WHAT

AALBORG IS THE FUTURE is an art project that presents an alternative perspective on Aalborg’s history. By combining elements from the early history of the labour movement with the local hip-hop culture of the 1990s, the project explores an untapped potential where creativity, community, and enjoyment are central. It combines factual history, fiction, and AI-generated images, thereby attempting to connect hip-hop’s pursuit of individual freedom with the early labour movement’s collective struggle for better conditions. Grounded in the city's history, the project maps out a few of the many places that have been significant for both the local and national labour movement and hip-hop subculture in Aalborg.

The project presents a map featuring 16 selected locations in the city, which have been reinterpreted using AI. An extended version is available online at aalborg.oerum.org. The project will be launched on 7th December 2024 with a guided tour of the fictitious Aalborg depicted on the map, along with a concert in collaboration with Christian Høgh at the venue 1000Fryd.

AALBORG IS THE FUTURE is part of visual artist Kristoffer Ørum’s multi-year project "Freedom, Equality, and Hip-Hop", which uses artificial intelligence to create images of a history that has never existed. The Aalborg project visualises 16 possible scenarios for the meeting between the Labour and the hip-hop movements. Both online and on the physical map, AI-generated images depict alternative versions of well-known locations, such as Karolinelund reimagined as a DIY amusement park or Aalborg Shipyard taken over and continued by its employees.

Like a computer-generated daydream, the images and text in AALBORG IS THE FUTURE constitute one alternative interpretation of Aalborg’s history, blending hopeful fiction with historical facts. Just like the rest of "Freedom, Equality, and Hip-Hop", AALBORG IS THE FUTURE is based on the idea that both the labour movement and the early hip-hop environment contain potentials that have never been fully realised in their current forms. These unused and hidden potentials the map attempts to bring to life through a series of unlikely narratives generated by algorithms. The aim is to arrive at a hopeful new narrative that connects the labour movement’s collective struggle for better living conditions with hip-hop’s celebration of enjoyment and freedom, rather than efficiency and production.

At the same time, the project examines how today's digital image-generating technologies influence our perceptions of history, society, and the future. Although the project's narratives and images initially appear credible, closer inspection reveals that they are filled with signs of their fictional and computer-generated nature. Small deviations and errors expose the project’s constructed character and open up the possibility of imagining multiple interpretations of the past instead of presenting a new, authoritative narrative.

Previously, parts of "Freedom, Equality, and Hip-Hop" have taken place at Kongegaarden in Korsør, Sydhavn Station, Copenhagen, Friisland in Copenhagen's North Harbour, and the Survival Kit Biennale in Riga, Latvia. Throughout 2025, the project will move to locations including Hvidovre, Warsaw, Malmö, Boston, Vancouver, Lexington, and Aarhus. You can follow the project’s development on Instagram at @kristofferorum

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