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BIONICLE LORE IS DEEP AND CONVOLUTED

Bionicles Pirata via: Wikia

The rise of wearable and integrated technologies has blossomed over the past few years as the digitisation of money and other essential features becomes more advanced. I watched a man pay for his shoes with his watch. He just tapped his little bank card, hovered it next to the EFTPOS and done. No pin, no effort just a little tap. As computers begin to do more and more menial tasks for us, it leaves us more time to optimise our efficiency and focus our thought on higher order issues. Or so it seems in theory. As computers create more time for us to focus on things other than menial tasks, we don’t really do anything. Does this mean we are collectively getting dumber or that we simply haven’t found th next great big thing to tackle? Wearable tech also feeds the field of immersion technology. Designed to whisk you to another reality, immersion tech is currently used most predominantly in simulators and VR video games. In the VR sector, the quality of gameplay is increasing rapidly as consumer demand and funding increases. It is still however, painfully obvious you are wearing a headset. This is where Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI’s) reign supreme. With research stemming back to the 70′s BCI’s have commonly been used to repair cognitive and sensory functions, using things like neuro-prosthetics (artificial limbs that can be controlled using the brain). There has however been research into using this technology in the entertainment industry with devices such as Emotive Epoch, a very rudimentary VR game that with a small wearable net allows you to use brain function to control your avatar.  The far future of this technology, and the eventual real evolution of both mankind and technology, rests in Computer Brain Interfaces (CBI). Where BCI used brain functions to tell the computer how to react, CBI uses computer data written to the brain to alter our reality. This was first done in 2002 by William Dobelle. By connecting a camera to the visual cortex of the brain, Dobelle was able to grant vision to a blind man (Read more about this amazing story here).   With the rapid progress in computational ability slowing down in recent years (from a 2x increase in processing speed every two years to a 2x increase in every 2.5-3 years) the laws of physics create a glass ceiling on the possibilities of man made steel technology. However, with the power to code organic processors such as the brain, the limits could someday become infinite, although the price we pay may someday be what we call our humanity.  External links: Simulated Reality,  by LEMMiNO 

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THE FRUITS HAVE EYES (BAD FRUITS)

For our NGV data set we explored the relation between self and art. The data set we chose to explore were instagram posts with the #NGVtriennial. We had a set of 1000 images which we then categorised into medium and whether the image had a person in the frame. 

our data set 

The purpose of this piece was to explore the changing nature of the art gallery space. As smart phones and image apps such as Instagram or Snapchat have become prevalent parts of the everyday, the need to embed ourselves within the art we consume, and then share that image has been an interesting trend.  My personal contribution to the project was both identifying the data we wished to explore and its output/presentation. Going through the triennial, the exhibition felt more like a marketing campaign for the museum as opposed to a pure essay on the global arts. It opened art up to the broader community and created spaces which highly encouraged self portraiture and sharing. This comes as a double edged sword. Whilst the proliferation of public interest in the NGV was great to see, the result was a little bit of a wish wash of actual content. The curation focusing on insta-worthy moments meant most of the experience and ambience of the space was replaced with trying to avoid blocking cameras and masses of people frozen in pose. The people became a larger attraction than the art.  This inspired the output medium. The hoards of frozen people in front of a camera reminded me of the terracotta warriors of Xi’an,  hence the rows of fruit in a white cube. The cube itself was representative of the gallery walls, usually laden with art however since the people became the spectacle - the art was absent. The use of fruit came out of a happy accident, as Maddy ventured to find small plastic babies she instead found these wonderful fruits. The variety of fruit was indicative of the variety of people within the data set.  We assigned an art medium to each type of fruit and stuck googly eyes on to represent a selfie had been taken. If no one has seen you at the gallery, were you really at the gallery? Thus when seen at the NGV, the fruit was given the gift of anthropomorphism.  The outcome of the data was not entirely surprising, in that interactive installations had the most selfies taken in them, however it was a nice reminder of the beautiful absurdity of our times and culture. 

