Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group (AIAARG)

日本語 / English

S/N
What If AI Composed for Mr. S?

  • [Lead]
    • Mr. S and Mr. N are real characters. Mr. S had asked Mr. N to compose music based on his “instruction sheets,” and Mr. N had long served as his ghostwriter. Meanwhile, Mr. S had proclaimed that he is completely deaf so that he composes musical pieces note by note from his innermost core. The resulting “Symphony No. 1” attracted a far greater number of majority who admired the piece, with some even moved to tears, than a very selective minority who expressed strong hatred, but the success was later turned over into a scandal as Mr. N revealed his engagement as the ghostwriter.
      We AIAARG (Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group) do not see this case just in the framework of a lawsuit.
      Rather, we see it as a testcase that poses questions like “What if Mr. S employed AI, instead of a human specialist, to compose for him? Then how would it matter? Or nothing matters?” Of course it is possible to claim that the unique talent of Mr. N is irreplaceable, but the case can remind us of different perspectives, such as the creativity of Mr. S' “instruction sheet” itself, or the contingent status of authorship made explicit by the intervention of AI as the Other/technology.
      * Related to the participation in the exhibition “Bubbles/Debris: Art of the Heisei Period 1989-2019” curated and supervised by Noi Sawaragi held at Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art from January 23 to April 11th, 2021.
  • [Summary]
    • This book is an attempt to get to a certain kind of the essence of art and aesthetics that can be read from the secret distortions of creation and appreciation in the early 21st century. The subject is the “ghostwriter case” between Mamoru Samuragochi (Mr. S) and Takashi Niigaki (Mr. N), which caused a scandal in 2014. The era-specific factor assumed here is the technology or the Other called “artificial intelligence” (AI), which has been making great strides since 2012 and is known as the 3rd boom.
      In this ghostwriter case, the modern “composition = creation,” which should be attributed to an individual artist, was divided into two parts (S/N): “the creation of Mr. S, who does not write notes but writes instructions,” and “the creation of Mr. N, who writes notes from instructions.” As the word ghostwriting indicates, in common sense, the actual creation in this case can be attributed to Mr. N who wrote the notes. However, in recent years, automatic composition technology by AI can replace Mr. N's creativity in terms of the division of roles, but not that of Mr. S. From this point, the question arises, “What If AI Composed for Mr. S?”
      This book contains the responses of 33 experts from various fields to this question.
  • [Basic Information]
    • Book Title | S/N: What If AI Composed for Mr. S?
      Editor/Author/Publisher | Artificial Intelligence Art and Aesthetics Research Group
      In Collaboration with Goethe-Institut Osaka Kyoto
      Date of Issue | January 23, 2021 (On-sale Date | March 11, 2021)
      Bilingual (English/Japanese) / BOOK + Used CD (out of print) / 4.9 x 5.6 inches / 448 pages / with a luxury case
      ISBN | 978-4-9902903-8-2
      Antique Dealer License | No. 303332007000, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Public Safety Commission
      * Privilege: 2 Discount Coupons for AI Art & Aesthetics Research Meeting (only 1 coupon per meeting can be used for 500 yen)
      * The appendix used CD has been tested. Please note that it is a used product.
  • [Contributors]
    • TOMBSTONE OF HEISEI, MUSIC (GENERAL), MUSIC (AI), ART & AESTHETICS, SOCIETY, FIRST WARBLING OF REIWA
      Takashi Yoshimatsu, Morihide Katayama, Keiichiro Shibuya, Seiji Choki, Shigeaki Saegusa, Yuji Numano, Gen Igarashi, Atsufumi Suzuki, Hirokazu Hiraishi, Toshio Nakagawa, Kiyoshi Furukawa, Hidefumi Ohmura, Takéshi, Tsuchiya, Motoharu Kawashima, Tomomi Adachi, Nao Tokui, Akira Tatehata, Yasuyuki Nakai, Hajime Nariai, Morihiro Satow, Yuki Harada, Yutaka Tsukada, Kazuo Amano, Hiroki Tsutsui, Masami Fujii, Mika Kusakari, Hideki Nakazawa, Tamaki Saito, Tasuku Mizuno, Ryota Akasaka, Tatsuya Mori, Noi Sawaragi, Enzio Wetzel.
  • [Contents]
    • Concept ... 002-005
      Installation View at The Container ... 006-013
      Instruction Sheet ... 014-015
      Preface ... 016-019

