thermogram is an ongoing project that uses artificial intelligence to detect hate speech on social media. ...
Using custom software and an AI natural language model fine-tuned to detect hate speech, the project transforms social media profiles and feeds into so-called heat maps. This visualization technique – known from the representation of climate data, voter behavior, or stock markets—translates the activities of an account into a political landscape. Each posting (e.g. referred to as "truths" on Truth Social) is represented as a single cell and classified as well as colored according to its probability of containing hate speech, while the grid as a whole depicts the chronological social media profile or feed.
The term 'thermogram' refers to thermal imaging techniques, which display the heat emission of beings or objects using similar color gradients. Thermal imaging is also used to identify inflammation in living beings, which is visible as heat hotspots.
The work thermogram reveals the ongoing disruption of social media as companies advance deregulation under the flag of free speech, fueled by shifting US political dynamics. The postings classified as hate speech therefore become inflammatory hotspots in a deregulated social network.
scraped data, classified by fine-tuned NLP model (Natural Language Processing) and shown as heatmap, custom software
The term 'thermogram' refers to thermal imaging techniques, which display the heat emission of beings or objects using similar color gradients. Thermal imaging is also used to identify inflammation in living beings, which is visible as heat hotspots.
The work thermogram reveals the ongoing disruption of social media as companies advance deregulation under the flag of free speech, fueled by shifting US political dynamics. The postings classified as hate speech therefore become inflammatory hotspots in a deregulated social network.
scraped data, classified by fine-tuned NLP model (Natural Language Processing) and shown as heatmap, custom software
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The discrepancy between the extraction / burning of petrochemical raw materials and the destabilization of ecosystems is a fundamental problem in the recognition of climate change and thus the basis of climate denialism. ...
The fact that no causal line can be drawn between cause and effect is a target for disinformation campaigns that are specifically subsidized by oil-producing companies. ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP or Shell are dependent on the so-called "reserve replacement ratio". This is the ratio between newly proven oil/gas fields and the amount of raw materials currently being extracted. If the RRR falls below 100%, the company will run out of oil in the long term, which alarms shareholders and causes share prices to fall. As oil and gas deposits become increasingly difficult to exploit, companies are being driven to use ever more destructive methods to locate them - most recently using artificial intelligence in Greece.
Like in a scene on a faraway beach, sun umbrellas bend under the heavy wind load. In the exhibition space itself, however, there is no wind at all - in fact, dozens of motors and cables running through the umbrellas generate the wind, which seems like an alternative truth. The wind blows in the objects, just as progressive extractivism destabilizes ecosystems - hardly immediately noticeable, but nevertheless veritable.
The "reserve replacement ratio" is one of the indicators of the interdependence of daily share price and exploitative practice. The wind blows on the basis of real-time share prices of the most important producers of petrochemical raw materials, which are downloaded from the Internet. The current percentage share price fluctuation is converted live into motor movement, thus generating a simulated wind whose gusts increase as the share price rises. If the share price falls, the virtual wind flattens out.
real-time data-driven kinetic installation, custom software, 16 stepper motors, microcontrollers, raspberry pi, LCD display, aluminium, stainless steel, TPU, PLA, polyester, sand
Like in a scene on a faraway beach, sun umbrellas bend under the heavy wind load. In the exhibition space itself, however, there is no wind at all - in fact, dozens of motors and cables running through the umbrellas generate the wind, which seems like an alternative truth. The wind blows in the objects, just as progressive extractivism destabilizes ecosystems - hardly immediately noticeable, but nevertheless veritable.
The "reserve replacement ratio" is one of the indicators of the interdependence of daily share price and exploitative practice. The wind blows on the basis of real-time share prices of the most important producers of petrochemical raw materials, which are downloaded from the Internet. The current percentage share price fluctuation is converted live into motor movement, thus generating a simulated wind whose gusts increase as the share price rises. If the share price falls, the virtual wind flattens out.
real-time data-driven kinetic installation, custom software, 16 stepper motors, microcontrollers, raspberry pi, LCD display, aluminium, stainless steel, TPU, PLA, polyester, sand
YEAR
2025
FIELD
visual art
TYPE
solo exhibition/
installation
installation
INITIATED BY
RLB Kunstbrücke
NOTES
curated by Silvia Höller
©Martin Lugger, Daniel Leiter
©Martin Lugger, Daniel Leiter
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Transient Electronics are a novel research field that aims to improve the recyclability of PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) by using substrates that disintegrate when exposed to water, heat, chemicals or light. ...
