Aleph Earth is a groundbreaking collaboration between the UO’s Artificial Intelligence Creative Practice Research Group (AICP) and Grammy Award-nominated vocal quartet New York Polyphony that merges art, music, and technology. In this 12-minutes audiovisual piece, New York Polyphony’s world premiere recording of Spanish Renaissance composer Francisco de Peñalosa’s Lamentationes Jeremiae Feria V (BIS Records, 2019) is paired with imagery generated by an artificial intelligence model that AICP trained to respond to patterns in video of the natural world (including clouds, lava pillars in Iceland, bush fires in Australia, icebergs in Greenland, and Oregon’s Clear Lake) and the complex interplay of the quartet’s voices. Combined, the art and music express both the emotional weight of Lamentationes—a setting of the Prophet Jeremiah’s lamentations on human suffering—and the staggering urgency of our global climate crisis. For more information about this project, visit http://colinives.com/aleph_earth/about-5/

JSMA’s presentation of Aleph Earth is made possible by UO faculty and project partners Colin Ives (Associate Professor, School of Art + Design and Director, AICP) and Craig Phillips (Assistant Professor, School of Music and Dance and Bass, New York Polyphony). New work by Ives, AI Flower Arranging: variations 1, 2, and 3 will be exhibited concurrently with Aleph Earth

Outdoor Premiere of Aleph Earth
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 @ JSMA North Lawn. 
Aleph Earth  will be presented on a continuous loop for one hour on the JSMA’s north lawn. Please dress for the weather. In the event of extraordinarily inclement conditions, an announcement about program cancellation will be shared on JSMA’s website and social media no later than 5:00pm on the day of the event, and the program will be rescheduled for a future date. More information here

Painter and printmaker Max Pollak (American, born Czechoslovakia, 1886-1970) was raised in Vienna and appointed official artist of the Austrian Army during World War I. Between 1914 and 1915, thousands of Galician Jews fled from war zones or were relocated by the military to barracks in Nikolsburg, Moravia (in present-day Czech Republic). Pollak documented the living conditions and daily life at camp. Most people outside of this community were unaware of the extreme hardships, including disease and bitter cold, faced by the Jewish refugees, and public misunderstanding of their plight contributed to widespread prejudice. Pollak’s portfolio, Im Barackenlager Nikolsburg (In the Barrack Camp at Nikolsburg) emphasized their humanity. He depicted how they slept, ate, prayed, and awaited an end to the war. In 1927, Pollack immigrated to the United States to continue his career as printmaker, ultimately settling in northern California. This exhibition was made possible through the generosity of Michael C. Powanda and Elizabeth D. Moyer.

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