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UCLA Course on “Cultural Appropriation with Machine Learning”

Parag K Mital — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 04:37:33 +0000

During the Fall of 2020, I had the honor of teaching a new course at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Design Media Arts (DMA) entitled “Cultural Appropriation with Machine Learning”. This provocatively titled course came together after wrestling with many questions I had that year in the wake of the pandemic, black civil rights movements, and a crushed economy.

Rather than teach a course that focuses purely on the “how” of machine learning, like Creative Applications of Deep Learning does, I wanted to also include a critical component to guide students through the questions they should be asking as they learn and employ these tools. I also wanted students to understand how these tools and algorithms came to be in today’s society, so that they knew better what questions to ask when they were using them. It became clear early on that cultural appropriation was a central theme across most generative arts practices. I say this because machine learning requires large amounts of data which tend to come from existing corpora of creative content, such as flickr archives, or instagram collections. What does it mean when an algorithm owned by Google or Microsoft is capable … Continue reading...

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NFT Pixels

Parag K Mital — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 05:17:30 +0000

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens are data stored on the blockchain that certifies and records transactions associated with a digital asset. Effectively, they are certificates of authenticity of digital assets traded on blockchain-based exchanges that have spurred an economy of scarcity for digital assets such as images, GIFs, sound clips, and videos. In the past, artists producing digital content may have also considered selling their work in places such as instagram, behance, deviant art, or via their own websites. Though, it is unlikely that this content would have been actually bought in any form. This is likely because the content is already accessible to all. On these platforms, if we are to call it art, it could be akin to a digital version of public art in some ways, for all to see and consume. Or more likely, we would consider it either documentation or advertising and marketing of the artist’s work.

The entire point of NFTs, and the reason they are so marketed as being valuable, is because we believe there is digital scarcity of the content being traded and sold.

Prior to NFT marketplaces for digital art, let’s say that someone were to decide that they wanted ownership of … Continue reading...

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YouTube’s “Copyright School” Smash Up

Parag K Mital — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:19:51 +0000

Ever wonder what happens when you’ve been accused of violating copyright multiple times on YouTube? First, you get a redirect to YouTube’s “Copyright School” whenever you visit YouTube, forcing you to watch a cartoon of Happy Tree Friends where the main character is dressed as an actual pirate:

Second, I’m guessing, your account will be banned. Third, you cry and wonder why you ever violated copyright in the first place.

In my case, I’ve disputed every one of the 4 copyright violation notices that I’ve received under grounds of Fair Use and Fair Dealing. Here’s what happens when you file a dispute using YouTube’s online form (click for high-res):

3 of the 4 have been dropped after I’ve filed disputes, though I’m still waiting to hear about the response to the above dispute. Read the dispute letter to Sony ATV and UPMG Publishers in full here.

The picture above shows a few stills from what my Smash Ups look like. The process described in greater detail on createdigitalmotion.com is part of my ongoing research into how existing content can be transformed into artistic styles reminiscent of analytic cubist, figurative, and futurist paintings. The process to create the videos … Continue reading...

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An open letter to Sony ATV and UMPG

Parag K Mital — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:55:57 +0000

Dear Sony ATV Publishing, UMPG Publishing, and other concerned parties,

I ask you to please withdraw your copyright violation notice on my video, “PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (?????) M/V (YouTube SmashUp)” as I believe my use of any copyrighted material is protected under Fair Use or Fair Dealing. This video was created by an automated process as part of an art project developed during my PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London: http://archive.pkmital.com/projects/visual-smash-up/ and http://archive.pkmital.com/projects/youtube-smash-up/

The process which creates the audio and video is entirely automated meaning the accused video is created by an algorithm. This algorithm begins by first creating a large database of tiny fragments of audio and video (less than 1 second of audio per fragment) using 9 videos from YouTube’s top 10 list. From this database, the tiny fragments of video and audio are stored as unrelated pieces of information and described only by a short series of 10-15 numbers. These numbers represent low-level features describing the texture and shape of the fragment of audio or video. These tiny fragments are then matched to the tiny fragments of audio and video detected within the target for resynthesis, in this case the number one YouTube video … Continue reading...

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Copyright Violation Notice from “Rightster”

Parag K Mital — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:49:38 +0000

I’ve been working on an art project which takes the top 10 videos in YouTube and tries to resynthesize the #1 video in YouTube using the remaining 9 videos. The computational model is based on low-level human perception and uses only very abstract features such as edges, textures, and loudness. I’ve created a new synthesis each week using the top 10 of the week in the hopes that, one day, I will be able to resynthesize my own video in the top 10. It is a viral algorithm essentially but it is not proven if it will succeed or not.

The database of content used in the recreation of the above video comes from the following videos:
#2 News Anchor FAIL Compilation 2012 || PC
#3 Flo Rida – Whistle [Official Video]
#4 Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
#5 Jennifer Lopez – Goin’ In ft. Flo Rida
#6 Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
#7 will.i.am – This Is Love ft. Eva Simons
#8 Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen (Chatroulette Version)
#9 Justin Bieber – As Long As You Love Me ft. Big Sean
#10 Rihanna – Where Have You Been

It … Continue reading...

