Learning Machine

Cosimo Veneziano

October 9, 2024 – January 10, 2025

In the exhibition Learning Machine, the artist Cosimo Veneziano observes the current relationship between humans and technology and, to do so, opens a confrontation with artificial intelligence on the theme of the representation of the body: starting from its symbolic dimension, Cosimo dialogues with the various chatbots, provokes them and launches a challenge from artist to machine. Aware of the well-known difficulty that artificial intelligence currently has in representing some details of the human body, the artist accentuates this limit by asking the algorithm to generate images of people associated with some of the most commonly treated medical diagnoses and cosmetic surgery interventions, as emerged from the comparison with the doctors of the Fisicoterapico Institute of Turin. The 4 photographs from the There is no Heart Without You series – produced for the exhibition – are the result of this research.

Two works from the BIOMEGA series – produced thanks to the MIC Italian Council grant, won by the artist in 2018 – complete the reflection on the manipulation of the gaze. These works consist of silkscreens and embroidery on fabric and highlight the use of neuromarketing techniques to influence consumer purchasing choices in the agri-food sector. In the waiting rooms of the IFT, it is possible to see the video that tells the story of the process of elaborating the two components of the work, questioning our real ability to choose and decode the images that are proposed to us.

The exhibition closes with two photographs from the Dissident Heritage series, a project that stems from another MIC – Photography Strategy 2023 call. The works portray two of the sixty statues of athletes located in the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome: an instrument of propaganda, a political and cultural manifesto that Mussolini chose to use to exalt strength and virility through a clear reference to the statuary of ancient Greece and classical canons.

The dialogue with some doctors from the IFT provides interesting insights on the use of artificial intelligence in various fields of medicine, and highlights the individual’s responsibility in the way they choose to use it.