SCA is home to a new exhibition space titled Signal + Noise located in the lobby of the SCI building where six new, very large 4K screens feature emerging forms of still and moving image art and research. Made possible by an award from the USC Research and Innovation Instrumentation Award program, the gallery is part of the SCA-Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism Center for Generative AI initiative, dedicated to the creative and critical exploration of AI within storytelling, filmmaking, and journalism.

The gallery recently launched with a showcase of images created by Los Angeles-based photographer and ceramics artist Ann E. Cutting. The striking, evocative work includes otherworldly portraits of people in surreal habitats, as well as a series of playful birdhouses with an aesthetic reminiscent of the clean lines, palette, and geometry of the Bauhaus. The images were made in the text-to-image generative AI tool known as Midjourney and point to the potential of AI when used by skilled artists who understand fundamental concepts of visual design, color, and framing.

Cutting, who presented an illuminating and practical hands-on workshop for SCA students in early October, is an associate professor in the Photo Department at Art Center College of Design, and has been teaching several classes on AI, exploring a full range of tools and methods. In her SCA presentation, she walked students through the process of writing innovative Midjourney prompts. She also demoed Photoshop’s new AI capacities with generative fill, which lets users both expand the edges of an image and either remove or add new elements to any photograph. She also discussed the ethics of image creation using these tools, and reminded students that the US Copyright Office has declared that images generated through AI cannot be copyrighted because they are generated by machines. A hearty discussion followed.

Signal + Noise was named in recognition of the questions raised by filmmaker and theorist Hito Steyerl in her 2014 essay “Proxy Politics: Signal and Noise,” which recognizes the politics of the algorithms that “clean up” the noise of images that we snap on our phones. Who decides what is “signal” and what is “noise,” ask Steyerl. The new gallery space invites a similar kind of critical reflection while also showing new aesthetic and research directions in SCA. 

Upcoming exhibitions will present the work of LA-based performance artist Tiffany Trenda; short films critical of AI’s impact on jobs by Swedish artist Jonas Lund; cityscapes in motion by Stavros Didakis; and student work created in several AI-oriented classes. 

Each exhibition has been designed by MA+P student Alvaro Camara, who specializes in graphic design, video production, and art direction.

For more information, contact Holly Willis: hwillis@cinema.usc.edu