In the networked world that Scottish artist Charles Sandison so poetically depicts with his new digital painting, The Garden of Pythia. It finally opened to the public on April 9. The Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI) has commissioned this innovative artwork. It now proudly sits at PCAI’s ‘pi’ pavilion in Delphi, Greece. Today, the pavilion serves as a museum for architectural exercises rooted in those of Petros Pikionis from 1959. It provides dramatic scenery a mile or two away from the historic and delightful village of Delphi.
Sandison explains how visiting Delphi inspired him to create The Garden of Pythia. This archaeological site is famous for its storied past with the ancient Oracle. In this shocking new digital work of art, he brilliantly juxtaposes the oracle’s ageless wisdom and dissent with today’s AI. He argues that the questions raised at Delphi continue to reverberate in our contemporary quest for knowledge via technology.
The installation connects past and present, sacred and secular. Most importantly, it shows how all of us, then and now, are looking for answers to life’s most basic queries. Sandison hopes visitors will perceive The Garden of Pythia as an interactive, multisensory experience. It questions and reframes the story about AI.
“Visiting the ‘Garden of Pythia’ is an experience where artificial intelligence is not what is often described in the media and news. Most of the time it is about scary stories,” – Charles Sandison.
In his post-mortem of the project, Sandison goes into just how deep and wide his artistic vision ran. In Delphi, he spent considerable time wandering the hills and terrain above Delphi. He turned his focus back to nature and became fascinated with its complex interrelationships. This journey prompted him to create a digital tribute that seeks to honor and recognize the importance of Delphi’s history.
“I think the work I made is a way of looking at nature. She in turn will listen to your question and give you the answers you seek. I decided to create a digital painting, a tribute to this place and its history,” – Charles Sandison.
The Garden of Pythia, a photographic garden of Pythia, documenting a memory palace is Sandison’s fertile artistic mind. It represents PCAI’s cultural awareness/environmental stewardship mission. According to Athanasios Polychronopoulos, a member of PCAI, art is an effective tool to help shift people’s perceptions about the environment and inspire them to take action.
“Protecting the environment means changing attitudes and behaviour. To do this, people really need to feel that they have to take action. I believe that culture, art and especially contemporary art are able to send messages and influence people to really contribute to the protection of their environment,” – Athanasios Polychronopoulos.
PCAI recently created The Garden of Pythia. This dynamic space creates fertile ground for innovation. It’s an exciting environment for visitors to explore art that changes their expectations and assumptions about technology. This beautiful digital painting prompts deep reflection about how humanity parents nature through the different tools we create.
Sandison refers to The Garden of Pythia as “a mythological place,” where ancient Greek culture combines with today’s technology. This combination is much more than a stylistic pursuit; it serves as a conversation between sources of historical memory and present-day lived experience.
“The Garden of Pythia is a fictional place set partly on a mountainside in ancient Greece and partly in the matrix of my computer. Inspired by my visit to the temple of Apollo, I have coded this visual AI work that combines the memories of Pythia with the beautiful slopes of Parnassus,” – Charles Sandison.
As visitors approach The Garden of Pythia at PCAI’s ‘pi’ pavilion, they are encouraged to reflect on their own quests for knowledge. Sandison hopes this intensive will help cultivate positive energy and creative thinking. It seeks to combat characterizations of artificial intelligence that dominate the AI conversation in the public sphere.
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