Latest news with #synthesis
Forbes
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Role Of Curatorial Studios In The Digital Art Ecosystem
Purgatory Edit by Ali Akbar Mehta, Digital Intimacies, Late at Tate Britain, Curated by Hervisions. In an era of incessant image production and reproduction, how does cultural relevance emerge? Who dares sift through presently developing tendencies to spotlight artists whose work is lightyears ahead of the curve, contextualizing it alongside comparable avantgarde explorations of the past? Who ventures to filter innovation from novelty? Enter the curatorial studio. Case in point: synthesis, a studio founded by Giorgio Vitale in 2017, which launched with a mission to elevate AR and VR, modes of expression Vitale felt weren't adequately represented in the artworld ecosystem. Since inception, synthesis has curated career-augmenting shows for artists the likes of Nancy Baker Cahill, Yehwan Song (FeralFile), and Cibelle Cavalli Bastos (SXSW). Cibelle Cavalli Bastos, A Picture Can't Take Me (left), AES+F, Turandot 2070, Lynx Avatar (center) ... More and Lovers I (right), I KNOW exhibition, Curated by synthesis for Feral File. As Vitale explained via exclusive conversation with Forbes: 'Our goal was to create a context where artists working with immersion were taken seriously, both conceptually and materially. It wasn't just about hanging screens and headsets on white walls; it was about crafting environments that honored the specificity of these practices while inviting broader conversations about how technology shapes identity, perception, and society.' synthesis launched because it recognized mediums that required further critical attention but, from here, evolved. Most recently, Vitale curated Material Poetry for HEK Basel, proposing a lineage of the genre in the process. From the performative poetics of budding artist Franziska Ostermann to the foundational work of Eduardo Kac, this exhibition exemplifies synthesis' role in nurturing emerging artists while collaborating with well-established names. As Vitale affirms: 'When we place someone like Kac next to Ostermann, we're not inviting comparisons but encouraging viewers to think about continuity and rupture.' A show like Material Poetry builds two types of bridges: one between legacy new media institutions and dynamically evolving modes of expression and another between artistic practices at different stages of development. Each is equally important. Hervisions, a curatorial studio founded by Zaiba Jabbar in 2015 to address the flagrant absence of femme-identifying voices in the art and tech world, recently created a third type of bridge at Tate Britain: one between institutional polish and dynamic experiential exhibitions. Both Hervisions and synthesis cite a desire to challenge the dominance of the white-cube exhibition in their approach, privileging non-traditional presentations of artworks, such as when Hervisions released a mobile-friendly video game in partnership with William Morris Gallery in 2023 or when synthesis showed Cahill's work at the former airport in Berlin's Tempelhofer Feld in 2021. When I spoke to Jabbar for Forbes, she reminisced about her studio's origins: 'I hoped to carve out space for a different kind of future, one where speculative thinking, intersectional feminism, and digital aesthetics could meet on equal terms.' Bionic Step by Nina Davies, Digital Intimacies, Late at Tate Britain curated by Hervisions. Jabbar certainly delivered this via Late at Tate Britain's art and tech program, Digital Intimacies, via which she transformed the museum into an affective landscape peppered with the works of artist like Alex Quicho, Chia Amisola, and Romy Gad el Rab in ways that privileged 'the confusion, the glitch and the beauty of love, loss and connection." A major takeaway, Jabbar cites, is the realization of "how vital it is to protect that sense of mess, immediacy, and openness within institutional contexts. People aren't just receptive to it, they're hungry for it. I'm excited to keep building on this model. Whether through nomadic formats, durational gatherings, or layered commissions, I want to continue creating curatorial experiences that centre risk, emergence, and relationality.' Often, institutions contract these services from curatorial studios; other times, they partner with the studio, even offering works commercially. An example is The Second Guess: Body Anxiety in the Age of AI, curated by Anika Meier and Margaret Murphy for HEK Basel. Intended to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the historic show Body Anxiety, The Second Guess included a commercial component intended to fund the production of an exhibition catalogue. Emi Kusano, Algorhythm of Narcissus, AI-generated video, The Second Guess: Body Anxiety in the Age ... More of AI, 2025. However, there was so much collector interest in the exhibition's works, that Murphy and Meier transformed The Second Guess into a curatorial studio and partnered with the Tezos blockchain and OBJKT platform to present future commercially available shows. The Second Guess is focused on presenting the work of envelope-pushing female and non-binary artists, while bringing the historic work of trailblazers such as LaTurbo Avedon and VNS Matrix (who coined the term 'cyberfeminism') to the blockchain. With shows at HEK Basel, the Francisco Carolinum Museum Linz and the Center of Media Arts in Karlsruheunder their belt, this young studio is proving impactful in bridging the internet to the institution. As Meier mentioned: 'Our goal is to help both sides understand each other better and learn more about the new online art world while also respecting traditional institutions and acknowledging that we are all here because of their groundbreaking work.' Addie Wagenknecht, The Perfect Women, Computational, 2024, The Second Guess: Body Anxiety in the Age ... More of AI. A marked throughline of Meier and Murphy's first exhibition was 'the radical emergence of social media,' a new dynamic with which contemporary