a well-written exhibition press release by chatGPT? alex israel & gagosian made it happen

chatGPT pens alex israel’s exhibition text at gagosian rome

Had Alex Israel and Gagosian Rome not stated that its press release for the artist’s new exhibition in Rome was written by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, readers might think it was penned by a press communications officer. The way the sentences and chosen vocabulary work well conceals that the key author behind the piece is a chatbot at work.

ChatGPT has racked up a number of loyal following for being an efficient artificial intelligence chatbot that seems to be well-versed and well-educated, suggesting responses that may as well come from a person. Such data and chatbot training signals how far our technology has, and will, come.

Artist Alex Israel and Gagosian Rome verify if ChatGPT can live up to the hype by feeding it with pieces of information to devise a press release for the artist’s ‘Fins’ exhibition in Rome. The result? ChatGPT churns out a comprehensive and descriptive text, pinning down the essential information of the exhibition while structuring a seamless flow of topic sentences and supporting details.

images courtesy of Alex Israel and Gagosian Rome

the culture of surfing in the eternal city

Past the press release generated by ChatGPT, Alex Israel brings the culture of surfing in the Eternal City with Gagosian as he exhibits an anthology of giant, plastic, colored surfboard shark fin sculptures that are on display starting May 12th until July 28th, 2023. The artist sculpts varying sizes of shark fin using plastic surfboards, melding the rush-bounty water sport with the aquatic animal whose symbol may often be linked to fear (movies and pop culture reference of sharks sinking their teeth on people may have amplified the fright).

The collection of sculptures showcases Israel’s eye for detail and reverence for playful and zesty works of art. These shark fin crafts hark back to the Light and Space and Finish Fetish artworks that developed in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Alongside the ‘Fins’ exhibition’, Israel’s paper cut-out works and study-sized ‘Self-Portraits’, all thematically related to his shark fins sculptures, are also exhibited in Gagosian Rome.

ChatGPT writes, ‘by transforming the familiar surfboard fin into a work of art, Israel invites the viewer to engage with the culture of surfing in a new and unexpected way. The exhibition will showcase a variety of surfboard fin sculptures, each with its own unique shape, size, and color scheme. Visitors to the exhibition will be invited to explore these works and to discover the inspiration behind each one.’

Alex Israel | photo by Jack Pierson