How Brooklyn Academy of Music is blazing new trails with AI-generated visual storytelling

BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) is showcasing four digital installations utilizing artificial intelligence as part of its Next Wave Festival, marking a strategic pivot toward technological innovation following recent organizational changes.

The initiative’s context: The Techne exhibition, featuring works from the Onassis Foundation’s ONX Studio, represents BAM’s effort to attract new audiences and push creative boundaries after reducing programming and staff in 2023.

• The showcase takes place in a black box theater at BAM’s Fisher building
• The exhibition comprises four digital video installations, combining AI technology with artistic expression
• This technological focus marks a deliberate shift in BAM’s programming strategy

Central installation spotlight: “The Golden Key,” created by digital artist and anthropologist Marc Da Costa, demonstrates the interactive potential of AI-generated visual storytelling.

• The installation features three enormous video screens displaying AI-generated scenes based on verbal input
• Visual content is rendered in a nostalgic style reminiscent of vintage travel posters
• A computer-generated voice with a British accent narrates the evolving stories
• The system can create dynamic scenes in response to spoken narratives, such as materializing delivery bicycles and forest landscapes

Technical innovation: The installations showcase how artificial intelligence can be used as a creative tool, blending human input with machine-generated visuals.

• The technology allows for real-time generation of visual content based on verbal storytelling
• AI systems interpret narrative elements and transform them into cohesive visual scenes
• The installation maintains artistic quality while delivering computer-generated imagery, suggesting a sophisticated integration of AI and artistic vision

Analyzing deeper implications: This exhibition represents a significant moment in the convergence of traditional arts institutions and emerging technologies, potentially setting a precedent for how cultural organizations can adapt to changing audience expectations while maintaining artistic integrity.