Techart Conference

Miles Dunne 

■ Abstract

I use the term ‘emergent programming’, to refer to the specific design of a program or system of code, in my case as part of an artwork, intended to result in unpredictable and ‘emergent behaviours’. To elaborate on this, a program or system that is designed without a planned outcome, but rather in the pursuit of unexpected results. The behaviour that results, begins to become complex and unpredictable as inputs from the audience, or surroundings such as noise levels or weather factors get introduced to the system. As the behaviour of an audience interacting with a work is highly unpredictable, this creates a potential randomness in the system, and the interaction or dialogue that emerges between the system and its audience or surroundings is what I refer to as ‘emergent behaviour’. This ‘emergent behaviour’ is a strong point of interest and research within my practice, and the complex dialogue that can emerge between humans and machines has many conceptual implementations. Artificial intelligence models can be utilised in a variety of ways to add depth to these systems, particularly in the decision making process when formulating responses taking a variety of factors into account, and as a research tool to recognise patterns in the behaviour that emerges, and to update the system in response to these observations. These concepts are present in a number of my previous works, including interactive sculptural installation and performance based work, and I am currently developing new concepts for works, with the intention to continue exploring these concepts in new ways.

■ Bio

Miles Dunne is an emerging multidisciplinary artist, working across digital mediums, sculpture, installation, and live performance, in the first five years of his professional career. His practice primarily explores the interactions between digital programming, and forms of art making, with physical space, through sculpture, light, and sound. Growing up, Miles observed the rapid integration of technological augmentation into the world. The themes in his work are often guided by these experiences, and by recontextualising the use of technologies, he explores the augmentation and mutation of physical objects and surroundings. This practice initially developed through projection and screen-based works but has since expanded into physical mediums.

Miles’ recent, larger works have explored installation, through the lens of digital technologies, and their interactions with space and audiences. This includes works such as Proximity State, a large public sculptural installation that responded to audiences’ movement throughout it with light and sound, Silo Project, a collaborative, site-specific installation that used projected light and sound to draw narrative out of sculptural objects, and both In the Belly of the Beast and Metahuman, participatory exhibitions that allow audiences to have a dialogue with AI-driven programming, that synthesises their actions and responds through interactions with performers and audience.