The world’s first AI museum DATALAND opens: your heartbeat is actually part of the exhibition!

Key takeaways

• DATALAND, the world’s first AI art museum, has officially opened in Los Angeles. Founded by new media artist Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç, it is located at The Grand LA.
• The inaugural exhibition, “Machine Dreams: Rainforest,” combines AI, ecological data, and immersive interaction to create a digital rainforest that continues to evolve.
• Visitors can use biometric sensors to contribute their heart rate, body temperature, and other physical data to the work, causing it to change in real time.

What would a future museum look like if it didn’t just collect art, but could “feel” every visitor? DATALAND, founded by new media artist Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç, officially opened in Los Angeles on June 20. Called the world’s first AI art museum, Refik Anadol hopes people will see it as more than a space for exhibiting AI: a new kind of cultural venue that brings together art, technology, nature, and human perception.

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The world’s first AI museum is more than a place to exhibit AI

 

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Refik Anadol（@refikanadol）分享的貼文

DATALAND is located at The Grand LA, designed by architect Frank Gehry, and was years in the making for Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç. Unlike a typical digital art museum, DATALAND does more than organize exhibitions. It also aims to become a research center for AI art, with functions spanning collections, education, artist residencies, and AI model research, creating a new ecosystem for AI art. In an interview with Monopol, Refik said he hopes DATALAND will become an important cultural institution in the field of AI art, rather than simply a space for displaying technology.

The most memorable line from the interview was:

“Museums are the campfires of humanity.”

In Refik Anadol’s view, people in ancient times gathered around campfires to share stories and exchange knowledge, and museums today should likewise be places where people can think about the world together. So he wants to create more than a venue that collects artworks; he wants a public space where people can discuss AI, nature, technology, and the future.

AI creates an ever-changing tropical rainforest

Images from ig / @datalandmuseum

As DATALAND’s opening exhibition, “Machine Dreams: Rainforest” does more than use AI to generate images of a tropical rainforest. Over five years, the team visited rainforests around the world to collect extensive ecological data on plants, fungi, animals, sounds, and terrain. They then used AI to build a model specifically for nature, reinterpreting the life of the rainforest and allowing visitors to step into a digital natural world created by AI.

The work changes in real time with your physical state

Images from ig / @datalandmuseum

Unlike typical digital art exhibitions, the defining feature of “Machine Dreams: Rainforest” is that the work continuously changes with visitors’ physical data. Once inside, visitors can choose to wear a biometric wristband that measures physiological information such as heart rate, skin temperature, and skin conductance in real time. The data is fed back to the AI system, prompting real-time changes in the imagery and space before them and making each visit a unique experience.

More than an exhibition, it’s an experience for all five senses

 

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Beyond visuals and sound, the exhibition incorporates scent design. Visitors can wear a device around their necks that releases fragrances tailored to different sections of the exhibition, allowing scent to change in sync with the imagery. By combining sight, sound, and smell with biometric sensing, DATALAND aims to move beyond art exhibitions centered on viewing, allowing each visitor to help complete the work through their own senses.

AI art has developed rapidly in recent years, but Refik Anadol doesn’t see AI as a replacement for artists. He prefers to view AI as a new creative medium, much like photography, film, and computers have changed artistic creation. What matters isn’t whether AI can create, but how people can use it to expand creative possibilities. He hopes DATALAND can become a new platform where artists, researchers, and audiences can explore AI creation together.

Machine Dreams: Rainforest

Dates: June 20, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Location: 100 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012, USA
Admission: US$ 50

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