Join us on Saturday, February 28, and Sunday, March 1, 2026, for a no-cost, two-day workshop using Autolume, a visual AI system created by SFU’s Metacreation Lab.
Register here: https://libcal.uvic.ca/calendar/kula/autolume
Generative AI tools have become increasingly visible in artistic practice, however most artists encounter AI through large-scale corporate platforms like Midjourney, Dall E 3, etc. which are trained on massive, opaque datasets. These systems often obscure authorship, flatten aesthetic diversity, and embed cultural biases.
This workshop offers an alternative approach: a small-data, artist-centred methodology that emphasizes control, transparency, and cultural specificity. Participants will work with their own datasets, gaining creative autonomy while learning ethical and technically accessible AI workflows grounded in personal and situated artistic practice.
Artists, designers, technologists, students and educators of all backgrounds are welcome. No coding experience is required. Workshop participants will gain the skills to work independently with artist-trained AI models and a critical understanding of how small-data approaches can expand creative agency, cultural expression, and aesthetic diversity in AI art.
Bring your images, your vision, and your curiosity. Note: if you don’t have any data to play with, the Digital Scholarship Commons will have some local datasets available for play.
Workshop facilitators:
Philippe Pasquier, Professor | School of Interactive Arts and Technology | Simon Fraser University
Arshia Sobhan, Ph.D. Student | School of Interactive Arts and Technology | Simon Fraser University
Location:
Business and Economics Building (BEC 180)
This workshop is made possible through the generous support of the Office of the Vice President Research and Innovation, Kula: Library Futures Academy and the Canada Research Chair in Emergent Digital Art Practices at the Faculty of Fine Arts.