Google PoemPortraits
Exploring the boundaries of art and technology with award-winning designer Es Devlin
Long before AI was an industry-wide buzzword, we worked with award-winning designer Es Devlin to create an AI-powered poetry-writing art installation.
Every summer, the Serpentine Gallery hosts a star-studded fundraising gala in Kensington Gardens. In 2017, Google was the headline sponsor. They wanted to celebrate their involvement and – at the same time – get their new Pixel phone into the influential hands of the event’s high-profile attendees.
Part art installation, part tech demo and part photo booth, PoemPortaits was conceived as an interactive experience to enhance the cultural experience and capture a lasting memento of the evening.
PoemPortraits was conceived to capture the uniqueness of this special gathering, celebrating the distinct personalities of each individual guest while also reflecting the shared creative vibrancy of the crowd as a whole.
Upon entering the installation, guests were invited to contribute a single word – via the new Pixel phone – which AI expanded into a two-line poem. This was achieved using an algorithm trained on six million words of 19th-century poetry. These individually generated verses were then projected onto our guests, illuminating their faces as they posed for their own personalised PoemPortrait.
“My soul swims with noon and bloom
Your laughter spread in fields of gold
This bee that loves the burning moon
Sweet nectar like a star astray”
Each individual PoemPortait was also part of a larger collective piece that evolved throughout the evening, so by the end, it formed a lasting memento of this extraordinary gathering.
Following the success of PoemPortraits at the Serpentine Summer Party, the installation went on to appear at several more cultural events across Europe and North America, including the AI: More than Human exhibition held at The Barbican.
