At Venice's Palazzo Diedo, the exhibition "Strange Rules" presents a sharp, forward-looking view of contemporary art shaped by technology, research, and participation. Curated by Mat Dryhurst, Holly Herndon, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Adriana Rispoli, the show brings together works that move beyond traditional objects and into systems, rules, and processes.
Under the idea of Protocol Art, the exhibition treats the underlying structure of culture as the artwork itself. Algorithms, AI models, digital platforms, and social conventions are not just tools here; they become part of the creative language. The curators use this framework to explore how authorship is changing in an era where art can be generated, shaped, and experienced through technology.
The show includes projects such as Michael Levin's Double-Headed Planaria, Trevor Paglen's Voyager, Ken Stanley's Picbreeder, Primavera De Filippi's Plantoid, and Dryhurst and Herndon's Attention Guild. A standout example is Fabien Giraud's The Feral, a long-term film project designed to unfold over a millennium with contributions across generations.
Rather than focusing only on the final image or object, "Strange Rules" highlights the creative decisions behind the system: how participation is organized, how models are trained, and how meaning is produced. In this sense, the exhibition offers a clear lens for understanding art in the age of generative tools and digital collaboration.
As institutions continue to explore art shaped by AI and networked systems, this approach may help define a new creative vocabulary for the decades ahead.
