Dr. Charlotte Kent shares recent publications, talks and research activities during sabbatical

While on sabbatical, Dr. Charlotte Kent, Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Design, has remained deeply engaged in research and scholarship, with recent work exploring digital art, artificial intelligence, photography, contemporary art, and the concept of enchantment.

Recent highlights include the publication of Anna Ridler x Sofia Crespo: A Field of Collaboration (Hatje Cantz), for which Dr. Kent served as editor. The book examines digital art, artificial intelligence in its various forms, and the history of photography. In addition to commissioning and editing four scholarly essays, Dr. Kent wrote the book’s introduction. A related editorial, “The Artwork Is Not the Output,” was recently published by Arab Bank Switzerland. Dr. Kent also attended the book launch during Berlin Art Week, where she participated in a talk on September 11.

Dr. Kent also contributed an essay to the MIT Press catalogue for Shimmer: Artists Dream a Posthuman World, an exhibition at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville. The essay considers the theory and role of enchantment in the material and digital transformations of contemporary art. On September 26, she participated in a symposium connected to the exhibition, speaking about enchantment, surrealism, and the creativity market as they relate to the works in the exhibition.

In September, she traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as an advisor for Crafting AI, an art and engineering course supported by a grant from the National Museum of Design and Social Innovation (NMDSI) to Professor Nathaniel Stern. There, Dr. Kent delivered two lectures to the class and will return in November to continue the work. 

The research continues this fall with several upcoming engagements. On October 22, Dr. Kent will speak with Danielle Ezzo at Baxter Street Camera Club in New York City for Photography’s Expansion and Its Discontents.

She will travel to London for an event at The Photographers’ Gallery on November 6th, and then to Sweden on November 14th for the launch of AI and the Agency of Paradox (Hatje Cantz), connected to an exhibition curated by Professor Sarah Cook at Bildmuseet in Umeå.

Two additional publications were released over the summer. Dr. Kent contributed an essay to Beyond Resilience in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (Routledge) and published “7 Critiques and 7 Problems in Thinking about Art’s Relationship to AI” in the Journal of Art Crime.

Through these publications, lectures, exhibitions, and collaborations, her sabbatical research continues to examine the evolving relationship between art, technology, photography, and artificial intelligence while contributing to conversations taking place across the international arts and academic community.