One such material is PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) - a thermoplast that dissolves when immersed in warm water over the course of a couple of hours. Transient Devices is an exploratory research project that extends this approach beyond the PCB to the entire electronic device.
As a proof of concept, a game controller was modified to use soluble PVA to reinforce its snap-fit connections. These connections lose their mechanical strength when the material is dissolved, enabling the device to disintegrate when immersed in warm water. This process allows the device to separate into mono-material components: plastics can be sorted by material and color, shred and reused, while most electronic components can be dried and reused or otherwise recycled.
PVA filament, FDM 3D printing, game controller, water
As a proof of concept, a game controller was modified to use soluble PVA to reinforce its snap-fit connections. These connections lose their mechanical strength when the material is dissolved, enabling the device to disintegrate when immersed in warm water. This process allows the device to separate into mono-material components: plastics can be sorted by material and color, shred and reused, while most electronic components can be dried and reused or otherwise recycled.
PVA filament, FDM 3D printing, game controller, water
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by Peter Noever
On the site of Peter Noever's renowned land art project »Die Grube / The Pit«, an installation consisting of the quote »Die Waffen nieder! /Lay down your arms!« written out of tree trunks, was permanently archived in a newly developed storage installation. ...
The archiving process took place during «Heritage Day 2024» and was broadcast live.
«Die Grube / The Pit» includes installations by Rudolph M. Schindler, Walter Pichler, Marc Leschelier and others.
HEA beams, logs
initiated by: Peter Noever / Zenita Komad
comissioned by: Peter Noever
design by: Peter Noever
design development by: Daniel Leiter
construction by: Transformer Metallbau
setup: Josef Birnbaum, Hannah Heiermann, Manuel Hauer
"Die Waffen nieder!": Zenita Komad
located at: "Die Grube/The Pit", Breitenbrunn AUT
«Die Grube / The Pit» includes installations by Rudolph M. Schindler, Walter Pichler, Marc Leschelier and others.
HEA beams, logs
initiated by: Peter Noever / Zenita Komad
comissioned by: Peter Noever
design by: Peter Noever
design development by: Daniel Leiter
construction by: Transformer Metallbau
setup: Josef Birnbaum, Hannah Heiermann, Manuel Hauer
"Die Waffen nieder!": Zenita Komad
located at: "Die Grube/The Pit", Breitenbrunn AUT
YEAR
2024
FIELD
design
development
development
TYPE
land-art project
INITIATED BY
Peter Noever
NOTES
© Flo Noever
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by Peter Noever
Based on the traditional gesture of lighting a candle as an act of peace, a 14m long interactive light installation was developed for Peter Noever. ...
Utilising low voltage electricity, the entire structure is electrified, allowing a light bulb placed within the structure to light up. After being part of Peter Noevers exhibition PEACE NOW! in the context of the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl, Salzkammergut 2024, the installation moved to the famous Hofkirche in Innsbruck, where it was installed next to the cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian I and the grave of Andreas Hofer. peace light was the first contemporary art installation ever to be installed in the Hofkirche.
galvanized steel, 14 transformers, 12V light bulbs
1400cm x 80cm x 30cm
initiated and comissioned by: Peter Noever
design/concept by: Peter Noever, Daniel Leiter
design development by: Daniel Leiter
construction by: Gassner GmbH
exhibited at: Hofkirche, Innsbruck / Trinkhalle, Bad Ischl, AUT
galvanized steel, 14 transformers, 12V light bulbs
1400cm x 80cm x 30cm
initiated and comissioned by: Peter Noever
design/concept by: Peter Noever, Daniel Leiter
design development by: Daniel Leiter
construction by: Gassner GmbH
exhibited at: Hofkirche, Innsbruck / Trinkhalle, Bad Ischl, AUT
YEAR
2024
FIELD
design
development
development
TYPE
art installation
development
development
INITIATED BY
Peter Noever
NOTES
exhibited at the Hofkirche, Innsbruck and developed for the European Capital of Culture 2024 Bad Ischl
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A cave-like back projection developed for the permanent exhibition "Ice Age children and their world" at the Natural History Museum Vienna. ...
