music composition might reside there.

I really like to challenge the idea of what is considered real and what is considered virtual; at the same time through my work I want to try to link these two worlds. I have prepared a set of unique prints and sculpture designs taken from the scenes of Onirica. I am planning to let the collector of the NFT pick one of these pieces that I will then produce physically. Doing so, I want to create a participative project where the collector is involved in the creation of the piece. 

Yes, actually. Onirica, will be exhibited for the first time at How Art Museum in China in a new exhibition called Disembedding curated by Gu ZhengQing. The exhibition will open on August 6th and will run until October 30th 2021. Thanks to the opportunities that NFT platforms like SuperRare are creating, even museums are now giving more space and attention to the digital art medium, something that has never been seen before. And this is really incredible!

I play a lot with symbolism in my work. For example, the scene with the scattered plastic bottles on the table is a metaphor for the challenges that the previous generation passed to the next one. The astronauts pointing their heads toward the camera is suggesting that we all need to act and to make the right choices for a better future. The submissive robots represent the controversial relationship our society has with technology. We are building human-machine devices that have the scope to enhance societies, as opposed to the view that robotics have the objective of replacing humans. 

I could go on and on exploring the symbolism of the various scenes, but I think it is more interesting to see how the viewer decodes the visual inputs with his or her own personal interpretation. Art is a virtual concept, a byproduct of socialization that expands or condenses in the mind of the viewer.

I always use technology with an optimistic approach. Our planet was here before humans and will probably be here way longer than us. In this short period of time, we need to focus on how to improve the conditions that help maintain life on this planet and in the meantime…create NFTs! 
As one of my mentors Richard Dawkins would say: Life is entertainment. 

The scene’s distortions at the end of the video are inspired by what is happening in the brain during a hallucination; a mismatched electrical input from neurons. 

Another recurring theme in my NFTs is the destruction of ancient art. This was, for example, the central concept of my first NFT “Metafisica.” The destruction of the statue represents the challenges of breaking traditions. I am really passionate about ancient art and sculpture, and so breaking the statue into pieces is a liberating act. The diatribe between traditional art and crypto art has staged a new conversation on what actually constitutes a work of art. 

I am not surprised that there are people who still don’t value digital and intangible art as much as traditional art. From an evolutionary point of view, humans are always quite cautious with the unknown and unfamiliar, it’s in our DNA. However, with the exposure and success that digital art has been getting recently, I am very excited to see that the tables are finally turning and digital art is getting the recognition it merits, and hopefully it will become a new chapter in the history of art.

Interview by Arseny Vesnin (Twitter: @designcollector), founder of Designcollector Network

Giuseppe Lo Schiavo is an award-winning visual artist based between London and Milan. His research is aiming to create a bridge between art and science. Using AI and machine learning, virtual reality, infrared systems, or microorganisms in the lab, the artist’s research often focuses on opposing elements: creation-destruction, past-future, analog-digital, real-virtual

I studied architecture in Rome in Italy and I have been working as a creative director and as an artist for 10 years now. It is interesting to mention that my first ever series Levitation was made entirely in CGI. Back then, there was no appreciation or a real platform for digital art. Yet, in 2012 the director of Saatchi gallery in London decided to include Levitation in exhibition that year. So I started my career path with digital art but the blockchain was not there yet.

I started using the analogue camera of my father at the age of 14. I was using it without a film inside, just walking around and looking at the world from the viewfinder. Creating video and images in my mind is something that comes naturally; I am a visual thinker.

I did not feel different but I do feel lucky to be an artist. Art gives me the superpower to analyse the world from an external point of view, like an alien that arrived on a new planet and wants to question everything. 

This was the first award I received and it gave me the confidence to change my priorities and invest more in my art career. Recognition in the early stages of your career is definitely beneficial; it inspires and propels you to have big ambitions.

In the physical art world, artist collaborations are not common. However, in the NFT space this is more frequent. In my first NFT I already collaborated with an award winning music composer, so this is something that I definitely see myself pursuing more in the future

All the time. I think it’s a healthy part of the process. It’s the only way to become a better artist. I always think that my best artwork is my next one.

Being an artist already entails lots of risks and uncertainties. Adding to that, my determination to not conform in a linear artistic path, didn’t always make things easier. However, in the end this risk paid off.

I have been fortunate enough to receive support from all the people around me, on every single step of my career. The biggest satisfaction is to be able to share my accomplishments with the people I care about.

I wouldn’t say that I have mentors in the art space. Most of the people that have inspired and transformed my artistic vision, come from other disciplines. I would say the evolutionary biologist Robert Dawkins had a cathartic impact on the way I see the word today.

Wind Sculptures, Etna

It’s very important. In London, in the building where I have my artist studio we have a great artist community. For crypto art on the other hand, it is impressive to see that there is a vibrant online artist community that supports each other.

I am not new in the digital art world; the contrary I would say. I started everything thanks to digital art. Therefore creating NFT art was a very natural path for my career. NFT art allows me to expand my visual horizons and to create stories with a freedom that is frequently impossible to recreate in the physical world

ROBOTICA

ROBOTICA is a 58 seconds digital animation artwork inspired by contemporary experimental theatre and combining elements from ancient greek culture, robotics, and NFT art. Despite robotic figures, the video is all about projecting humanity through technology. The performance is divided into three main scenes and they all manifest a particular feature of human socialization. Serena Tabacchi, the curator of the exhibition, asked me to create a piece inspired by a dystopian vision of the future and I think this artwork was perfect to convey this message.
I have created an entire page with all the references and inspiration boards on my website:

I am already working on a big project and it is a very exciting one! It’s inspired by a research published in Nature magazine this year where neuroscientists used a deep neural network (DNN) to reproduce images from human brain waves. Stay tuned!

Don’t focus only on the aesthetics, find your uniqueness, try to innovate and don’t rush it. Quality takes time.

I wouldn’t change a thing actually. Even the darkest times of my life are an important part of who I am today.

I will be working with the Museum of Science of Trento, one of the top science museums in Europe on a project between art and synthetic biology. Can’t wait to share it with the world!