Aesthetics, Art, & AI

Kite – Artist Talk

Promotional image for Kite's artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
The artist Kite speaks at a podium in a darkened room, backlit by a giant projected slide, during her artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
The artist Kite speaks at a podium in a darkened room, backlit by a giant projected slide, during her artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
A graduate assistant holds a microphone for an audience member asking a question during Kite's artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
The artist Kite speaks at a podium in a darkened room, backlit by a giant projected slide, during her artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
An audience member smiles during Kite's artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
The artist Kite laughs into a handheld microphone during the Q&A for her artist talk, part of C21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI program series.
  • March 12, 2026, 5:30 to 7:00 PM
  • Arts Center Lecture Hall, UW-Milwaukee

This artist talk introduced UWM audiences to Kite’s groundbreaking scholarship and practice, which investigates contemporary Lakota ontologies through research-creation, computational media, and performance, often working in collaboration with family and community members. Kite develops body interfaces for machine learning driven performance, sculptures generated by dreams, and experimental sound and video work. Working with machine learning techniques since 2017 and developing body interfaces for performance since 2013, Kite is a first American Indian artist to utilize Machine Learning in art practice. Kite has been included in numerous publications such as Atlas of Anomalous AI, Indigenous Futurisms, Creative AI Database from Serpentine Gallery, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, the Journal of Design and Science (MIT Press), with the award winning article, “Making Kin with Machines”, and the sculpture Ínyan Iyé (Telling Rock) (2019) was featured on the cover of Canadian Art. Kite was the Global Coordinator for the Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence Workshops supported by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, resulting in the publication of the Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper.  

About the Artist

Kite
Portrait of Kite, a guest speaker for 21's Aesthetics, Art, & AI series.

Kite (a.k.a. Suzanne Kite) is an Oglála Lakȟóta artist, composer, and scholar. Her artworks and performances have recently been featured at the 2024 Whitney Biennial; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA), New York; and the 2024 Shanghai Biennial; among other venues. Her awards and honors include a Ruth Award, a 2023 United States Artist Fellowship, a Creative Time open call commission (with Alisha Wormsley), and a Creative Capital grant. She is currently Director of Wihanble S’a Lab, Distinguished Artist in Residence, and Assistant Professor of American and Indigenous Studies at Bard College. Kite holds degrees from California Institute of the Arts, Bard College, and received her PhD from Concordia University.

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