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IF THE BIBLE WERE WRITTEN IN JAVA

On the internet, we are immortal. Our persona’s don’t age unless we desire it and when asked by restrictive websites it seems everyone is actually 18+. The vast globalisation of humanity and enterprise has deemed following organic clocks a barbaric and rudimentary life style. As businessmen wake up in china, interns in the USA, loaded up on caffeine and futile career prospects, are ready to deliver reports as though they too only just arose. In the advent of the internet era, is time necessary? An abstract and location specific tool, will it hold up against the digitisation of our being? Call centres in India have special artificial lighting that mimics daylight, as many shifts start at 2am, in their body clocks it is 8am. These lights will cycle through the day in reverse, so as it gets lighter outside -- it becomes darker inside, allowing the workers to gain a sense of a daily cycle despite their reversed clock. Data does not tell a single truth, it is up to us to decipher our own meaning from it. In a blasphemous theory, religions can be interpreted as sets of computational data. With certainties and set rules, religion dictates the boundaries in which some must live their lives, in accordance with the data set provided by their deities in tomes such as the Qur’an or the Holy Bible. As such, the data can be interpreted and misinterpreted in many ways. The data narrative is not always clear.

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NATURES BLOCKCHAIN

Changes of state in nature have allowed us to learn about the past. From trees to dinosaur bones we’ve been able to weave a narrative about the land before time through it’s little souvenirs. As we come to an age where most information is digitised and our forests are getting cut down, what would archeologists of the future think of our era? Would the last vestiges of binary data, so easily overwritten, somehow cement itself in a deep dark corner of the web? Or will we become another historical dark age. Maybe the original dark age was the real Y2K, in which data was all stored in intangible clouds. When the computers inevitably broke and society fell apart nothing was left for the renaissance people to discover, leading them too to eventually fall to the same fates.  Have we become so arrogant that somewhere deep inside we believe we will be remembered forever?

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THE DIVINE SUBLIME

Star-signs via: pinterest 

Since the advent of technology the size of the observable universe has hurtled into expansion. Where our ancestors once stood and mapped stories to constellations to give them meaning, we look to the stars and based on our month of birth place divine guidance. Despite our era of scientific enlightenment, the mass of people who turn to astrology to derive meaning or purpose only stand to prove that the our hearts can never escape the wonders of the sublime.

The more we learn with science, the more we get a grasp on how little we actually know. The irksome feeling of not knowing things is the biggest catalyst for experimentation/advancement however for some it’s a burden too big to bear. The cold and grey reality of our own immaturity against the infinite wisdoms of the cosmos can lead us to feel lost and disconnected. Perhaps residual animalistic pack instincts have us looking for an alpha in the stars, to comfort us in knowing we aren’t in complete control of the messes we get into.

The sublime provides possibility and creativity where the anti-sublime grounds us back to reality. In the future I’d like to investigate the tolls of relying too heavily on either side of this field and the visualisation of fantasy. In particular, the stories people forged around star signs and mythos placed against the horrors/splendours occurring in their era.

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MAPPING MY <3

Scent as Code, Lucy Hardcastle, 2016

I was absent in week 2, but after going through the slides I would map my heart. In line with my practice I've been researching visualising qualitative data sets. It would include both space and time in a 3-D plane. To take this further I would create an abstract 3D immersive plane you can travel through, inspired by Scent as Code by Lucy Hardcastle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwcIHfhYqaY&index=11&list=PLOXwHyzEvi7g-EEo5pbWJVkpuh-C2Ew07).

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BOT PHONE SEX?

In continuation from my previous post regarding data morality, the rise in popularity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has raised interesting debate about the quantification of emotional data. Shows like Blackmirror (BBC) explore the possibilities in which a whole human conscious could be written into computer data.   The obsession with creating a machine in our image, rather than in efficiency is interesting. We don’t just want our phones to place calls, we want them to tell us a witty anecdote as they do it. In this growing age of technology and interconnectivity we are experiencing the greatest collective loneliness.  As such we’ve begun to make digitised companions like Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa. An advanced form of data visualisation, the input has become our emotional data and the output -- an artificial companion. As these companions talk to each other, it becomes an uncanny valley like conversation. The things they talk about almost make sense, and almost always end up in existentialism. Does the data narrative tell a tale of human desperation?  Could a computer code unique thought? Or create a completely new abstract philosophy?

