Visible and Invisible: Merging Human and Computer Vision in Art Historical Analysis
Principal Investigator(s): Kenneth Singer (Physics), Elizabeth Bolman (Professor and Chair, Art History and Art), Michael Hinczewski (Associate Professor, Physics), Ina Martin (Adjunct Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Operations Director, MORE Center)
Project Summary
The art.lab.cwru initiative seeks funding to continue its cutting-edge integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into art history and digital humanities.
Using a high-quality scan, Dr. Van Horn has developed a method for attributing regions of workshop pieces to individual “hands,” applied to The Baptism of Christ (1624, Hospital Tavera, Toledo, Spain), a 400-year-old painting by El Greco and members of his workshop.
A manuscript detailing this project is being prepared for submission to a high-impact journal.
Building on this, the team aims to refine the methodology to create a digital tool that aids art historians in making inter-painting attributions, investigating workshop practices, artist careers, and the physiological aspects of style.
A controlled study will vary materials, subjects, and styles in collaborative paintings to simulate Renaissance workshop conditions.
The data will support development of image preprocessing workflows and hyperparameter tuning for attribution models, culminating in analysis of two more paintings by El Greco and his workshop.
Embodied Religion and Extended Reality: The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Humanistic Study of Sacred Space
Principal Investigator(s): Maggie Popkin (Art History), Justine Howe (Religious Studies)
Project Summary
This interdisciplinary project explores how XR technologies—virtual, mixed, and augmented reality—intersect with the long history of material culture and replicative technologies.
Replicas—from scriptures to souvenirs—have historically shaped human understanding.
XR now acts similarly, creating authoritative “realities” tied to religion, empire, and consumerism.
The project will result in two co-authored articles and a co-authored book exploring replication and power structures from antiquity to XR.
To support dissemination, the team will host an international symposium, engage students in research/publications, and conduct on-site research in Greece and Turkey using HoloLens models of sacred spaces.
A Statistical Mechanics Lens for Quantitative Musicology
Principal Investigator(s): Jesse Berezovsky (Physics), Peter Bennett (Professor, Music), Deyan Mihaylov (NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, Physics)
Project Summary
This project merges physics-based analytical tools with musicology.
Berezovsky developed a physics-based approach to music theory, which, when paired with Mihaylov’s statistical methods, will tackle real musicological questions.
The team will study musical instruments, historical tunings, and repertoires through statistical and physical models.
They’ll also apply models to genres with varied rhythmic structures.
Outcomes include a research paper co-authored with students and initial software tools for the research community.
The long-term goal is to establish a framework for physics-based musicology.
Cleave Research Institute
Principal Investigator(s): Aviva Rothman (History), Anna Sarfalvi (College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2027), Alexander Klautky (Weatherhead School of Management), Amber Tilling-Richards (Mandel Fellow in Experimental Humanities)
Project Summary
This project creates a model for independent research connecting faculty, undergraduates, and high school students.
It focuses on outreach to under-resourced neighborhoods and the United World Colleges (UWC) community.
Three components define the program: a research program, monthly panels, and a website.
The site will archive publications/events and act as a hub for volunteering and research applications.
The initiative seeks to increase student engagement at CWRU and bring research opportunities to the Cleveland community.
Reason, Matter and Form: Using Computer Vision to Disentangle the Elements of Artistic Practice
Principal Investigator(s): Kenneth Singer (Physics), Elizabeth Bolman (Professor and Chair, Art History and Art), Michael Hinczewski (Associate Professor, Physics), Ina Martin (Adjunct Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Operations Director, MORE Center)
Project Summary
Building on two previous AI-based attribution projects, Dr. Van Horn applied the method to The Baptism of Christ and Christ on the Cross with Landscape, both by El Greco.
Findings challenge assumptions that the former was completed posthumously by his workshop.
The next step is inter-painting analysis across three El Greco paintings using the improved attribution model.
Poetry in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Principal Investigator(s): Walter Hunter Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Academic Affairs
Project Summary
This project explores AI’s implications for poetry analysis.
Traditionally, poetic meter analysis requires deep study, but AI’s vast access to poetic texts prompts new research questions.
Key questions include:
- What are the promises and limitations of computational poetry analysis?
- How does AI change our understanding of poetic creation and inspiration?
Deliverables include:
- An NEH grant proposal
- A co-authored article (academic or public-facing)
- A new undergraduate course: Creativity, Technology, and Science