Techart Conference

Miloš Trakilović

■ Abstract

This presentation examines the role of AI in 564 Tracks (Not a Love Song Is Usually a Love Song) (2024), a spatial sound installation that explores the cultural and sonic landscape preceding the Bosnian War (1992–1995).

The work revisits Yugoslav music from the three years preceding the war, employing an AI model trained on audio recordings from war zones to identify tonal correlations between wartime sounds and the music of that era. This process generates a library of sonic fragments extracted from 564 tracks. A second AI model then recomposes these fragments into new arrangements, structuring them according to melodic patterns commonly found in love songs.

The project raises questions such as: How did rising political tensions resonate in music? Could the impending catastrophe already be detected sonically? It invites reflection on the extent to which cultural production might prefigure crises and offers a lens through which to examine both past and present conflicts and their lasting echoes.

Taking 564 Tracks as a point of departure, this presentation considers how machine learning reshapes auditory perception, probing the intersection of political tension and computational creativity. It further explores AI’s capacity to mediate historical memory through sound, questioning whether algorithmic processes can capture, express, or evoke the complexities of conflict.

■ Bio

Miloš Trakilović is a Bosnian-Dutch artist. He obtained an BFA and MFA from the University of Arts in Berlin where he graduated in the Experimental Film and New Media Art department. His practice revolves around the politics of perceptibility exploring issues of dissolution; fragmentation, memory and loss. His topical interest is the role of vision in the construction of meaning and production of power following the digital turnover. Trakilović's work primarily engages with digital and time-based media, with film, video, and installation as central elements.

His work has been presented in Kunst Werke, Berlin (2025) National Art Center, Tokyo (2024) Grazer Kunstverein, Graz (2023) Trafó Gallery, Budapest (2023), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2022), Centre Pompidou, Paris, (2021) Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2021); Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts (2021) Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2020) Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2019) among others.

Trakilović was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten from 2022 to 2024. He lives and works in Berlin.