artists – and the artworld ecosystem at large – must grapple. Their most recent endeavor saw them bring similar themes to Basel, where they presented at digital art fair ArtMeta, adopting a gallery model. The gallery-as-curatorial-studio model is certainly not new. LA-based EPOCH Gallery, founded by curator, educator, and artist Peter Wu, functions most frequently as a virtual gallery space but also produces in situ exhibitions, as in CATALYST, which they presented at Honor Fraser Gallery in 2023. With Wu's keen curatorial eye, it's no surprise that entire exhibitions have been acquired by institutions: the LACMA recently acquired their 2022 exhibition ECHOES. EPOCH has also opened their doors to guest curators, notably April Baca, Katie Peyton Hofstadter, Nora N. Khan and Andrea Bellini, who curated a show for EPOCH at the Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève. A RADIANT FUTURE, featuring work by Claudia Brăileanu, Ceren Su Çelik, Chris Coleman, Harriet Davey, ... More Sophie Kahn, Parag K. Mital, nouseskou, and Yoshi Sodeoka; Curated by Peter Wu+. Transfer Gallery, whose founding members are Kelani Nicole, Regina Hirsyani and Wade Wallerstein, also traverses the commercial and institutional axis skillfully, adding a crucial and often-overlooked element: assistance with the conservation of time-based media works. What's more, in 2022 they curated wwwunderkrammer an exhibition of Carla Gannis' work for the Perez Art Museum. A few years later, they helped secure the private sale of one of Gannis' major works, The Garden of Emoji Delights. Transfer and EPOCH exemplify the ways curatorial studios can help artists build collector bases and secure institutional acquisitions, which can prove fateful in the long-term financial viability of daring artistic practices. Meanwhile, early players like Studio as We Are, founded by Jess Conatser, helped bring digital art into the home, curating collections for Infinite Objects, which creates stunning screen-based displays collectors can flaunt in their living rooms. Artists, too, can drive curatorial studios. Fakewhale, whose founding members include artists Sky Golpe and Jesse Draxler, brings about physical and virtual exhibitions but also provides compelling critical visions, penning articles that help amplify the stories their artists are writing. It's Dark Inside, Evelyn Bencicova, 2019 As Vitale eloquently puts: 'Curatorial studios have a kind of nimbleness and closeness to artists that big institutions often can't match. We can walk alongside artists as their practices evolve, offering curatorial frameworks while their work is still taking shape. We create spaces where experimentation is embraced, while resisting the flattening effect of trends—making sure younger artists don't just 'surface' briefly but are rooted within the larger conversations they're actively shaping.' In the case of curatorial studios, no rules are written, giving them the freedom and flexibility to be As a digital artist, I've exhibited in exhibitions curated by most of the curatorial studios presented in this article.
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Robert Holton Dies at 81; His Potent Chemo Drug Saved Lives — and Trees
Robert A. Holton, a chemist who created a cheaper and environmentally kinder way to produce the cancer drug Taxol, synthesizing its key compound instead of extracting it from harvested yew trees, died on May 21 at his home in Tallahassee, Fla. He was 81. His death was confirmed by his son Paul Holton who said the cause was emphysema. In 1993, in his laboratory at Florida State University, where he was a professor, Dr. Holton created a method to produce Taxol. He constructed the drug, molecule by molecule, mimicking the plant's chemistry and eliminating the need to source material from the endangered western yew tree, Taxus brevifolia. He called the technique, which produced the medication in high amounts, the metal alkoxide process. He licensed his methodology to Bristol Myers Squibb, which became the first pharmaceutical company to manufacture Taxol. Generic versions are sold under the name paclitaxel. 'There was a worldwide race underway to synthesize it,' Dr. Jeff Boyd, chief scientific officer for the Northwell Health Cancer Institute in Manhasset, N.Y., on Long Island, said in an interview. 'Many groups were working on it because what was needed was a cheap and readily obtainable source of the drug. He was the first to achieve total organic synthesis.' Dr. Holton completed the artificially made compound on Dec. 9, 1993, beating dozens of competitors. Although scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., announced that they had also succeeded in synthesizing the drug, Dr. Holton's team was the first to publish details of its methods in a scientific journal. Before Dr. Holton's achievement, not only did three yews per patient have to die — because the bark where the anticancer alkaloid was first isolated had to be fully stripped — but the forests where they grew also stood to lose the bulk of these conifers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Geeky Gadgets
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geeky Gadgets
Introducing Voice Design v3 from Eleven Labs to Create Expressive AI Voices from Text
