# Making the training data can itself be art

[Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/herndon-dryhurst-collective-creation)

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.

Headline and sourced paraphrase by Escape Meridian. Inclusion is not endorsement.

## Original source

Serpentine Galleries · Artist statement and exhibition record

Original source date: Oct 4, 2024 (2024-10-04).

Date basis: Exhibition opening date; an exact page-publication date is not supplied.

Original publisher text read on 2026-09-22; a short editorial paraphrase is stored, not the underlying work.

The date this reading was added to Escape Meridian is not recorded.

- [Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst: The Call](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)
- [Artist statement, choral models and Data Trust experiment](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)

## Limits

A particular commissioned artwork and governance experiment; broad adoption and long-term distributional effects remain unestablished.


## Editorial test, not a stated concession

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.


## supports

The project records fifteen UK community choirs and describes a Data Trust experiment for sharing power between contributors and model users.

- [Supporting source](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)

## Source and contributor context

Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst · Artists behind The Call

Created musical works and AI voice projects, including Holly+ and PROTO.

Their practice demonstrates an artistic possibility; it does not prove a universal ownership or compensation model.

Declared interests are limited to the records linked here; absence of a record does not establish absence of an interest.

- [Artist biographies and project credits](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)
- [Co-founded Spawning, which develops AI consent tools; The Call is their own artwork.](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)

## 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.


## Source media

Media retrieval status: found.

- [View the installation · © Leon Chew · The Call, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst with sub · Serpentine, 2024](https://d37zoqglehb9o7.cloudfront.net/uploads/2024/08/SerpentineGallery_HHMD03119_B2-2-1200x627.jpg)

## Questions between perspectives

Editorial comparison; no direct exchange established: What obligations arise when people contribute the material an AI system depends on?

- [Related reading](/readings/okinyi-worker-agency)

## Terms and references

Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.


## Holly Herndon

Holly Herndon is an artist and musician whose work explores voice, AI and collective creation.

- [Explore this context](/entities/holly-herndon)
- [Reference](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)

## Mat Dryhurst

Mat Dryhurst is an artist whose collaborations with Holly Herndon examine AI, cultural ownership and collective creation.

- [Explore this context](/entities/mat-dryhurst)
- [Reference](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)

## Serpentine

Serpentine is an arts organization whose technology program commissions work investigating how emerging systems shape culture.

- [Explore this context](/entities/serpentine)
- [Reference](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/)
- [Reference](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst-the-call/)

## Corrections and challenges

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