This blog serves as an in progress public distribution of research materials and concepts.

List of Research and Theories (READING LIST):

Crawford, Kate with Hao, Karen. “Stop Talking about AI Ethics. It’s Time to Talk about Power.” n.d. MIT Technology Review, April 23, 2021.
Steyerl, Hito. "Medya: Autonomy of Images" in Astro Noise: A Survival Guide for Living under Total Surveillance. by Laura Poitras, New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2016. pp. 162-177
Mackenzie, Adrian. “The Production of Prediction: What Does Machine Learning Want?” European Journal of Cultural Studies 18, no. 4–5 (August 1, 2015): 429–45.
Crawford, Kate. “Time to Regulate AI That Interprets Human Emotions.” Nature 592, no. 7853 (April 6, 2021): 167–167.
Manovich, Lev. AI and the Myth of Creativity, DigitalFUTURES world. Digital Consortium Lecture - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence. Accessed August 5, 2021.
Flusser, Vilém. Towards a Philosophy of Photography. Reaktion Books, 2018.
DEBORD, GUY. Society of the Spectacle. PM PR, 2024.
Barthes, Roland. Rhetoric of the Image. 1977.

List of Video, Audio, and Other Media (WATCH/LISTEN LIST):

Carpenter, John, director. They Live. 1988.

Russell, Ken, director. Altered States. 1980.

Lang, Fritz, director. Metropolis. 1927.

Kleiser, Randal, director. Flight of the Navigator. 1986.

Research Questions?

Main Questions (3/21/24)

What does a post-art future look like?
How can misinformation be used as escape?
what does post-truth mean and how is it apart of my identity?

Secondary Questions (3/21/24)

In what ways can we use art as a tool for defiance and revolution?
How do we simultaneously create work that explores topics of social programming while educating on the programs that currently exist?
How do we use the apparatuses that shape reality against us in a way that re-positions power to the people?

Tertiary Questions (3/21/24)

What would a fully autonomous machine society do or be?
How can we design art that is for the proletariat and not the elite?

Space

Initially, when designing a space for work to be shown, I thought of how a space could be an artwork itself that moves from location to location. Some concepts pop into my head, one of which is an inflatable educational-gallery that aims to deteriorate the social programming surrounding media, art-systems, and reality. Looking at the work of the Ant Farm group, I thought what if I built an inflatable space where video and sculptures could live outside the realm of the system. While the design of the inflatable is still not decided, I have been doing extensive research into what inflatable material I could use and immediately I thought of using recycled billboard vinyl. The dichotomy of an external mass-produced advertisement with an internal personal narrative or educational system was inspiration to create these designs of a square pyramid space.

Faculty Discussions and Revisions:

After discussing my current research and project ideas with faculty I received input that my project is a solution but not necessary art. It lacked humanistic realism and it lacked emotion. One thing came up that was very potent and that was to focus on how these aspects of authoritarianism and misinformation make me feel. Looking to my childhood, growing up in close proximity to a fantasy-land constructed of controlling media and immersive spaces has encouraged me to exist in a world of fiction. I also decided to dive into subliminal aspects of previous artworks and sketches as well as the science fiction movies and shows I watched at a young age.

To Hide In a Surveillant Universe…

A common theme emerged, I create fiction in order to hide. I hide behind fantastical ideas and encourage fictional solutions to real phenomenon. I find shelter in hiding and joy in being invisible. These themes of hiding and sheltering in fiction has led me to reconstructing the science-fiction “escape pod” as an escape apparatus. I Imagine a fictional structure that comes into existence through the liminal objects and materials of our constructed reality.

Basic Design of Escape Pod (MACH 1)

Components:

4 - Live feed cameras for external observation
1 - Onboard Computer for individual EGO identification and composite media synthesis
6 - monitors for visual display
4 - External speakers for sonic field generation and crowd control
1 - Central Air-conditioning unit and air compression unit
1 - Seat with safety harness
4 - external laser guidance systems
4- internal laser synchronization systems
1 - Flight helmet with audio reception devices and visual protection
1 - onboard sonic synth engine
1 - onboard control module
1 - flight control manual