{"id":"herndon-dryhurst-collective-creation","title":"Making the training data can itself be art","topicIds":["culture-and-authorship","institutions-and-trust"],"domain":"culture","speaker":{"name":"Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst","roleAtSource":"Artists behind The Call","expertise":"Created musical works and AI voice projects, including Holly+ and PROTO.","claimBoundary":"Their practice demonstrates an artistic possibility; it does not prove a universal ownership or compensation model.","bioSources":[{"title":"Artist biographies and project credits","url":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/"}],"declaredInterests":[{"text":"Co-founded Spawning, which develops AI consent tools; The Call is their own artwork.","url":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/"}]},"source":{"title":"Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst: The Call","publisher":"Serpentine Galleries","format":"Artist statement and exhibition record","url":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/","publishedAt":"2024-10-04","dateBasis":"Exhibition opening date; an exact page-publication date is not supplied.","anchor":{"label":"Artist statement, choral models and Data Trust experiment","url":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/"},"accessNote":"Original publisher text read on 2026-09-22; a short editorial paraphrase is stored, not the underlying work."},"argument":"Herndon and Dryhurst propose treating AI training as a collective creative act. In The Call, the gathering of voices, recording rules and shared governance become part of the artwork, alongside the sounds a model produces.","claimType":"practice-based argument","evidence":[{"text":"The project records fifteen UK community choirs and describes a Data Trust experiment for sharing power between contributors and model users.","url":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/","kind":"empirical","relationship":"supports"}],"assumptions":["Editorial reconstruction: contributors can meaningfully participate in decisions about their shared material.","Editorial reconstruction: artistic value can reside in a process and its relationships, as well as an output."],"whatWouldChangeView":{"attribution":"Editorial test, not a stated concession","text":"Ask contributors what decisions they could actually influence and whether the arrangement continues to work after the exhibition; token participation would weaken the collective-governance claim."},"limits":"A particular commissioned artwork and governance experiment; broad adoption and long-term distributional effects remain unestablished.","discussionQuestion":"If your work trained a model, what would make you a collaborator?","relatedSignalIds":["the-call-collective-voice","performer-digital-consent"],"editorialComparisons":[{"positionId":"okinyi-worker-agency","relationship":"Editorial comparison; no direct exchange established","question":"What obligations arise when people contribute the material an AI system depends on?"}],"sourceMedia":{"status":"found","sourceUrl":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/","checkedAt":"2026-10-15T20:07:33.560800Z","items":[{"type":"image","url":"https://d37zoqglehb9o7.cloudfront.net/uploads/2024/08/SerpentineGallery_HHMD03119_B2-2-1200x627.jpg","sourceUrl":"https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/","attribution":"© Leon Chew · The Call, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst with sub · Serpentine, 2024","basis":"publisher-metadata","availability":"verified","verifiedAt":"2026-10-15T20:07:33.560800Z","label":"View the installation","preview":{"url":"https://d37zoqglehb9o7.cloudfront.net/uploads/2024/08/SerpentineGallery_HHMD03119_B2-640x480.jpg","alt":"The Call installation: decorative panels and choral audio equipment arranged around a suspended bell.","credit":"© Leon Chew · The Call, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst with sub · Serpentine, 2024"}}]},"canonicalUrl":"https://escapemeridian.com/readings/herndon-dryhurst-collective-creation","formats":{"html":"/readings/herndon-dryhurst-collective-creation","markdown":"/readings/herndon-dryhurst-collective-creation.md","json":"/readings/herndon-dryhurst-collective-creation.json"},"attribution":"Headline and sourced paraphrase by Escape Meridian. Inclusion is not endorsement.","readerContext":{"version":"reader-context-v1","attribution":"Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.","terms":[],"entities":[{"id":"holly-herndon","name":"Holly Herndon","kind":"person","context":"Holly Herndon is an artist and musician whose work explores voice, AI and collective creation.","referenceUrls":["https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/"],"path":"/entities/holly-herndon","json":"/entities/holly-herndon.json","markdown":"/entities/holly-herndon.md"},{"id":"mat-dryhurst","name":"Mat Dryhurst","kind":"person","context":"Mat Dryhurst is an artist whose collaborations with Holly Herndon examine AI, cultural ownership and collective creation.","referenceUrls":["https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/"],"path":"/entities/mat-dryhurst","json":"/entities/mat-dryhurst.json","markdown":"/entities/mat-dryhurst.md"},{"id":"serpentine","name":"Serpentine","kind":"organization","context":"Serpentine is an arts organization whose technology program commissions work investigating how emerging systems shape culture.","referenceUrls":["https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/","https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/"],"path":"/entities/serpentine","json":"/entities/serpentine.json","markdown":"/entities/serpentine.md"}]},"withdrawn":false,"revisions":[],"audits":[],"correctionUrl":"https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/"}