In Show / RAM_4.0 by Sara Bastai

Where: PhMuseum Lab | Via Paolo Fabbri 10/2a | Bologna, Italy

Admission: Free

When: 18 May - 1 October 2023

Vernissage: 18 May | 6pm-10pm

About the show

RAM_4.0 is a collaborative project between Sara Bastai and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The author submitted hundreds of photos stored in her smartphone through an algorithm, which analysed the images and described what it observed. Starting from those machine-generated captions, she then took a new set of images that we see on display in this exhibition - an effort to explore the notion of memory through the eyes of technology.

In her staged images, Bastai shows us an enhanced representation of society, where she plays with angles, framing, body, and facial expressions, leaving humorous and mundane details. Presenting a certain glamour and glossiness, she reflects on mass production and the overload of imagery. Most importantly, she shows us how an AI system could think and the issues related to privacy and representation of reality in function to a certain dataset.

In an image-driven and social media society, creating memories, documenting our lives, and sharing it, is a big part of our existence. To what point can we let our identity be built and narrated through AI? What are its limitations and implications when representing the memories of a human being? What RAM_4.0 ultimately questions is the role of the machine in analysing and transforming our reality through the visual archive of memories of a human being.

The show RAM_4.0 is part of the PhMuseum Days 2023 main exhibition program and will remain open after the inauguration for three consecutive Fridays on 26 May, 9 June and 16 June from 17.30 to 19.30. It will then be open again during the PhMuseum Days festival from 22 September to 1 October 2023.

Admission to the exhibition RAM_4.0 is free. For more information, write to us at info@phmuseumlab.com.

Bio

Sara Bastai (Porto, PT, 1996) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives between Porto and Lausanne where she works on personal and commissioned projects, integrating photography, graphic design and art direction. Her research focuses on the creation of visual narratives and conceptual projects that explore the themes of memory, the digital archive, technology and human behaviour.

PhMuseum Days is the photography festival curated and organized by PhMuseum. The third edition will take place from 22 September to 1 October 2023 at DumBO’s Spazio Bianco in Bologna and in other places in the city, hosting exhibitions, talks, screenings, portfolio reviews and a section dedicated to independent publishing.