GoKawiilWhatever I was expecting from the world's first AI museum isn't what I saw at Dataland. The brand-new facility is a showcase for different ways to beautify data visualization using large language models -- part artistic translation and part experiential exhibit that invites patrons to interact as they walk through its handful of rooms.
But in an age of generative AI models spitting out slop mimicry of human-made art, it's incredibly easy to get the wrong idea about Dataland.
Days before its doors open on June 20, I visited the downtown Los Angeles space where Dataland is housing its modest but vibrant museum. It's tucked into the Grand LA, the most artistic office park I've ever seen, with open-air spiral staircases and a view of the striking Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall across the street. The doors open to an entryway detailing the debut exhibition, Machine Dreams: Rainforests. Then the exhibition begins: five specially built, windowless rooms of varying sizes, their sleek black floors reflecting swirling colors.
Refik Anadol giving a tour of his museum, Dataland. David Lumb/CNET
Dataland is the creation of Refik Anadol, a Turkish artist, programmer and researcher who's been creating his version of AI art for a decade. His signature style is to use algorithms he's programmed to translate raw data into wild, dynamic visuals -- most commonly, orbs of shifting color that pulse like waves, a churning panoply of form and hue. The context of the data matters less than its conversion into a hypnotizing, ever-shifting display.
Anadol placed one such piece in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City a few years ago. He's also created more experimental works layered over public spaces at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Barcelona's famous Gaudí-designed building Casa Batllo, among others. Dataland is a permanent installation showcasing his experiments in merging information and visuals. Or, as he puts it, "Data is my pigment."
It might be one of the worst times to launch anything that merges art and AI. Any hint of using AI in traditionally creative work draws scrutiny and skepticism. Film and TV shows generated by AI have flopped, while gamers have swiftly rebuked any studios or publishers they've heard use AI in production. Today, there's no consensus on how much AI is acceptable in artistic expression: Many believe using it anywhere in the production process taints the work with artificiality and insincerity. That's because images generated by AI often resemble the art and styles they're trained on, and can even be prompted to look just like they came out of Studio Ghibli or The Simpsons.
The museum Anadol designed with his team does none of that.
The museum's works are not drawn on canvas and don't imitate traditional art. Unlike the AI slop flooding the internet, they're not churned out to compete with human-crafted works; they're based on data. And their output is an experience, making the museum feel more like an immersive attraction than an art gallery. Think of Dataland as a supercharged version of the Van Gogh experience that recently toured the US, but that's interested in giving attendees a show and having them inform the performance.
The Data Pavilion, the largest room in Dataland. David Lumb/CNET
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