Remixing, Seeing, Curating: Algorithms' Influence on Human Artistic Creativity

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The creator economy has heralded the use of digital platforms for viewing artistic content. This allows creative professionals to interface with their viewers, allowing direct audience interaction in artistic curation processes. Ideally, the process of digital curation democratizes the value of creative work, minimizing judgments from elite institutions (e.g., museums and auction houses) that previously wielded gatekeeping power. However, in my previous research, creators revealed that they now shift their creations according to how they perceive the tastes of platform's algorithms, similar to previous artists seeking to appease collectors or curators. In pandering to the algorithm, artists figure it a central character in their creative output. In contrast with respected curators of previous generations, however, the hosting platform's ranking algorithm is perceived as deprioritizing content that is truly creative. As algorithms continue to maintain curatorial roles online, more creative professionals will begin to produce pieces that are either a) explicitly designed according to algorithmic priorities or b) influenced by algorithmically-curated content that inspires designers and artists. This will produce a feedback loop by which AI influences what is created and curates creations accordingly, influencing cultural tastes. In this research programme, I plan to address the following questions: How do algorithmic platforms' sociotechnical systems influence the creation of visual content? How is the algorithm perceived as a stakeholder for creators? In particular, what role does it play as a curator making value-laden judgments? How have creators changed their creation processes to suit (perceived) algorithmic tastes? How do creators display their creative processes on algorithmic platforms, and why? How might (perceived) algorithmic processes be influencing aesthetic trends? To answer these questions, I am completing an "integrated" (paper-based) thesis. Paper 1 conceptualizes algorithmically-driven creativity in the Global South, de-centering the Western lens of previous research. Paper 2 leverages TikTok as an archetypal site of algorithmic influence on human creativity, where content is only accessible via an algorithmically-curated feed that gatekeeps audience access. Remixing is explored as a model of creation that has emerged due to algorithmic influence. Paper 3 takes a practice-based research approach to curate an exhibit using an algorithm. This exploration also produces a site in which creators are interviewed regarding the impact of algorithmic platforms on their work and visitors are surveyed on the experiential differences between algorithmic and human curation. Paper 4 involves site-specific ethnographic fieldwork at the studio of one of the most famous living artists: Olafur Eliasson, whose team influences his artistic practice by inserting strategies for algorithmic success. The team is also exploring the role of process in their online identity and physical exhibits. Finally, Artifact 4.5 draws on practice-based and co-creation methods to construct an art piece with members of the creative community, exploring the possibilities of an algorithm that is optimized for human creativity. Currently, I have completed the data collection and analysis for papers 1 and 2, and I am in the process of writing those papers. I am currently preparing the materials and exhibit for paper 3, and data will be collected in the fall term. The data will be collected for paper 4 in the spring of 2023.