With the triumph of post-truth politics and the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the age-old question of the reliability of visual media has resurfaced. Fake news, deepfakes, and synthetically generated images are fueling legitimate fears of disinformation in a “post-truth era.” Against this backdrop, one form of intervention may consist of exposing false information and manipulated images. This project, however, focuses on artistic practices that deliberately employ forgeries or fictions to expose the rules of existing “games of truth,” to question their visual politics, and, furthermore, to explore the subversive, emancipatory, or even utopian potential of the false.

SP 1 reflects on discontinuities and continuities in historical and contemporary discourses on the relationship between art and truth. SP 2 examines speculative practices in contemporary art that deliberately challenge the evidentiary status of images, documents, and archives. SP 3 analyzes artistic interventions that experiment with the new possibilities of image generation using artificial intelligence.

Teilprojektleitung

Prof. Dr. Jasmin Mersmann (SP 1)

Doctoral Researcher

Paolina Wandruszka (SP 2)

Image: Adrian Piper, The Probable Trust Registry: The Rules of the Game #1-3, 2013. Installation and Participatory Group Performance. Embossed gold vinyl wall texts on three grey walls with 70% gray paint; three circular gold reception desks with stools; computer system; contracts; registry of contact data for signatories; three administrators; and self-selected members of the public. Each desk 6 ft. 1/16” (183 cm) diam. x 53” (160 cm) high; installation dimensions variable. Detail: The Rules of the Game #2. Photo Credit: David von Becker. Hamburger Bahnhof–Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. © Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation.