POEMPORTRAITS by Es Devlin, with Ross Goodwin and Google Arts & Culture

Artwork · North America

The project's own preview image for POEMPORTRAITS: machine-generated verse set in white type over the red-to-magenta gradient the experiment renders behind each poem. POEMPORTRAITS, 2019. Es Devlin with Ross Goodwin and Google Arts & Culture. Google Experiments.

“Inspired by a conversation between Es Devlin and Hans Ulrich Obrist, and created in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture and Ross Goodwin, POEMPORTRAITS combines poetry, design and machine learning and invites participants to create interactive AI-powered poetry.” It was first shown at the Serpentine in 2017.

-Sasha Stiles

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

experiments.withgoogle.com

People

Es Devlin, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ross Goodwin, Sasha Stiles

Movements

Computer Text, Generative Poetry

Filed under

Ideas: audience participation, collaboration, Computer Text, Generative Poetry, Interactive Art, poetry
Technologies: artificial intelligence, machine learning
People: Es Devlin, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ross Goodwin, Sasha Stiles
Works: POEMPORTRAITS
Organisations: Google, Google Arts & Culture, Serpentine

Echoes across time

Le Random editorials

Hans Ulrich Obrist on Exhibitions as Living Organisms, Peter Bauman, September 1, 2025
Sasha Stiles and Martha Joseph on Language as Technology, Peter Bauman, September 10, 2025
Sasha Stiles on Writing Poets, Peter Bauman, January 25, 2024

Explore all Le Random editorials and artist interviews

Le Random podcast

Timeline Ch 9—AI Era (2010s) with Tyler Hobbs, Helena Sarin, Rhea Myers & Gene Kogan — listen with transcript on Le Random (30 Jul 2024, 51 min). Chapter 9’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify