Korea will once again host a double dose of art fair excitement this September, anchored by the return of two mega-events: Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul.
Kulendran Thomas is best known for his use of digital technology, specifically generative AI. His videos Being Human and The Finesse, 2022/23, both made in collaboration with the curator and producer Annika Kuhlmann, feature cameos by deepfakes of Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, and Oscar Murillo, each of whom speaks a little too perfectly about cultural authenticity and the evolution of our digital lives. One small section of The Finesse changes every time the video is screened thanks to an algorithm that live-edits seemingly random internet footage and matches it with lines spoken by Kardashian, or rather, with lines generated by another algorithm that has ingested huge quantities of her speech and speaking style as well as a large collection of philosophical texts. Kulendran Thomas’s artmaking tools are most often neural networks, algorithms, datasets, and digital files.