What if you could craft a voice that feels as real as a conversation with a close friend—or as otherworldly as a character from your wildest imagination—using nothing more than a few descriptive words? With the release of Voice Design v3, Eleven Labs is redefining what's possible in the realm of AI voice synthesis. This innovative tool doesn't just generate voices; it creates deeply expressive, lifelike audio tailored to your exact needs. Whether you're a filmmaker seeking an emotionally resonant narrator or a game developer designing immersive character dialogue, Voice Design v3 offers an unprecedented level of customization and creative freedom. It's not just a tool—it's a gateway to reimagining how stories are told. ElevenLabs reveals the new features that set Voice Design v3 apart, from its ability to interpret nuanced text descriptions to its seamless adaptability across industries like gaming, filmmaking, and podcasting. You'll discover how this platform enables creators to design voices that don't just speak but truly connect with audiences. By blending advanced AI technology with an intuitive interface, Eleven Labs has made it easier than ever to push the boundaries of audio storytelling. Could this be the future of voice design? Let's examine how this innovation is reshaping the soundscape of creative projects. Create Custom AI Voices What Sets Voice Design v3 Apart? Voice Design v3 stands out due to its sophisticated AI model, which generates highly realistic and expressive voices. Using advanced text-to-speech (TTS) technology, this tool allows you to craft unique voice profiles tailored to your specific creative needs. Whether you require a voice that conveys authority, warmth, or even an otherworldly quality, the system adapts with remarkable precision to your vision. The platform's ability to interpret nuanced descriptions and translate them into lifelike voice models is a key feature. By focusing on flexibility and precision, Voice Design v3 enables you to explore a wide spectrum of vocal styles, making sure that your project's audio elements align seamlessly with its overall tone and purpose. How Custom Voice Modeling Works Voice Design v3 simplifies the traditionally complex process of voice synthesis. Unlike conventional tools that depend on pre-recorded samples, this platform allows you to describe the desired voice characteristics in detail. You can specify attributes such as pitch, tone, emotional depth, and even subtle vocal nuances. The AI then generates a voice model that aligns with your description, offering unparalleled customization. This approach not only saves time but also provides the creative freedom to experiment with diverse vocal styles. Whether you're designing a voice for a commanding narrator, a whimsical character, or a deeply emotional storyteller, the tool adapts to your requirements, making sure a perfect fit for your project. What is Voice Design v3? Discover Eleven Labs' AI Voice Revolution Watch this video on YouTube. Enhance your knowledge on AI voice generation by exploring a selection of articles and guides on the subject. Applications Across Creative Industries Voice Design v3 is a versatile tool with applications spanning multiple creative fields. Its ability to generate tailored voice models makes it an invaluable resource for enhancing various types of projects. Here are some key areas where this technology can make a significant impact: Filmmaking: Create distinct character voices that add depth and authenticity to your narrative, enhancing the emotional resonance of your story. Create distinct character voices that add depth and authenticity to your narrative, enhancing the emotional resonance of your story. Video Games: Design immersive in-game experiences by crafting voices that reflect the unique personalities and backstories of characters. Design immersive in-game experiences by crafting voices that reflect the unique personalities and backstories of characters. Storytelling: Bring stories to life with voices that captivate audiences and evoke a wide range of emotions. Bring stories to life with voices that captivate audiences and evoke a wide range of emotions. Corporate Training: Develop professional voiceovers for instructional videos, making sure clarity and engagement. Develop professional voiceovers for instructional videos, making sure clarity and engagement. Podcasts and Audiobooks: Produce high-quality audio content with voices that match the tone and theme of your material. The adaptability of Voice Design v3 ensures that it can meet the diverse needs of creative professionals, regardless of the medium or genre they are working in. Versatility and Adaptability for Creative Projects One of the most compelling features of Voice Design v3 is its ability to produce a wide range of voices, from professional and authoritative to imaginative and surreal. This versatility ensures that the tool can cater to a variety of creative demands. Whether you're working on a corporate training video, an animated series, or a podcast, the AI-generated voices seamlessly adapt to the tone and context of your project. The platform's intuitive interface further enhances its usability, allowing you to fine-tune vocal expressions and characteristics with ease. This level of customization opens up new possibilities for experimenting with sound, allowing you to push the boundaries of audio storytelling and design. Redefining the Future of Expressive Voice Synthesis Voice Design v3 represents a significant step forward in the evolution of AI voice technology. By combining advanced algorithms with an intuitive user experience, Eleven Labs has created a platform that enables you to bring your creative ideas to life with precision and ease. The tool's ability to generate expressive, custom voice models based on user descriptions sets a new benchmark for what's possible in voice synthesis. As the demand for dynamic and engaging audio content continues to grow, tools like Voice Design v3 are shaping the future of creative audio design. Whether you're a filmmaker, game developer, or content creator, this technology offers a powerful way to enhance your projects and connect with audiences on a deeper level. Elevating Creative Storytelling Through Innovation Voice Design v3 from Eleven Labs is more than just a text-to-speech tool—it's a comprehensive platform for creative audio design. Its ability to generate lifelike, customizable voices makes it an indispensable resource for professionals seeking to elevate their storytelling and design projects. By harnessing the power of this advanced AI technology, you can ensure that your work resonates with audiences in impactful and memorable ways. Media Credit: ElevenLabs Filed Under: AI, Technology News, Top News Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
