Blast Theory  

image of black and white animation on a screen of women and a wire fence

There Are Worlds Out There They Never Told You About

Jackie Karuti

Image of computer generated object in natural woodland

Shifting

Katriona Beales

black and white image of booklet called Daemons of the Shadow World

Daemons of the Shadow World

Giles Lane

balck and white photo of sign in countryside landscape

50.080697, -5.694138

Evan Roth

The Doffing Misstress Takes a Stroll, David Littler, 2016. Participatory installation. Piano player, paper scores, materials for contribution

The Doffing Mistress Takes a Stroll

David Littler

Listening to Shetland Wool, Felicity Ford, 2013. Interactive online aporee sound map

Sonic Pattern and the Textility of Code

Felicity Ford

KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook, Felicity Ford, 2014. Crowd-funded publication

KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook

Felicity Ford

{poem}.py

{poem}.py

Pip Thornton

Photo of The Promises Machione a wooden display with embedded screen

The Promises Machine

Rachel Jacobs

abstract sculpture in blue and pale pink

Public Protection, Private Collection

Felicity Hammond

Screen capture of multi-coloured digitally generated flowers

Flowers

Daniel Brown

Weather Gauge, Thomson & Craighead, 2009

Weather Gauge

Thomson & Craighead

The Clandestine Purse, Natasha Caruana, 2008

The Clandestine Purse

Natasha Caruana

Close up of lightbulbs from The Future artwork

The Future

Alicia Eggert and Safwat Saleem

Black and white abstract image

Shadows of the State

Lewis Bush

multicoloured cartoon collage with 3D rendered large golden hand

Unauthorised Copy

Antonio Roberts

Still Lifes and Oscillators 1, Ben Garrod, 2012. Paint

Still Lifes and Oscillators 1

Ben Garrod

Body 01000010011011110110010001111001, Stanza, 2012. Perspex, Arduino, electronic components, internet connection

Body 01000010011011110110010001111001

Stanza

Five 3D printed pale yellow shell-like objects

Lifestreams

Proboscis

Metrography, Benedikt Groß & Bertrand Clerc, 2012. Print on aluminium

Metrography

Benedikt Groß and Bertrand Clerc

Re-knitting 'tester' Jumper, Amy Twigger Holroyd, 2013. Hacked knitted garment

Re-knitting ‘tester’ jumper

Amy Twigger Holroyd

Punchcard Economy, Sam Meech, 2013. ODI: 3.5 x 0.5m knitted banner, FutureEverything: 5 x 3m knitted banner & knitting machines

Punchcard Economy

Sam Meech

Gallery installation of multiple photos

The Longest and Darkest of Recollections

Liz Orton

image of a screen with four chairs each with a ventriloquists half-masks hanging above each

Recruitment Goes Wrong

Thomson & Craighead

Dystopian digital city landscape

Cover designs for William Gibson’s Neuromancer trilogy

Daniel Brown

kinetic artwork of a circular wooden base and brass arches with a small brass seasaw with a weight

Allusive Protocols (prototypes)

Julie Freeman

Canal Observatory

AusBlau

Fairytale for Sale, Natasha Caruana, 2011

Fairytale for Sale

Natasha Caruana

Installation photo of red frame, number display and construction

53°32’.01N, 003°21’.29W, from the Sea

David Gauthier

Photo of multi story wooden tower

A Machine for Living

James Coupe

Forkbomb, Alex McLean, 2001. Perl script computer code with paper output

Forkbomb

Alex McLean

Listening to Shetland Wool

Felicity Ford

Twenty Thousand Seconds, Dan Hett, 2016. Algorithmically generated live coding image film (from an ongoing series)

Twenty Thousand Seconds

Dan Hett

Mini Rugs and their Friends

Mini Rugs and their Friends

Riitta Oittinen

Gallery photo of someone in a VR helmet viewing artwork

Substance – A whole history of hollows and reliefs

Phil Coy

Re-knitting step by step guide, Amy Twigger Holroyd, 2012. Digital prints on paper

Re-knitting step by step guide

Amy Twigger Holroyd

20Hz, Semiconductor, 2011. HD + HD 3D single channel video. 05.00 minutes

20Hz

Semiconductor

Voyager (Micromégas), Thomson & Craighead, 2013

Voyager (Micromégas)

Thomson & Craighead

Circular blue, black and white inverted image of tree

Inverted Night Sky

Jeronimo Voss

Rates for the Job, Sam Meech, 2016. Order form and performative contractual exchange action 

Rates for the Job

Sam Meech

person in white wearing a sci-fi helmet with lots of protrusions

Quasar-2A

Field

image of screen and aerials in gallery

Open Space Observatory

Kei Kreutler and Libre Space Foundation

eight ivory coloured soap bars with different words engraved, arranged in a grid in a brown holder