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DO SELF DRIVING CARS DREAM OF ELECTRIC UBERS?

the only self driving car I will comfortably get in The advent of self driving cars has been super interesting, the rapid advancement of technology has grown faster than our capacity for knowledge of AI ethics. Self driving cars would be great for society in many ways. They would help the elderly gain independence, reduce traffic congestion and thus emissions and give the time poor a mode of transport on which they can still do things in the privacy of their own cabin. The data set I’m interested in exploring in relation to this is the binary value for a human life. As the AI for the car would have to be prepared for every possible scenario, hypotheticals have begun to arise around who the car would save if due to any fault in the cars mechanics or an environmental accident you were in a no win situation.  Either you collide with an opposing vehicle (killing its passenger/s) or swerve (killing you) the car would have to decide instantaneously whose life is worth saving. There’s been a few iterations of this scenario in which the car is able to gauge both the ages and occupations of all the passengers/victims and thus has to decide from there the value to society each person holds. To a computer, is a human life worth anything? Can you code compassion? I’d love to expand on this in the future. Maybe an interactive installation that has you and a companion stand in front of a webcam and the computer decides who lives and who dies, or the metric value of your life.

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THE IN(FINITE) UNIVERSE. as an expansion into finite data sets and environmental data we made frames to capture small samples of the world around us. I chose to make my frame a little pretty to add a little pizzaz to this project, honestly everything is improved by wavy scrapbook scissors. My favourite data set ended up being Adrian as he fit the frame perfectly! The instant air of importance and focus to an image a simple frame can create was really interesting to explore. The way when framed, the smaller details became more obvious and interesting. This was an important factor when deciding on my data set for the final assignment as choosing a set that was too large or vague could very easily dilute the narrative of smaller, but equally interesting, factors. The rubbish bins I found especially interesting. Despite there being a recycle bin right next to the regular waste bin most of the contents included coffee lids that could easily have been recycled? I also found out the actual body of most coffee cups can’t be recycled due to the plastic waterproof lining.  An interesting data set to explore in the future as recycling rules are so ambiguous and most people don’t know the lifespan these one use products have.

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DATA.MATRIX

Having been inspired by Ryoji Ikeda to choose this elective, hearing his name mentioned was super exciting. The ways in which he metamorphoses data into a fully immersive experience  has  always been so breathtaking. Despite his data sets not being easily identified, the ways in which the sounds and lights converge feel so natural it’s as if the data makes sense organically.  A particular work of his I enjoy is  datamatix (2006): http://www.ryojiikeda.com/project/datamatics/

The data is presented in ways that are so familiar in a corporate scope but beautifully abstracted when orchestrated in the intense pace Ikeda is widely known for. Being able to fully immerse yourself in the work, the loud music almost manipulates your heart to follow the rhythm of the installation, as if you as a whole were part of the grander infinte that is datamatix.  As a part of my practice I’m super interested in immersive installations and audio visual work so I hope to incorporate elements of Ikeda’s philosophies into my own works.

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#1

THE DATA OF MORALITY. MAN OR MACHINE OR MAN MACHINE OR MACHINE MAN Art is often intrinsic to a higher degree of emotional intelligence. Maslow’s hierarchy stipulates the basic necessities for survival and ego must be met before we can focus on the luxuries of complex relationships with art. How does a computer, which currently functions on a cold algorithmic I and O pattern, display such convoluted sensations? How does a computer generate a piece of art with sentiment?

On a similar nerve, driverless cars present a moral grey zone. There are several simulations, in which a driverless car has lost functionality of its breaks, and it must decide who to hit. If two of these cars were on a collision course how do the drivers know which car to protect and which to let veer of? If there was a busy intersection in which the car was to drive through, would it prioritise the passenger or the pedestrians? Which of the pedestrians does it hit? How do you code a computer to evaluate the comparative cost of a human life, can you code compassion? What would the value of a human life be from the POV of a computer, could you visualise the meaning of life? Could you code a machine that tells you your worth ???? I’ve been interested in the use of drone warfare and the detrimental costs it bears. As machine learning becomes more and more complex, it was only inevitable it  would also be used for destruction and power. Autonomous drones are already being developed, which will allow the machines to hunt and target anyone on their kill list sans human intervention. This is something I hope to explore within my visualisation.