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Intention in Copyright

Parag K Mital — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:49:27 +0000

The following article is written for the LUCID Studio for Speculative Art based in India.

Introduction

My work in audiovisual resynthesis aims to create models of how humans represent and attend to audiovisual scenes. Using pattern recognition of both audio and visual material, these models use large corpora of learned audiovisual material which can be matched to ongoing streams of incoming audio or visual material. The way audio and visual material is stored and segmented within the model is based heavily on neurobiology and behavioral evidence (the details are saved for another post). I have called the underlying model Audiovisual Content-based Information Description/Distortion (or ACID for short).

As an example, a live stream of audio may be matched to a database of learned sounds from recordings of nature, creating a re-synthesis of the audio environment at present using only pre-recorded material from nature itself. These learned sounds may be fragments of a bird chirping, or the sound of footsteps. Incoming sounds of someone talking may then be synthesized using the closest sounding material to that person talking, perhaps a bird chirp or a footstep. Instead of a live stream, one can also re-synthesize a pre-recorded stream. Consider using a database … Continue reading...

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Course @ CEMA Srishti School of Design, Bangalore, IN

Parag K Mital — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:29:27 +0000

From November 21st to the 2nd of December, I’ll have the pleasure to lead a course and workshop with Prayas Abhinav at the Center for Experimental Media Arts in the Srishti School of Design in Banaglore, IN. Many thanks to Meena Vari for all her help in organizing the project.

Stories are flowing trees

Key words: 3D, interactive projects, data, histories, urban, creative coding, technology, sculpture, projection mapping

Project Brief:

Urban realities are more like fictions, constructed through folklore, media and policy. Compressing these constructions across time would offer some possibilities for the emergence of complexity and new discourse. Using video projections adapted for 3D surfaces, urban histories will become data and information – supple, malleable, and material.

The project will begin with a one week workshop by Parag Mital on “Creative Coding” using the openFrameworks platform for C/C++ coding”.

About the Artists:

Prayas Abhinav

Presently he teaches at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology and is a researcher at the Center for Experimental Media Arts (CEMA). He has taught in the past at Dutch Art Institute (DAI) and Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT).
He has been supported by fellowships by Openspace India (2009), TED (2009), … Continue reading...

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Memory Mosaicing

Parag K Mital — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:54:40 +0000

A product of my PhD research is now available on the iPhone App Store (for a small cost!): View in App Store.

This application is motivated by my interests in experiencing an Augmented Perception and of course very much inspired by some of the work here at Goldsmiths. The application of existing approaches in soundspotting/mosaicing to a real-time stream and situated in the real-world allows one to play with their own sonic memories, and certainly requires an open ear for new experiences. Succinctly, the app records segments of sounds in real-time using it’s own listening model, as you walk around in different environment (or sit at your desk). These segments are constantly built up the longer the app is left running to form a database (working memory model) for which to understand new sounds. Incoming sounds are then matched to this database and the closest matching sound is played instead. What you get is a polyphony of sound memories triggered by the incoming feed of audio, and an app which sounds more like your environment the longer it is left to run. A sort of gimmicky feature of this app is the ability to learn a song from your … Continue reading...

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Concatenative Video Synthesis (or Video Mosaicing)

Parag K Mital — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:08:47 +0000

Working closely with my adviser Mick Grierson, I have developed a way to resynthesize existing videos using material from another set of videos. This process starts by learning a database of objects that appear in the set of videos to synthesize from. The target video to resynthesize is then broken into objects in a similar manner, but also matched to objects in the database. What you get is a resynthesis of the video that appears as beautiful disorder. Here are two examples, the first using Family Guy to resynthesize The Simpsons. And the second using Jan Svankmajer’s Food to resynthesize Jan Svankmajer’s Dimensions of Dialogue.

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Creative Community Spaces in INDIA

Parag K Mital — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:36:06 +0000

Jaaga – Creative Common Ground
Bangalore
http://www.jaaga.in/

CEMA – Center for Experimental Media Arts at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
Bangalore
http://cema.srishti.ac.in/site/

Bar1 – non-profit exchange programme by artists for artists to foster the local, Indian and international mutual exchange of ideas and experiences through guest residencies in Bangalore
Bangalore
http://www.bar1.org

Sarai – a space for research, practice, and conservation about the contemporary media and urban constellations.
New Dehli
http://www.sarai.net/

Khoj/International Artists’ Association – artist led, alternative forum for experimentation and international exchange
New Dehli
http://www.khojworkshop.org/

Periferry – To create a nomadic space for hybrid art practices. It is a laboratory for people cross- disciplinary practices. The project focuses on the creation of a network space for negotiating the challenge of contemporary cultural production. It is located on a ferry barge on river Brahmaputra and is docked in Guwhati, Assam.
Narikolbari, Guwahati
http://www.periferry.in/

Point of View – non-profit organization that brings the points of view of women into community, social, cultural and public domains through media, art and culture.
Bombay
http://www.pointofview.org/

Majilis – a center for rights discourse and inter-disciplinary arts initiatives
Bombay
http://majlisbombay.org/

Camp – not an “artists collective” but a space, in which ideas and energies … Continue reading...

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