Constant Washing Machine

Blast Theory

Six Years of Mondays, Thomson & Craighead, 2014

Six Years of Mondays

Thomson & Craighead

Transmission series

Transmission One and Transmission Two

Dan Hett

Image of an illuminated digital fountain dark blue on black background

Fountain

Katriona Beales

photo of sensor hanging in a darl room with two screens

Measure for Measure for Measure

David Gauthier

Image of ghostly woman on black background (CIPHER artwork)

CIPHER

Katriona Beales

Flipped Clock, Thomson & Craighead, 2008

Flipped Clock

Thomson & Craighead

Corruption, Thomson & Craighead, 2014

Corruption

Thomson & Craighead

image of pylon-like communications tower inverted white out of red

http://s33.820180e151.184813.com.au

Evan Roth

Watching the Watchers, James Bridle, 2013. Multiple mounted colour prints

Watching the Watchers

James Bridle

Married Man, Natasha Caruana, 2008

Married Man

Natasha Caruana

Three Hundred and Sixty Seconds, Dan Hett, 2016. Algorithmically generated live coding production stills (from an ongoing series)

Three Hundred and Sixty Seconds

Dan Hett

Illluminated acrylic sculpture of a red-lit person holding a book

The Reader

Stanza

Pillars of Hercules, James Brooks, 2014

Pillars of Hercules

James Brooks

The spectrum of re-knitting treatments, Amy Twigger Holroyd, 2012. Digital print on paper

The spectrum of re-knitting treatments

Amy Twigger Holroyd

Data as Culture - Art that uses data as a material

‘Constant Washing Machine’ is by award-winning artists Blast Theory. On the premise that people who work with AI can employ consistent, everyday good practice in the responsible use of AI (RAI) through habit, Blast Theory proposes the simple human activity of washing and soap as a metaphor. Eight soap bars are embossed with key words and phrases associated with ‘Responsible AI’, to feature in a photography series and a performance. Provoking human-centred habits, hygiene, and exchange in Responsible AI development, ‘Constant Washing Machine’ acts as a tangible and practical daily reminder for organisations to implement and manage their Responsible AI process and practice. It has been commissioned by Data as Culture at the ODI as part of the University of Sheffield FRAIM project.

Blast Theory are artists in residence, embedded within the University of Sheffield’s national research project FRAIM: Framing Responsible AI Implementation & Management. The artist’s residency is curated by Data as Culture at the Open Data Institute for FRAIM, a Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) scoping project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project partners are; The British Library, Eviden, Sheffield City Council and Open Data Institute (ODI). The wider aims of the project are to reshape views of ‘Responsible AI’ from simplistic solutions to dynamic processes and conversations, inviting everyone to consider their role in using and working with AI.

The words and phrases are:

Practice | Iteration | Data is the feedstock of AI | Inclusion | Shared understanding | Context | Care | Transparency

‘Constant Washing Machine’ responds to and reflects the complex web of ideas, perspectives, and people at the heart of ‘Responsible AI’ (RAI) practice. Blast Theory uses the metaphor of soap as a way to understand this because of its intimacy. We touch it to our bodies and spread it over the surface of our skin, and it is a social and everyday product when we share bars of soap with others. Multiple metaphors for using soap exist; we ‘wash our hands’ of something, we ‘greenwash’ things, we ‘clean the house’, we appear ‘squeaky clean’, and we ‘get ourselves in a lather’. These metaphors are a way to entwine the body and ethics into good RAI practice and can speak to otherwise slippery behaviour and slippery meanings. A call to those working within AI to commit to critical practices, it also acts as an accessible provocation to inspire national conversation.

Curator Hannah Redler-Hawes, Director of Data as Culture at the ODI said: “We were delighted to find project partners who share our belief in the essential thinking that art and artists bring to emerging data and AI ecosystems. Working across sectors with FRAIM has reinforced my view that AI can more accurately be thought about as a series of cultural shifts rather than simply a wave of technical innovations. Artists bring unique perspectives, and questions in relation to how we shape technologies and how they shape us. AI requires interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration. We hope ‘Constant Washing Machine’ helps more people understand what is meant by ‘Responsible AI’ and inspires them to think very deeply around the subject of ‘Responsible AI’ as a personal and collective activity.”

A key concern of the FRAIM project is how ordinary people and everyday human behaviour shape AI’s positive and negative impacts. ‘Constant Washing Machine’ highlights the individuals and human beings working to shape and embed RAI in practice. The eight words and phrases that are embossed into the soap bars were selected as significant by the artists from suggestions proposed by FRAIM collaborators. The photographs will be portraits of each of the researchers with their selected key word or phrase.

By using this everyday human activity and material as metaphor, Blast Theory propose that the way forward with RAI is to move from ‘thinking’ into ‘doing’ as AI becomes part of our everyday lives. The artistic concept explores the nature of language, the slippery definitions of key terms in AI policies, and the role of organisational culture and daily conduct in forming ‘Responsible AI’ practices. The intention is that over time, the language will be wiped away as the soap is used, but the ‘Responsible AI’ habits will remain.