MishMash Opening Conference
The MishMash opening conference showcases frameworks and examples based on the three approaches of the centre. It features discussions between researchers from multiple backgrounds, from the perspectives of machines, humans and society and covering a wide range of creative fields and cross-sectoral applications of creativity.
Interdisciplinary research on AI in cultural & creative ecosystems
Like many technological developments, artificial intelligence (AI) is not only a tool. It reshapes the conditions for creative production, perception, and cultural infrastructures. The MishMash Centre for AI and Creativity, one of six Norwegian AI centres, combines three approaches: it creates AI-based systems, tools and artworks, explores AI in relation to creativity and learning, and it reflects on the impacts of AI.
What the conference offers
The MishMash Opening Conference offers opportunities for all involved in MishMash to meet and deepen their connections around the key research themes. For researchers and experts outside MishMash, the conference offers opportunities to engage in in-depth discussions about research on AI and creativity, and to get acquainted with the unique profile of MishMash and its researchers.
Conference programme
A general overview of all the conference sessions can be found below. On Monday, there is a combination of plenary sessions and parallel sessions. On Tuesday, the whole programme is plenary.
Abstracts for all parallel sessions and poster presentations are collected in the Book of abstracts (PDF)
Monday, September 14th
Locations:
- Kilden Performing Arts Centre: Sjølystveien 2, Kristiansand
- Kunstsilo: Sjølystveien 8, Kristiansand
- Kraftverk/BARE: Skippergata 24b, Kristiansand
| Time | Programme | Location (see above for addresses) |
|---|---|---|
| 09:15 | Registration opens | Kilden - Foyer |
| 10:00 | Central opening session: • Sunniva Whittaker, rector of University of Agder • Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Executive Director - Innovation in Industry and the Public Sector, The Research Council of Norway • Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Director of MishMash, University of Oslo |
Kilden - Teatersalen |
| 10:25 | KEYNOTE: Prof. Jane C. Ginsburg (Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at Columbia University School of Law, USA) Six Images in Search of an Author: Copyright, Artistic Creation and Artificial Intelligence |
Kilden - Teatersalen |
| 11:10 | Plenary introductions: Humans, Machines, Society | Kilden - Teatersalen |
| 11:20 | Short break, go to room of preferred parallel session | Kilden - Teatersalen |
| 11:40 | Three parallel tracks: • HUMANS: ‘NE#01 New Embeddings of (ID)entity’ - moderated by Ida Jahr → location: Musikksalongen (Kilden) • MACHINES: ‘Building a Norwegian Ecosystem for AI and Creativity’ - moderated by Alexander Refsum Jensenius → location: Teatersalen (Kilden) • SOCIETY: ‘Society, meet AI’ - moderated by Daniel Nordgård → location: Sjølystsalen (Kunstsilo) Descriptions of these sessions are available in the Book of abstracts (PDF) |
Kunstsilo & Kilden |
| 12:45 | LUNCH with poster presentations, clustered around eight themes: • Human-AI interaction & perception (posters 1-4) • Heritage, archives & collections (posters 5-9) • Music making & AI (posters 10-16) • Artistic research & creative works (posters 17-21) • Understanding and testing AI (posters 22-26) • AI in education (posters 27-30) • AI for health & wellbeing (posters 31-34) • Responsible AI & critical futures (posters 35-42) Abstracts of all 42 posters are available in the Book of abstracts (PDF) |
Kilden -Foyer |
| 14:00 | Seven parallel tracks: • Machine agency, shared autonomy, and expressive generative models: perspectives on creative performance with AI → location: Teatersalen (Kilden) • Aesthetic Intelligence: Showcasing AI in Artistic Processes → location: Teatersalongen (Kilden) • But what is “health” and what do creative uses of AI have to do with it? → location: Musikksalongen (Kilden) • Press Start to Generate: AI in Game Development Education → location: Frihavn, ground floor (Kilden) • Solutions and Opportunities Across the Creative Value Chain → location: Sjølystsalen (Kunstsilo) • From Collections to Connections: Responsible AI for Cultural Heritage → location: Ako-salen (Kunstsilo) • How can MishMash partners collaborate in and through education? → location: Lounge on 4th floor, in front of Intimsalen (Kilden) Descriptions of these sessions are available in the Book of abstracts (PDF) |
Kunstsilo & Kilden |
| 15:30 | Poster presentations continue, clustered around eight themes: • Human-AI interaction & perception (posters 1-4) • Heritage, archives & collections (posters 5-9) • Music making & AI (posters 10-16) • Artistic research & creative works (posters 17-21) • Understanding and testing AI (posters 22-26) • AI in education (posters 27-30) • AI for health & wellbeing (posters 31-34) • Responsible AI & critical futures (posters 35-42) Abstracts of all 42 posters are available in the Book of abstracts (PDF) |
Kilden - Foyer |
