The most thought-provoking soundbites from the Christie’s 10th Art + Tech Summit
Art and sports stars joined leaders from Apple, NVIDIA, the Met, the NFL and more for the two-day summit at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, sharing their unfiltered insights on the future of technology and culture
Christie’s Art + Tech summit attendees listen to a discussion moderated by former Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News Andrew Goldstein between Olympic triple-jumper Naomi Metzger, NFL star and entrepreneur Malcolm Jenkins and Inter Miami CF President of Business Operations Xavier Asensi
‘Soak it in. Here we are, Radio City,’ said Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan at the opening of Christie’s tenth Art + Tech Summit, which took place on 16-17 July at the iconic music hall in New York City.
Since 2018, Art + Tech has been bringing together founders, creators, investors, collectors, and leaders to discuss the most pressing issues at the art, technology, entertainment and business sectors today.
‘This year we continue our growth, sharing the best of art and the best of technology around us today, with leaders from a variety of technologies and global businesses, art institutions, regulators, academics from universities, artists and more,’ said Devang Thakkar, Global Head of Christie’s Ventures, in his opening remarks
‘Sports and entertainment spark imagination amongst generations. Why? Because both are cultural unifiers,’ said Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan in her introduction to the Sports + Entertainment section of the summit
Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a thousand ‘x’ computational speed. A thousand x. The prediction is another thousand ‘x’ in the next five years. Things will be very different when we do this in 2030. So how do we keep up? We keep up by getting together and embracing technology and learning from one another in the room.
Olympian Naomi Metzger and Malcolm Jenkins, Founder of Malcolm Inc., speak about performance, patronage and impact in the world of athletics
This iteration’s speakers included two-time Super Bowl champion Malcolm Jenkins, representatives from many of the Magnificent Seven tech companies — including Apple, NVIDIA and Microsoft — curators from the country’s top museums and institutions, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, executives from top firms in tech and culture, digital artist Refik Anadol, and Congressman Jay Obernolte of the House Task force on Artificial Intelligence.
Technology is increasingly helpful in terms of inclusive design, especially for visitors who have low or no vision and deaf visitors. We think about the way in which our media is not only captioned but has ASL interpretation and we work with deaf talent to do that work. Inclusive design is for the betterment of all audiences regardless of abilities or needs.
Dr. Louise Bernard, Founding Director, Obama Presidential Center Museum, and Christiane Paul, Curator of Digital Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, discuss the evolving museum experience and embracing new technologies
Cathie Wood, Founder and CEO, ARK Investment Management, and Meredith Whittaker, President, Signal Messenger, in conversation about privacy, open-source software and authentication in the AI age
The biggest as yet unsolved problem in computer science or the commercialisation of the internet is that of authentication: How do I know I’m dealing with who I think I am?
An attendee experiences Art + Tech’s first-ever exhibition hall in the grand foyer, highlighting new technologies
Attendees mingle for lunch and conversation at Radio City Music Hall
The tools are changing so quickly. Things you learned a month ago are outdated — it’s that fast, and that’s what’s so exciting for us as artists: seeing all new types of possibilities to unlock what our imaginations are already generating.
Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and artist Refik Anadol talk about how they’re engaging AI to explore new frontiers in their work
We artists ask: What is beyond reality? Which is an annoying question for scientists because they design systems that are so grounded and scientifically perfect. But when artists start touching these tools, they change. I hope this type of collaboration will allow us to explore those challenging questions that break the systems and imagine new ways of thinking.
Noah Horowitz, CEO, Art Basel, and Gillian Gorman Round, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Christie’s, dig into the evolution of audience engagement at art fairs, auctions and more
Sujeet Indap and Brooke Masters of the Financial Times, Art + Tech’s official media sponsor, moderated panels on humanity in the age of artificial intelligence and the changing landscape of venture capital respectively. Digital artists gave a glimpse inside their evolving studio practices involving augmented reality, scientific research and more.
I'm currently working on a quantum listening project that involves any number of species, including humans.
Nancy Baker Cahill is one of several contemporary artists who shared stories from the studio with Sebastian Sanchez, Digital Art Sales, Christie’s
Tom Hulme, Managing Partner and Head of Europe, Google Ventures, speaks about the changing landscape of venture capital, including the rising demand for ‘human experiences’
AI is going to create some sort of reaction. We see people willing to pay so much more for human experiences today — which is a push back against this force to some extent — and that could be a really interesting investment opportunity.
The two-day event concluded with a screening of Any Problem is No Problem, a documentary from an Oscar-winning team of filmmakers that follows the journeys of five young entrepreneurs in the crypto industry.
I love technology. It helps me navigate the world. But being in awe of tech doesn't mean I'm going to surrender to it. As much passion as I have for it, I do not trust it with my soul. AI is trained to avoid error. Art is born from it. AI learns from what has already been. Art creates what never was. And while AI replicates and refines, art risks and revolts.
In a panel called ‘So What?’ Bennett Miller, filmmaker and artist, and David Droga, CEO, Accenture Song, discuss the implications of AI for art, life and the soul
AI is a new medium, which doesn’t happen very often in art. And like any medium, it’s going to take a minute for it to sink in and absorb. As a tool, it enables you to do things that were hitherto not possible.
Around the corner at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries, attendees had a chance to check out A Goal in Life: Leo Messi x Refik Anadol. The immersive artwork commemorating the football icon Messi’s favourite goal of all time, reimagined by the groundbreaking contemporary artist Anadol sold for $1,865,000, with all proceeds benefiting nonprofit organisations, including Inter Miami CF Foundation's global partnership with UNICEF.
The summit is just one of the ways Christie’s Ventures is bolstering the auction house’s role as a leader and innovator in the art-market ecosystem. Christie’s Ventures invests in early-stage companies and proven founders at the intersection of art and technology, with a focus on Web3, AI, fintech and hardware.
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