An exciting new exhibition exploring how Generative AI is impacting on artists’ practice is launching at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).
Design; Disruption; Divergence will be available to view in person at TheGallery on AUB Campus, and, in a first for the University, also in a virtual exhibition space for the duration.
The exhibition will explore Generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence used to create new content. It'll also explore identity politics in digital representation and creative AI, authenticity, diversity, and ownership in digital spaces.
Jennifer Anyan, Director of the University's School of Arts, Media, and Creative Industries Management, curated the exhibition.
“Design; Disruption; Divergence doesn’t just showcase what AI can make," she explains. "It interrogates what AI means for the act of making itself.
“There's been a surge in the Generative AI technology that's available to the general public; if artificial intelligence can generate ideas that have so far been the preserve of creative people, what does this mean for the practice of creatives, of designers, for artists?”
Alongside photography, film, fashion, textiles, and object-based work, the exhibition’s headline act is a communicative hologram of Shudu Gram, one of the world’s first digital supermodels and newly announced Industry Patron for AUB, the University’s first AI Industry Patron.
Shudu was created in 2017 by fashion photographer, AUB alumnus and MA Digital Fashion Innovation visiting tutor Cameron-James Wilson, she has her own Instagram and has already been on the front cover of Vogue.
“Shudu will be there in hologram form," says Jennifer. "We’ve also been working in collaboration with Cameron and using Generative AI to enable her to communicate with visitors – it will be quite the show!”
In addition to the physical exhibition in TheGallery on site at AUB, staff and students have also developed a virtual exhibition space so people with access to a VR headset can visit remotely.
Jennifer continues, “We’ve invited those engaging with Generative AI through their own creative practice, to look at what the opportunities are, what the ethical dilemmas are and how we understand and explore this new tool.”
Lisa Moro, a graduate of both BA (Hons) Fine Art and MA Fine Art at AUB, is exhibiting her work, The English Dragon Snake, at Design; Disruption; Divergence. She explains how she used AI tools to recreate the memory of a friend:
“I used AI to translate the fragmented recollections of childhood games shared by Vietnamese friends into animation and sound, filtered through my English understanding.
“Using Gravity Sketch in VR, I visualised AI-generated imagery derived from translated game descriptions. The AI’s surreal distortions—figures floating or morphing unexpectedly—highlighted the slippages in cultural translation.
“For sound, I used AI-generated lyrics in both Vietnamese and English, transformed into song with word-to-vocal software, reinforcing the theme of linguistic mediation. This process underscored AI’s role not as a direct translator but as an unpredictable collaborator in reshaping memory.”
Jennifer adds, “In a time when algorithms are part of our everyday world, this exhibition is all about how AI collaborates with human imagination. AI emerges here as more than just an assistant; it’s a mirror reflecting our hopes and anxieties about the future of creativity in the digital age.
“These works illustrate AUB’s proactive engagement with AI and its impact on creative industries, underscoring the need for human guidance and design thinking in shaping its role in artistic practice."
Design; Disruption; Divergence will be showing at TheGallery, AUB, and in a virtual exhibition space from 14 February – 24 April 2025. Visit the event's page on our website for more information.
