Could Instagram’s algorithm curate an art exhibition? A new London show finds out
We’ve seen the debates surrounding AI-created art – but what about algorithmic curation? A new exhibition by University of Oxford researchers explores Instagram’s algorithm as a curator
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Recent internet debates have proved that it doesn’t get much more polarised than AI creativity. Some believe the two terms are fundamentally incompatible. Others believe machine technology is diluting, or undermining, the output of human creators. There is also a branch of thought that sees the bright side: AI’s potential to enable human creativity (if employed correctly), not steal it.
While there’s been much discussion about AI tools that can ‘write’ and ‘create’ images in response to specific commands. (ChatGPT, the most widely publicised example of recent weeks, uses a strain of artificial intelligence that can generate ‘natural’ language text using information mined from the Internet), there has been less talk about algorithmic curation in art, whether it’s of any use at all, and who’s in charge.
In an attempt to understand the impact of algorithms on art curation, researchers at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute have unveiled a new London art exhibition ‘The Algorithmic Pedestal’, taking place at J/M Gallery from 11-17 January 2023, which compares Instagram’s algorithm with human-driven curation.
Image depicting the error image that appears under several entries within the Met’s collection
In recent years, machinic ways of seeing have rapidly infiltrated our visual culture, driving what is created, what is visible, and who reaps the rewards – no doubt the late John Berger would have a field day with this one.
As the show explores, algorithmic systems are increasingly becoming gatekeepers of the creative content appearing on social media users’ feeds. Content is mined from an ever-expanding ocean of images and videos, further expanded by freshly-minted AI systems that operate generatively. But ultimately, who should – and can – perform this curation?
For the exhibition, researchers have presented a scenario in which a human approach can be compared and contrasted directly with an algorithmic curator (Instagram). Artist Fabienne Hess was invited to select and display images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Open Access collection that corresponded with the concept of ‘loss’. The images displayed in the exhibition are part of Hess’ ‘Dataset of Loss’, which she has created over the course of three years. Her curatorial process is driven by the human experiences of time, curiosity, and patience; she has spent years physically exploring collections in an embodied fashion, learning about each object’s stories and photographing them during site visits. In this sense, Hess’ curation represents the extreme in human selection criteria.
Album of Photographs of the Land and Summer Cottages Owned by the Montauk Association, Montauk, New York, 1883, part of the the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection
Conversely, Instagram’s curatorial decisions were captured by uploading images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (New York) Open Access collection to a designated Instagram account: @thealgorithmicpedestal. The results, on view in the show, demonstrate which images Instagram’s algorithm chose to display, and in which order.
As Laura Herman, a researcher at Oxford University’s Internet Institute commented: ‘In recent months, Instagram has publicly announced that the content displayed in users’ home feeds will increasingly be decided by a “black box” algorithm, rather than what friends or family have recently posted. This means that we do not know exactly what Instagram chooses to prioritise, though these prioritised selections drastically influence users’ experience of visual culture. In this exhibit, the algorithm reveals its own ways of seeing, providing the audience with an intimate lens into its perceptual mechanisms.’
Plate, c. 1885, Made in West Midlands, England, Blown satin green and white opaque glass, part of the The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection
‘The Algorithmic Pedestal’, is on view at J/M Gallery in London from 11-17 January 2023.
j-m.gallery (opens in new tab)
Harriet Lloyd-Smith is the Arts Editor of Wallpaper*, responsible for the art pages across digital and print, including profiles, exhibition reviews, and contemporary art collaborations. She started at Wallpaper* in 2017 and has written for leading contemporary art publications, auction houses and arts charities, and lectured on review writing and art journalism. When she’s not writing about art, she’s making her own.
-
‘A crossover of ideas and emotion’: Simone Rocha on introducing menswear to her label
As the collection arrives at London’s Dover Street Market with a special installation and zine, Simone Rocha speaks about the roots of the menswear offering, the art of collaboration, and a campaign which subverts ‘the archetypes of masculinity’
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Colour Clash is a bold compendium of dazzling supergraphics and logos that pop
Polychromatic perversity in graphic design is celebrated in Colour Clash, a monograph that looks at the new wave of visual expression
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
A’strict: the South Korean digital art collective bringing nature to urban life
As part of our Generation Generative series, we spotlight a’strict, the artistic unit of South Korean digital media design company d’strict, whose immersive art aims to bring viewers closer to nature
By SuhYoung Yun • Published
-
Enter the mesmerising, AI-driven world of artist Refik Anadol
Refik Anadol’s masterly use of data sets and AI models allows him to create dazzling ‘living paintings’, now on display in MoMA’s Gund Lobby
By TF Chan • Published
-
Generative art: the creatives powering the AI art boom
It’s a new age for generative art, thanks to pixel-sorting, algorithm-sifting creatives. While the NFT market remains in flux, we delve into the rise of generative art, and the AI art boom
By Nick Compton • Published
-
Universal Everything: the collective bringing mind-bending physicality to the digital space
In our new profile series, Generation Generative, we spotlight pioneers on the cutting edge of generative art. Our first feature is on Sheffield-based digital art collective Universal Everything, whose solo show ‘Lifeforms’ at 180 The Strand runs from 12 October – 4 December
By Nick Compton • Published
-
Artist Ian Cheng explores the technological and aesthetic potential of AI
In Berlin’s cavernous Halle am Berghain, New York-based artist Ian Cheng plunges viewers into an immersive world of AI and existential anime in ‘Life After BOB’
By Will Jennings • Last updated
-
Could NFTs spark a photography revolution? Meet the innovators
As Web3 platform Fellowship brings world-class photography to the blockchain, including newly minted work by Joel Meyerowitz and Pieter Hugo, we explore how NFT photography is changing how we buy, sell, authenticate and experience art
By Jessica Klingelfuss • Last updated
-
Maxim Zhestkov’s hypnotic digital art makes virtual worlds tangible
Ahead of a major installation at London’s W1 Curates, digital artist Maxim Zhestkov discusses the creative potential in merging physical and virtual realities: ‘my work is about this thin membrane that separates us from the future’
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Last updated
-
Smash hit: Ron Arad’s first NFT drop takes things up a gear
Designer, artist and architect Ron Arad joins the NFT crowd with the help of curatorial platform Shifting Vision
By Nick Compton • Last updated