A 2-minute read
Before you add to the graph.
A shared commons
You've been given access to A(DAI), a shared, public knowledge graph about digital art — artists, artworks, exhibitions, concepts, and the connections between them. Anything you add becomes part of that shared map.
You won't be writing to the graph by hand. You'll work through an AI assistant in a code sandbox — something like Claude Cowork — that handles the mechanics for you. You describe what you want to add in plain language; the assistant checks for duplicates, drafts the entries, shows you what it's about to post, and writes it once you confirm. A few things are worth knowing before you start. None of it is hard; it just helps you contribute well.
Every entry is stamped with you as the source — automatically, and it can't be faked as someone else. Note: that's who submitted it, not who it's about. If you add a show with ten artists, all ten entries are credited to you as the contributor. So you're effectively vouching for what you add. Add things you can stand behind.
The graph is open — anyone can read it. And there's no delete button, on purpose. You don't erase mistakes here; you correct them — edit the details, or mark an old connection as outdated. So treat everything you add as public and lasting.
The graph already holds thousands of artists and works, so something you want to add may already be there (often under a slightly different spelling). You don't need to search the graph yourself. Just ask the assistant to check first — "can you see if this already exists?" — and it will look and flag any matches before creating anything. That's all it takes to avoid duplicates.
The one hard rule
Most connections are factual and easy (who made a work, where it showed, who was in a show). But two connections are special:
Influenced by — one artist shaped another
Responds to — one artwork answers another
You may add these only when the artist actually said so, or if you are an archivist. Never add them just because two works look or feel similar. And when you do add one, give the assistant the source (a link or quote) so it can be saved as a short note alongside the connection — that way anyone can check it.
It's a public commons. Leave out anything confidential.
The assistant should show you exactly what it's about to add, before it goes live. Always glance at it first. One show / one small batch at a time beats dumping everything at once.
Adding several artworks at once is easy — just share the list with the assistant. For each work, the details that matter are title, artist, and year, plus medium if you have it (a theme or concept is a bonus). The assistant will create each one, link it to its artist and to the show it was in, and check for duplicates as it goes. No formatting needed — a plain list is fine.
Images
A(DAI) shows one representative image per entry — it's a map, not a photo gallery. You're not capped at one image overall, just one per entry, so a 12-work show = 12 entries, each with its own picture. Two ways to send them:
One image per work, under ~12 MB, with a source link where you have one. Hand the assistant the images (or point it to them) alongside the artwork list, and it will attach each one to the right entry.
Handy things to say while contributing
The bigger picture — just ask
Put any of these to the assistant directly, and it will answer for your situation:
That's it
Welcome — your contributions make the map richer for everyone.