Exhibition

JeresHeuristics of Emotion

Presented by
Ivan Zhyzhkevych

For many, sentient machines are the ultimate fear, perhaps as they signify the true unknown, a world we can’t quite comprehend yet. We fear these nascent technologies as their evolutionary projections are unknown to us, and we can’t foresee how their emotional intelligence will progress. In his latest series of work, Heuristics of Emotion, Jeres has endeavoured to visualise the essence of sentient machines, what it would look like if our mechanical creations developed the ability to feel, to experience the emotional highs and lows that we as humans experience.

Jeres

Heuristics of Emotion

1000 artworks

Heuristics are strategies employed by humans, animals, and machines to shape judgements, problem solve, arrive at decisions and solutions, navigating through complexity. When considering sentient AI, heuristics could play a pivotal role in artificial intelligence’s ability to navigate the world in a more emotionally evolved capacity. Jeres is interested in the dissonance between how we as people relate to each other, and how we relate to machines, as well as machines’ abilities to relate to us. Algorithms are being taught to extract sentiment from prompts and imitate, or simulate, compassion.

‘We are in a nascent time when machines are adolescent and have a young understanding of what human emotion is.’

– Jeres

The works in Heuristics of Emotion are visual representations of how Jeres imagines the predicted emotional intelligence of machines. Every AI carries within it the biases of their human creators. In the words of Jeres, ’If we think about humans training machines, the ghost of us is instilled in them’. Currently, these machines are at an adolescent stage, which Jeres wanted to reflect within the works. He deliberately introduced elements of violence and chaos alongside structure, mirroring the turbulent emotions and experiences of adolescence as we understand it.

The works portray dramatic spirals, extensions, and static, reflecting the struggle of navigating emotional terrain, experienced by humans and now too machines on their journey toward emotional intelligence. The jagged edges and waves within the works signify the fluidity of emotions over time, while the more static, almost blurry spaces represent unexplored emotions, creating an atmosphere of ambiguity and the unknown. For the machines, these are emotional blindspots, synonymous with their relative immaturity. Colours within the works act as emotional thermometers, representing various temperatures of sentiment. Each hue narrates a different emotional state, adding depth and richness to the abstract canvases, and speaking to the varied temperatures of human emotions.

Series details

Heuristics of Emotion consists of 1000 works total. 500 are artist-curated, sold via Dutch Auction.

500 works are collector-curated: For each work purchased in the Dutch Auction, collectors are able to mint one output from the algorithm using the seed generator.

Collectors of the first 50 artist-curated works will receive a signed A4 (8.27 x 11.69 inches) print of their work with shipping included.

Jeres

Jeres is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work navigates the interplay between chaos and control within the realm of generative art. After transitioning from a career in design and software engineering, Jeres found a profound interest in the unpredictable nature of algorithmic creation. Their artistic exploration delves into themes of existence, identity, experience, reality, and spirituality...

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Curator