    • *CHAPTER 1 - Tombstone of Heisei
      Takashi Yoshimatsu | Diary of a Hermit ... 032-064
      Column 1 ... 065
      Morihide Katayama | Mamoru Samuragochi and Shoko Asahara ... 066-077
      Keiichiro Shibuya | Modernist Pride and the “S/N” Problem ... 078-099

    • *CHAPTER 2 - Music (General)
      Seiji Choki | An Exchange with a Record Company in the Early Summer of 2011 (extract) - “It's Probably Acceptable” ... 106-113
      Shigeaki Saegusa | Can the Compositional AI Create Excitement? ... 114-121
      Yuji Numano | What Does It Mean to “Compose”: If Mr. N Had Used Music Notation Software ... 122-129
      Gen Igarashi | The Messenger in Black and the Last Faust ... 130-137
      Atsufumi Suzuki | The Curse of the Beautiful Romanticism ... 138-145
      Hirokazu Hiraishi | Around the Instructions from Mr. S to Mr. N ... 146-153
      Toshio Nakagawa | Eight Phonetic Poetry for Reading Aloud (Singing) or Silently ... 154-161

    • *CHAPTER 3 - Music (AI)
      Kiyoshi Furukawa | If AI Composer Had Harmony Lesson ... 168-177
      Hidefumi Ohmura | Technological Singularity: “What If Mr. N Composed for AI?” ... 178-185
      Takéshi Tsuchiya | A Sketch of the Heart ... 186-193
      Motoharu Kawashima | Can AI Composers Be Viable? ... 194-201
      Tomomi Adachi | AI and Fabrication ... 202-207
      Nao Tokui | What If AI Composed for Mr. S?: The Future of Composition and Pieces of Music ... 208-214
      Column 2 ... 215

    • *CHAPTER 4 - Art & Aesthetics
      Akira Tatehata | An Unusual Instruction Sheet ... 222-234
      Column 3 ... 235
      Yasuyuki Nakai | On the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Artists ... 236-243
      Hajime Nariai | The Turing Test for Paintings, or AI Deconstruction of Value ... 244-249
      Morihiro Satow | Artificial Intelligence in a Dark Room ... 250-257
      Yuki Harada | A Human Called Samuragochi, an AI Called Lassen ... 258-265
      Yutaka Tsukada | Mamoru Samuragochi and Tadanori Yokoo as a Cultural Figure ... 266-273
      Kazuo Amano | Between S/N and AI ... 274-281
      Hiroki Tsutsui | The Hiro Yamagata Problem, Methodicism, AIAARG ... 282-289
      Masami Fujii | AI Sing in the Ground of Desire and Emotion? ... 290-299
      Hideki Nakazawa | AI and the Middle-Voice-Wise Creation (Humans Become Reeds That Don't Think) ... 300-308
      Column 4 ... 309
      Mika Kusakari | The Post-Truth Called the Art (Appreciation and Evaluation by AI) ... 310-322
      Column 5 ... 323

    • *CHAPTER 5 - Society
      Tatsuya Mori | Expression / Lie / Truth ... 330-337
      Tamaki Saito | To the Postmodern Symphony ... 338-345
      Ryota Akasaka | Legal Study for a Case Mr. S Selected AI Composer as His Ghostwriter ... 346-353
      Tasuku Mizuno | On the Creativity Transformed by Works Created Using AI or AI-Generated Works ... 354-360
      Column 6 ... 361

    • *CHAPTER 6 - First Warbling of Reiwa
      Noi Sawaragi | Evading Perspective: Thoughts Inspired by “What If AI Composed for Mr. S?” ... 368-381
      Hideki Nakazawa & Mika Kusakari | What If AI Composed for Mr. S? ... 382-413
      Enzio Wetzel | Defence of the Human Being S. ... 414-419

    • S/N: Timeline ... 420-423
      Chronology of AIAARG ... 424-433
      Media Appearance of AIAARG ... 434-437
      Installation View at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art ... 438-445