Stephanie Dinkins
On Love & Data
Art’s power to challenge inequities and build inclusive dialogues
Description
Stephanie Dinkins is renowned for her critical investigations into artificial intelligence and machine learning systems as they intersect race, gender, and our future histories. By using her training in documentary practices as a photo-based artist, she creates inclusive platforms for dialogue and action toward building technological ecosystems and datasets that are equitable, accessible, and transparent. Her immersive installations, community-based workshops, and public talks seek audience participation and engagement in a way that pushes the boundaries of new media and socially engaged art practices in the 21st century.
Stephanie Dinkins: On Love & Data brings together nationally renowned curators and theorists who draw from methodologies of art criticism, social practice, new media theory, and critical studies to offer an in-depth analysis of key installations in Dinkins’s survey exhibition. The book also includes an important essay by Stephanie Dinkins on her concept of Afro-now-ism in which she expands on her theoretical framework and positionality as a Black new media artist in the 21st century. Dinkins’s artistic research transcends the boundaries of visual art to challenge and expose the bias and inequities of caste, race, and gender, which are encoded within digital systems on which governance, healthcare, and security infrastructures in the United States are based.
Srimoyee Mitra is the Director of the Stamps Gallery at the University of Michigan. She is an award-winning curator, writer, and arts administrator whose work is invested in building empathy and mutual respect. Her previous publications include Border Cultures (Black Dog Publishing, 2015).
Reviews
“On Love and Data serves as a luminous nexus where artist Stephanie Dinkins's concept of Afro-now-ism comes to life. This intellectually rich manifesto effortlessly merges historical acumen with current relevance, advocating for community resilience through the artistry of digital spaces and zeroing in on the unique needs of Black and marginalized communities within digital landscapes. By aligning her artistic contributions with seminal markers like the Turing Test and invoking the intellectual legacies of Donna Haraway and Catherine Knight Steele, the book elevates our understanding to a panoramic vista. This multi-dimensional approach empowers readers to envision futures that are not just digitally sustainable but also profoundly enriching, all while unearthing the intricate layers of meaning within Dinkins's transformative oeuvre.”
- Noam Segal, LG Electronics Associate Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
“Stephanie Dinkins: On Love and Data is a beautiful reflection on technology, and in particular AI, through the lens of Dinkins’s unique artistic practice. In this pivotal moment of technological advancement, the publication offers alternatives to the proliferation of bias-based systems—inspiring ways to imagine a justice-oriented digital future.”
- Justine Ludwig, Executive Director, Creative Time
Supplemental Materials
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