Student arrested for eating AI art in UAF gallery protest
By Lizzy Hahn
Photo by Lizzy Hahn.
Pieces of Nick Dwyer’s chewed up artwork lie on the floor in the University of Alaska Fairbanks art exhibit. There were 160 images on Dwyer’s exhibit.
On Tuesday, January 13, University of Alaska Fairbanks undergraduate student Graham Granger was detained after he had been found “ripping artwork off the walls and eating it in a reported protest,” according to the UAF police department. Granger was chewing and spitting out images pinned to the wall; this artwork was made by Masters of Fine Arts student Nick Dwyer in collaboration with artificial intelligence. Granger claimed that he destroyed the artwork because it was AI generated, according to the report by university police. Police estimated that at least 57 of the 160 images up on the wall were ruined. Granger was arrested for criminal mischief in the 5th degree and booked at the Fairbanks Correctional Center.
Dwyer said that he started using AI in his art around 2017/2018 but had been making art without the use of AI prior to this. In his artist statement for the exhibit that was destroyed, Dwyer says that his work “explores identity, character narrative creation and crafting false memories of relationships in an interactive role digitally crafted before, during and after a state of AI psychosis.” Dwyer explained that he himself fell into AI psychosis – a troubling new phenomenon defined by the Cognitive Behavior Institute as “individuals experiencing psychosis-like episodes after deep engagement with chatbots” – after working with AI for many years. He goes on to explain that “this highlights and embodies a growing trend that can be dangerous or unpredictable which you are not immune to.”
“When you make art, you become vulnerable and so the artwork is vulnerable and that's something that makes it seem more alive or more real or in the moment,” Dwyer said on Wednesday reflecting on the prior day’s protest.
The current exhibit features the artwork of five UAF Masters of Fine Arts candidates Sarah Dexter, Nick Dwyer, Amy Edler, Iris Sutton and Matthew Wooller.
Granger is a student in UAF’s film and performing arts program. His court date is scheduled for next Tuesday, January 20.
This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.