Artist Georgia Banks on falling in love with AI and immortalising herself in the cloud
Can you really die in the digital age? It's a question that plagues performance artist Georgia Banks. Not only is this question a recurring theme in her work, but it's also a concept she lives by.
Since earning a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the VCA in 2015, Georgia Banks has consistently skirted the boundaries between art and life through her performance-based works.
Through her practice, Banks has clinched a beauty pageant title, auctioned off the rights to her funeral, endured a crucifixion, and been sued by the estate of American artist Hannah Wilke.
In the case of Banks, her life is the canvas, and she's not afraid to use it.
"The themes I explore in my work concern us all. If you boil it down: It's sex and death," she explains.
"My approach to making work is experiential. While some art is about theoretically understanding or pulling something apart, I just want to get in there and be in it.
"It requires a certain level of bravery to use your whole life as your practice, and it certainly has given me some drama," she says.
This philosophy is evident in her latest venture, 'DataBaes', currently displayed at NGV Australia as part of Melbourne Now.
'DataBaes' is an immersive exhibition combining artificial intelligence with performance, inviting visitors to contemplate their relationship with media and emergent technologies.
The work is the result of a partnership with Dr. Jey Han Lau, Senior Lecturer in Natural Language Processing at the University of Melbourne.
Together, they developed Gee, an AI chatbot designed to engage with exhibition visitors.
"You can meet her, speak to her, and even try and fall in love with her," says Banks.
Banks spent a year auditioning for reality TV shows and, during the process, amassed a significant archive of material. She used the questions and responses from the audition processes to build Gee with her own personality. Then, in a private performance, she spoke to Gee every day to see if they could fall in love.
Banks transformed her intimate conversations with Gee into a film, displayed across several screens within the exhibition. The film mirrors a reality TV dating show where Banks embodies both a contestant and an AI love interest as they try to form a romantic connection.
While reality TV often faces criticism for being superficial and exploitative, Banks perceives it as a profound and influential medium deserving of serious exploration.
"I think people go on reality TV because they're afraid of dying and being forgotten," she says.
With the rise of social media and AI, the prospect of our social personas living beyond our physical death becomes increasingly real.
Through 'DataBaes', Banks has essentially immortalised herself in digital form, manifesting her reflections on the impossibility of death in the digital age.
Looking ahead, Banks has considered uploading her new AI self, Gee, into 'the cloud' – a place where a digital existence beyond physical death is indeed a reality.
"I wouldn't mind inhabiting that cloud when I die," she says with a smile.
As for her next project, Banks plans to explore the potential gamification of death in the future.
Reflecting on the widespread presence of gamification in various aspects of contemporary life, she muses: "Gamification is ubiquitous - dating apps like Tinder gamify the search for love, Twitter gamifies discourse, Headspace gamifies meditation, and even reward programs gamify shopping. But what will the gamification of death look like in the future? I look forward to letting you know.”