Memento 1 - Study for Unsupervised is a visualization of the underlying machine learning model used to generate Refik Anadol’s Unsupervised installation at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
For Unsupervised, Anadol trained a sophisticated machine-learning model to interpret publicly available data from MoMA’s collection. What you see in Memento 1 is a 3D visualization of how the AI algorithm has organized and interpreted MoMA’s collection data. Each dot represents one of hundreds of thousands of unique data points from which the AI can draw. As the AI makes connections between these points in countless combinations, it “dreams” about and reimagines the history of modern art.
The digital artwork unfolds in real time, continuously generating new and otherworldly forms that envelop viewers in a large-scale installation. In turn, Anadol incorporates site-specific input from the environment of the Museum’s Gund Lobby—changes in light, movement, acoustics, and the weather outside—to affect the shifting imagery and sound. No two Unsupervised moments are ever the same.