We are witnessing two acoustic agents incarnated by large horn loudspeakers as they incessantly exchange acoustic codes. Based on models of human vocalization, they develop their vocabulary independently from a natural language. In their ongoing discourse, they follow a common goal: to maximize the beauty of their own vocal expression. The concept relates to an experiment by the Facebook AI team in which chat bots were given the task of optimizing their language for negotiation efficiency. The language soon became impossible for human eavesdroppers to interpret. Mutual Understanding expands on this experiment, treating it as an aesthetic problem, investigating the possibility space of language and its technical measurability.
Project Credits:
- The artwork has been developed in the context of the project of artistic research *Rotting sounds – Embracing the temporal deterioration of digital audio*.
- This is a cooperation between the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
- The project is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) as project AR445-G24.
- Thanks to Brigitte Krenn (OFAI) and Jörg Piringer for topical input.
Biography:
Thomas Grill works as a composer, performer and researcher of sound. His artistic practice focuses on concept-driven sound art, electroacoustic performance and compositions for loudspeakers. He holds a doctorate in composition and music theory and has conducted post-doc research in machine listening and learning. Currently, he is at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
https://grrrr.org/