initiated by: Natural History Museum Vienna
design/concept by: Schuberth&Schuberth
comissioned by: catx exhibitions
design development by: Daniel Leiter
construction by: Technoholz / catx exhibitions
exhibited at: Natural History Museum Vienna
design/concept by: Schuberth&Schuberth
comissioned by: catx exhibitions
design development by: Daniel Leiter
construction by: Technoholz / catx exhibitions
exhibited at: Natural History Museum Vienna
YEAR
2025
FIELD
design
development
development
TYPE
back projection development
INITIATED BY
Natural History Museum Vienna / cat-x exhibitions
NOTES
architecture: Schuberth&Schuberth
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NFCs (Natural Fiber Composites) is an open-source design research project that aims to develop and test a non-petrochemical, non-toxic and vegan composite material that is biodegradable under natural conditions. ...
The use of plant and animal proteins in adhesives and plastics has a long tradition. Adhesives based on the animal protein casein, for example, were common before the advent of synthetic glues and were even used in aircraft construction. In contrast, plant-based protein adhesives have largely been forgotten, but are currently being researched further due to their promising properties and ecological advantages. While solely two-dimensional materials such as plywood or particleboard are pressed in research, NFCs attempts to develop a three-dimensionally mouldable composite material.
NFCs (Natural Fiber Composites) are a matrix of natural fibers and a polymer, which can be of both natural and petrochemical origin.
Natural Fibers:
Natural fibers have been used as reinforcements in composites for several decades, as they – especially bast fibers – offer exceptional mechanical properties and ecological advantages. Hemp, for example, can be harvested after 2 to 5 months and binds approximately 9 to 15 tons of CO2 per hectare, equivalent to a young forest.1 The fibers are largely CO2-negative. Hemp requires little water and pesticides and can be cultivated on every continent except the Arctic, favouring local fibre production.2 World production of flax is almost four times greater than total hemp production, as hemp cultivation is still banned in many countries because authorities do not distinguish between drug hemp and low-THC fiber hemp.3
From hemp straw 24% of technical (long) fibers can be extracted, which can be used to make non-wovens (commonly used for impact insulation) or technical reinforcement fabrics, which are usually embedded in conventional, synthetic resins and used as a substitute for glass fibers. 55% of hemp straw is shives, which can be used for sustainable insulation (e.g. bulk insulation or hempcrete) or for the production of particleboards.4 Short fibers can be used for papermaking or can be pressed to fiberboard.
Polymers:
Synthetic resins and adhesives are widely used in various industries, including the wood composite industry. Synthetic adhesives used in plywood, particleboard and fiberboard contain and emit formaldehyde, which is a proven carcinogen.5 The most common natural polymers are polysaccharides like cellulose or starch; tannin, which can be extracted from selected barks, leaves and fruits; lignin, which is an abundant material and by-product of e.g. the paper industry and has mostly been burned without further use; and proteins.
The utilization of proteins in plastics and adhesives has a long history. Pre-industrialization, besides wood, natural polymers such as horn, tortoise shell, amber and shellac, all of which are malleable when heated, were used to produce goods like combs or billard balls. The industrialisation of production and the ever-increasing demand for affordable goods has gradually pushed some elephant and tortoise species to the brink of extinction. This has incentivised scientists to research disposable materials based on abundant resources. One of the first semi-synthetic plastics discovered was Galalith, produced by mixing the animal protein casein with formaldehyde.6 By denaturing casein in an alkaline solution, casein wood glue can be produced, which was used to produce plywood in the early 1900s. Even airplanes were made from casein plywood.7 Casein was also widely used to bind pigments - casein tempera - and was a common painting technique on canvas before the advent of oil paint.
There are already a number of recent design projects using casein wood glue to produce fiberboard or particleboard. One of these projects focuses on the use of waste milk - in Germany alone 2 MIO liters of milk are discarded each year, which can be a source of casein protein.8 Each litre of milk can yield around 29.5g of casein, which equates to around 150,000 litres of glue.
