Sacred Heart College's 'Tunnel' project paints the evolution of art

Where is art heading? With the advent of artificial intelligence, there is a growing fear that art may lose the human touch . To highlight this concern and showcase how far art has evolved through the ages, a band of students from Sacred Heart College, Thevara, have set up an art installation on campus.

Titled Tunnel Art, the installation is part of Ullura, a talk series conducted by the college’s Malayalam department.

“We wanted to create something to complement the talk series, which explored topics related to AI and films,” says Vishnu Raj P, assistant professor of Malayalam and coordinator of the installation. “During discussions with the students, an idea emerged: to chart the journey of art — from cave paintings to the digital screen.”

The installation takes the form of a tunnel, designed to mimic the caves where the earliest artworks were created. “The students built the tunnel in just two days,” Vishnu adds.

The Tunnel Art installation begins with cave paintings at the entrance. Inside the cave, there is a stone where visitors can paint. The journey continues through Renaissance art, modern paintings, and the advent of cinema, culminating in images and drawings that depict the challenges faced by artists in the age of AI.