| 16:10 | The importance of knowledge when using AI in creative processes: reflections from makers in music, film and museums with Andrew Melchior (artist, composer, creative technologist), Jonas Røyem Ny (producer, Dyreparken), Martin Madsen (film visual effect expert), Gillian Leitten (director, The Lumen Prize) Torill Haugen (digital development & -communication leader, Kunstsilo) |
Kilden - Teatersalen |
| 16:40 | Plenary closing session: • setting the agenda for the near future (discussion with Jane C. Ginsburg, Jon McCormack, Anne Kjersti Fahlvik) • residency programme (Atelier Nord) • practical information about evening programme • closing statements (Alexander Refsum Jensenius & Daniel Nordgård |
Kilden - Teatersalen |
| 17:45 | End of the daytime programme | Kilden |
| 19:00 | MishMash LIVE: A mini festival of exploration around AI & Creativity: food, drinks and inspiration • Showcases of arts installations • Brief talks and Q&As • The best local food and drinks from Sørlandet Apart from top class local food and a number of arts installations, you have the opportunity to attend brief presentations and Q&As with the creators of very special AI-related creations: the film Julius, Kunstsilo’s From Artwork to Algorithm project, and the immersive sound installation The Logos. Full dinner buffet is included in your conference registration |
Kraftverk/BARE |
| 23:00 | End of the Monday programme | Kraftverk/BARE |
Tuesday, September 15th
Locations:
- Kilden Performing Arts Centre: Sjølystveien 2, Kristiansand
- Kunstsilo: Sjølystveien 8, Kristiansand
| Time | Programme | Location (see above for addresses) |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | MishMash Work Package meetings (closed, invite-only) | invite-only |
| 10:00 | Opening of day 2: MishMash in co-operation with TechArt | Kilden |
| 10:10 | KEYNOTE: Gerfried Stocker (Ars Electronica), with Q&A | Kilden |
| 10:50 | The use of new technologies in cultural practice: NRK | Kilden |
| 11:00 | MishMash Centre for AI & Creativity - Connections between research & practice | Kilden |
| 11:10 | Expert statement Prof. Jane C. Ginsburg (Columbia University School of Law, USA) on practical implications of rights and ownership in artistic work | Kilden |
| 11:30 | Research in practice: insights from MishMash Centre for AI & Creativity (dialogue) | Kilden |
| 12:15 | Lunch | Kilden |
| 13:00 | Norwegian cultural sectors spotlights: Kilden, Det Norske Teater, Pixel, and others | Kilden |
| 13:45 | KEYNOTE: Sarah Ellis, Royal Shakespeare Company | Kilden |
| 14:15 | Reflections from the industry representatives on the use of new technologies (dialogue) | Kilden |
| 14:45 | Break | Kilden |
| 15:00 | KEYNOTE: Prof. Jon McCormack (artist and professor at Monash University, Australia), ‘Insights and musings on artistic co-creation with Frontier AI models’ | Kilden |
| 15:30 | Networking session | Kilden |
| 16:15 | Take-aways and closing statements | Kilden |
| 16:30 | End of the daytime programme | Kilden |
| 18:45 | MishMash invites to the Farewell Party @ Kunstsilo // We end the two-day conference with something truly spectacular that has never been done before. In the impressive concrete silos of the Kunstsilo museum, we present .skin, an installation-performance for three musicians, steel membranes, flexible mirrors, transducers and machine listening. .skin was created by Alessandra Bossa, musician and performer working with live electronics, voice, resonant objects, and machine learning. Trained as a classical pianist, she has worked across jazz, avant-garde and electronic music, always through improvisation and real-time processing. Bossa’s performance .skin comes from her ongoing research into what she calls akustronika. Akustronika is a hybrid word: acoustic, acousmatic, electronic. It tries to name a certain way of playing, where the acoustic gesture moves towards electronic behaviours. At the centre of this performance is the constant sonic transfer where the sound is visibly made by hands and objects and becomes something to watch as much as to hear. br>Roof top bar afterparty after the performance! Doors open: 18:45h, Opening 19:00h Full dinner buffet is included in your conference registration |
Kunstsilo |
| 22:30 | End of the conference | Kunstsilo |
Inspiring environment
We meet in Southern Norway, in the heart of Kristiansand’s modern cultural district: the New York Times and TIME Magazine recognised Kunstsilo museum and the award-winning Kilden concert hall. The conference aims to create an inspiring environment for the exploration of research and artistic creation in interaction with artificial intelligence.
Back to back with Tech:Art on Tuesday
The MishMash Opening Conference is organised back to back with Tech:Art at Kilden performing arts centre. Tech:Art, on Tuesday the 15th of September, focuses on the interaction between research and cultural and creative partners. It is aimed at inspiring organisations in the cultural field and facilitating dialogue between these organisations and researchers. Stay around for Tech:Art to discuss opportunities for (artistic) researchers, technology developers and creative organisations to co-create!
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