However, casein is an animal dairy product that has a significant carbon footprint unless derived from waste. In the inter-war period, the plywood industry began to use plant protein glues, which are very similar to casein and can achieve similar properties, although moisture resistance and bonding strength are said to be lower.9 The adhesive used was based on soy protein derived from soy flour. Soy flour is also an abundant material and a by-product of soy oil production, but it is mostly imported to Austria, which is why local researchers are also considering wheat, maize, pea or potato protein.10 Protein glues have recently become one of the most researched adhesives due to their promising properties. Compared to lignin, for example, protein glues have the advantage that they can be cold as well as hot pressed and dry at room temperature. There is therefore no need for expensive hot-pressing equipment.
Basic formulations of vegetable protein glues and casein glues contain no petrochemical or toxic ingredients and are therefore biodegradable under natural conditions (additives in some formulations may be toxic or petrochemical). Current research is focusing on bio-based cross-linkers to make soy adhesives more moisture resistant while maintaining the absence of petrochemical additives; formulations to use unprocessed soy flour, as SPI (soy protein isolate) is currently too expensive for industry-wide application; and alternative locally available protein sources.11 This project aimed to establish a material strength benchmark for vegetable protein adhesives and used SPI, which has been shown to have superior bond strength compared to other vegetable protein sources.
initiated by: self-initiated
advised by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
kindly supported by: Eurosoy (DE), BComp (CH), Naporo (AUT), Naturfaser Fölser (AUT)
funded by the University of Applied Arts Vienna
exhibited at the Archaeological Museum Aguntum
awards: Peter Bruckner Award (honorable mention)
1 Hemp production in the EU, European Commission, https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farming/crop-productions-and-plant-based-products/hemp_en
2 Alexis Wnuk, How humans brought cannabis to every corner of the globe, NewScientist, 09/08/2023
3 Issam Elfaleh et al.; A comprehensive review of natural fibers and their composites (07/11/2023), Results in Engineering 19 (2023), Science Direct
4 Niels de Beus, Michael Carus, Martha Barth; Carbon Footprint and Sustainability of Different Natural Fibres for Biocomposites and Insulation Material (04/2019), Nova-Institute
5 Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk, American Cancer Society
6 Jenny Niederstadt, Bevor es Plastik gab (04/24/2016), Frankfurter Allgemeine
7 A. Pizzi, K. L. Mittal, Handbook of Adhesive Technology (New York, Marcel Dekker Inc, 2003), 10 ff.
8 Superwood – Recyclable wood-fiber panels with casein binder (03/22/2022), Frauenhofer Institute
9 A. Pizzi, K. L. Mittal, Handbook of Adhesive Technology (New York, Marcel Dekker Inc, 2003), 10 ff.
10 Elena Averina et al., Protein adhesives: Alkaline hydrolysis of different crop proteins (2020), Industrial Crops and Products
11 Elena Averina et al., Protein-based glyoxal–polyethyleneimine-crosslinked adhesives for wood bonding (01/2022), The Journal of Adhesion
NFCs (Natural Fiber Composites) are a matrix of natural fibers and a polymer, which can be of both natural and petrochemical origin.
Natural Fibers:
Natural fibers have been used as reinforcements in composites for several decades, as they – especially bast fibers – offer exceptional mechanical properties and ecological advantages. Hemp, for example, can be harvested after 2 to 5 months and binds approximately 9 to 15 tons of CO2 per hectare, equivalent to a young forest.1 The fibers are largely CO2-negative. Hemp requires little water and pesticides and can be cultivated on every continent except the Arctic, favouring local fibre production.2 World production of flax is almost four times greater than total hemp production, as hemp cultivation is still banned in many countries because authorities do not distinguish between drug hemp and low-THC fiber hemp.3
From hemp straw 24% of technical (long) fibers can be extracted, which can be used to make non-wovens (commonly used for impact insulation) or technical reinforcement fabrics, which are usually embedded in conventional, synthetic resins and used as a substitute for glass fibers. 55% of hemp straw is shives, which can be used for sustainable insulation (e.g. bulk insulation or hempcrete) or for the production of particleboards.4 Short fibers can be used for papermaking or can be pressed to fiberboard.
Polymers:
Synthetic resins and adhesives are widely used in various industries, including the wood composite industry. Synthetic adhesives used in plywood, particleboard and fiberboard contain and emit formaldehyde, which is a proven carcinogen.5 The most common natural polymers are polysaccharides like cellulose or starch; tannin, which can be extracted from selected barks, leaves and fruits; lignin, which is an abundant material and by-product of e.g. the paper industry and has mostly been burned without further use; and proteins.
