The Politics of Visual Indeterminacy in Abstract AI Art

Abstract In Perception Engines and Synthetic Abstractions, two generative AI art projects begun in 2018, Tom White experiments with visual abstraction to explore the indeterminacy of perception, interpretation, agency. White’s systems produce images that will be interpreted as abstract artworks by human viewers, but which also confront audiences realization what is here deliberately rendered indeterminable for them remain near-perfectly legible AI-powered image recognition systems. This difference perceptual interpretive agency foregrounds an underlying politics indeterminacy. thus increase awareness how machine vision—for example automated online filtering systems—can diminish horizon can or cannot see AI-driven digital cultural landscape, how, process, biases are normalized viewers become habituated dramatic shrinking perceivable/viewable content mediated AI.