Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst's "The Call" at Serpentine North in London proposes AI as a tool for collective transformation, pushing the boundaries of art, law, and technology through immersive, choral rituals.
In a time when technology continues to challenge the boundaries of human creativity, The Call, an exhibition by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst at Serpentine North, emerges as a profound meditation on collaboration between humans and AI. By transforming the process of AI training into an artistic ritual, Herndon and Dryhurst push the limits of how we understand both technology and collective human expression. Co-produced by Serpentine Arts Technologies, The Call introduces a groundbreaking methodology for creating art and governance frameworks, centered on the collective power of the voice.
Herndon and Dryhurst treat AI not as a tool to replace human labor, but as a coordination technology — something akin to the ancient practice of group singing. Historically, singing, particularly through rituals like call and response, has served as a mechanism for communication and social bonding. These rituals, whether in churches or communal spaces, have helped build structures for gathering and meaning-making. The artists propose that AI, like a choir, can enhance these collective efforts, transforming individual voices into a unified, augmented experience.
At the heart of The Call is the creation of new vocal datasets and polyphonic AI models. Working alongside fifteen choirs from across the UK, the artists composed a unique songbook of hymns and vocal exercises to train the AI. These recorded voices were woven into a spatial audio installation in the chapel-like environment of Serpentine North, designed by architecture studio, sub. This immersive soundscape, blending human and machine, invites the audience to experience the collective creation and governance of the resulting AI models, a kind of democratic experimentation in data ownership through a Data Trust framework.
By presenting the process of AI model training as an act of artmaking, Herndon and Dryhurst challenge the audience to rethink the roles of both human creativity and technology in the 21st century. This piece goes beyond technological critique; it proposes new cultural, legal, and ethical rituals for shaping our shared future. The artists’ vision — to treat AI as a collective, participatory technology — suggests that the future of art, and perhaps society, depends on collaboration between human and machine.
In The Call, Herndon and Dryhurst offer a rich and layered experience of interaction, both with AI and with each other. Through a combination of sonic immersion and thoughtful reflection, they invite us to envision AI as more than just a set of algorithms — but as an evolving ritual for collective transformation.
