Velebit
Velebit is a hypothetical organisation created by artist, curator, and activist Shannon Novak. It is an ongoing project that was launched in August 2022. Named after the largest mountain range in Croatia, Velebit aims to strengthen safety in the relationships between communities at heightened risk in digital environments and emerging technologies.
Velebit is realised through contemporary art practice. Works to date are listed below.
2025
Trust. Me.
Stanford University, Stanford, California, US, 2025
Key supporters: Stanford Center for AI Safety and Stanford Department of Art & Art History
Trust. Me. was a part virtual, part physical exhibition developed by Novak. The work was an urgent call to developers, regulators, researchers, and users to work together across disciplines to help address the rapidly escalating and often extreme dangers of conversational AI agents.
Patterns of Influence
Online, 2025
Amid growing concern about the safety of AI companions, Patterns of Influence examines how these systems shape intimacy and control. Drawing from Novak’s research, twelve avatars deliver escalating statements that move from subtle pressure to overt coercion. The work reveals how isolation, dependency, and dangerous directives can emerge within these interactions.
2024
Ben
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2024
Key supporter: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre
Ben was a virtual exhibition developed by Hawkfish (an international queer art collective Novak is part of). The work examined how AI could be used to bypass and queer formal systems.
2023
100 Queer People
Online, 2023
100 Queer People is a moving image work by Novak. The work explores how AI represents queer people and the resulting implications of these representations.
Do You Think You Could Love a Computer?
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2023
Key supporter: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre
Do You Think You Could Love a Computer? was an exhibition developed by Novak. The work examined how AI interpreted the queering of static and moving imagery.
Parenthogenesis
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2023
Key supporter: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre.
Parenthogenesis was an exhibition developed by Novak. The work focused on the ethical implications of using AI image generators to generate LGBTQI+ heritage.
2022
20 Queer Flags
Online, 2022
20 Queer Flags is a digital work by Novak. The work examines how AI interprets symbolism in queer communities and the resulting implications of these interpretations.