There’s an air of anticipation in the lobby on Mercer Labs. Executives swirl around in controlled chaos — taking phone calls, sending texts, giving instructions to the staff. The art and technology museum in Manhattan’s bustling Financial District is about to welcome Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes and a handful of other celebrated artists to preview a brand new exhibit titled Maestros and the Machines.
They are also prepping for the arrival of the museum’s founder, Roy Nachum, as well as iconic producer Timbaland. As everyone stands by the door, an employee is reminded to offer Timbo a drink when he walks in, which he does nonchalantly alongside his fiancée. Timbaland merely asks for a water; Nachum enters just as casually a few moments later, and the two of them embrace like old friends.
Maestros and The Machines — which opened to the general public on Friday (Apr. 25), and was created in collaboration with Looking Glass, Som Vivo, Bang & Olfusen and Monom — is an exhibit that seeks to disrupt our preconceived notions around what can and can’t be considered art. In one installation, attendees sit around a dimly lit table and are given a handful of Crayola crayons to color in a childlike sketch of a dinosaur, which is then placed on a digital scanner. In an instant, the dinosaur comes alive as a 360-degree projection, then wanders around a digitized forest, interacting with wildlife and taking on a newfound charm in the process.
“Imperfection is perfection,” Timbaland tells Billboard at the museum. Nachum tapped Timbo to handle the exhibit’s sound design — partially out of fandom for the producer, but also because of their shared views on art in the age of A.I. The exhibit’s expansive three floors focus heavily on re-imagining classical works from Da Vinci, Hokusai, Mozart and others, meshing them with 4D soundscapes and other kaleidoscopic technology tools via A.I. to push the piece’s mortal boundaries.
To add in this immersive experience and soundtrack the kaleidoscopic murals, Timbaland curated a lush collection of operatic voices, classical music and, of course, beats. In one foggy, cerulean lit room, we all lie on our backs and listen as distorted reworkings of Mozart’s most famous works swell and fade around us. The sounds twist and turn, suggesting that time itself doesn’t bind art to one historical period, and even the most iconic pieces of art can be re-molded.
“You want the mistake, it’s the organic, it’s the life,” says Nachum. He picks up a half-empty bottle of Coke and holds it precariously in his hand. “To me, this is the most boring thing I’ve ever saw in my life. Why? It’s continued. But if I do this” — he crinkles the plastic bottle in his hands, denting and deforming it — “now it’s much more interesting. I look at the light, I ask, ‘Why is it that shape?’ It takes me to the look.”
Other highlights of the exhibit include a fully functional ball pit, a robot-manned zen garden and a large cello being played by mechanical arms. Timbaland and Nachum often stand off to the side, speaking in emphatic but hushed whispers about new ideas that are coming to them in that moment.
“It kills me when people say, ‘Ah that’s A.I.!’ Timbaland says. “People are so mindf—ked. You been using A.I. since digital came out. That was a form of A.I., but you just had to do it by hand. Now, I’m doing it by thought. It’s all about who you are individually. I can give everybody the same tools, but nobody’s gonna sound like me. The iPhone camera is so good, but not everybody can shoot a music video on iPhone.”
“Using technology doesn’t have to be cold and sterile,” Nachum adds. “To find the organic moment, the humanness, through technology, it’s the hardest thing to do.”
Timbaland has been a staunch advocate for A.I. and technology use in music, and also a longtime fan of Nachum’s. While the pair long followed each other’s work, they both felt the time to collaborate wasn’t quite right until now. A.I. technology hadn’t quite gotten to a place where they felt able they could properly executive their vision.
“Technology allowed people to collaborate,” Timbaland says. “I’m in music, he’s in art. He knows how to make music come to life, but we couldn’t do that before because one would be faster than the other.”
Note Marcado, Alica Keys, Timbaland and Roy NachumWhile technology plays a big role in Maestros and the Machines, other aspects are surprisingly simplistic. Volumetric lighting bounces off of halls of mirrors; another space is covered in dozens of fake flowers. Its stimulation to the senses in and of itself makes Maestros feel like timeless art. There will always be a childlike wonder that comes from watching LED lights sparkle and bounce around you, and Maestros aims to capture that moment, even if at times it overwhelms the senses.
“The technology of today is perfect for what this is,” Timbaland says. “What used to take me three months only takes me two days. In the beginning, it was like a toy. It was like going to a toy store. You gotta go through gluttony, because you can’t believe that it’s here.”
“How much candy can you eat?” Nachum chimes in. “It’s exactly like the first time I touched oil paints. You take the brush and you assume that if you put paint and go one line from here to here, it’s gonna look consistent. But it’s not, it’s gonna dry, it’s gonna be dark. It takes time to learn the new machine. It’s a tool.”
We get word that Alicia Keys is waiting in the lobby to say hi to Tim and Nachum, who will give a full run through of the exhibit for the first time. Before he leaves, Timbaland offers a piece of advice.
“Don’t be scared of it,” he says. “There’s no need to be.”
Tickets for Maestros and the Machines are available at the Mercer Labs website here.
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