The utilization of proteins in plastics and adhesives has a long history. Pre-industrialization, besides wood, natural polymers such as horn, tortoise shell, amber and shellac, all of which are malleable when heated, were used to produce goods like combs or billard balls. The industrialisation of production and the ever-increasing demand for affordable goods has gradually pushed some elephant and tortoise species to the brink of extinction. This has incentivised scientists to research disposable materials based on abundant resources. One of the first semi-synthetic plastics discovered was Galalith, produced by mixing the animal protein casein with formaldehyde.6 By denaturing casein in an alkaline solution, casein wood glue can be produced, which was used to produce plywood in the early 1900s. Even airplanes were made from casein plywood.7 Casein was also widely used to bind pigments - casein tempera - and was a common painting technique on canvas before the advent of oil paint.
There are already a number of recent design projects using casein wood glue to produce fiberboard or particleboard. One of these projects focuses on the use of waste milk - in Germany alone 2 MIO liters of milk are discarded each year, which can be a source of casein protein.8 Each litre of milk can yield around 29.5g of casein, which equates to around 150,000 litres of glue.
However, casein is an animal dairy product that has a significant carbon footprint unless derived from waste. In the inter-war period, the plywood industry began to use plant protein glues, which are very similar to casein and can achieve similar properties, although moisture resistance and bonding strength are said to be lower.9 The adhesive used was based on soy protein derived from soy flour. Soy flour is also an abundant material and a by-product of soy oil production, but it is mostly imported to Austria, which is why local researchers are also considering wheat, maize, pea or potato protein.10 Protein glues have recently become one of the most researched adhesives due to their promising properties. Compared to lignin, for example, protein glues have the advantage that they can be cold as well as hot pressed and dry at room temperature. There is therefore no need for expensive hot-pressing equipment.
Basic formulations of vegetable protein glues and casein glues contain no petrochemical or toxic ingredients and are therefore biodegradable under natural conditions (additives in some formulations may be toxic or petrochemical). Current research is focusing on bio-based cross-linkers to make soy adhesives more moisture resistant while maintaining the absence of petrochemical additives; formulations to use unprocessed soy flour, as SPI (soy protein isolate) is currently too expensive for industry-wide application; and alternative locally available protein sources.11 This project aimed to establish a material strength benchmark for vegetable protein adhesives and used SPI, which has been shown to have superior bond strength compared to other vegetable protein sources.
initiated by: self-initiated
advised by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
kindly supported by: Eurosoy (DE), BComp (CH), Naporo (AUT), Naturfaser Fölser (AUT)
funded by the University of Applied Arts Vienna
exhibited at the Archaeological Museum Aguntum
awards: Peter Bruckner Award (honorable mention)
1 Hemp production in the EU, European Commission, https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farming/crop-productions-and-plant-based-products/hemp_en
2 Alexis Wnuk, How humans brought cannabis to every corner of the globe, NewScientist, 09/08/2023
3 Issam Elfaleh et al.; A comprehensive review of natural fibers and their composites (07/11/2023), Results in Engineering 19 (2023), Science Direct
4 Niels de Beus, Michael Carus, Martha Barth; Carbon Footprint and Sustainability of Different Natural Fibres for Biocomposites and Insulation Material (04/2019), Nova-Institute
5 Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk, American Cancer Society
6 Jenny Niederstadt, Bevor es Plastik gab (04/24/2016), Frankfurter Allgemeine
7 A. Pizzi, K. L. Mittal, Handbook of Adhesive Technology (New York, Marcel Dekker Inc, 2003), 10 ff.
8 Superwood – Recyclable wood-fiber panels with casein binder (03/22/2022), Frauenhofer Institute
9 A. Pizzi, K. L. Mittal, Handbook of Adhesive Technology (New York, Marcel Dekker Inc, 2003), 10 ff.
10 Elena Averina et al., Protein adhesives: Alkaline hydrolysis of different crop proteins (2020), Industrial Crops and Products
11 Elena Averina et al., Protein-based glyoxal–polyethyleneimine-crosslinked adhesives for wood bonding (01/2022), The Journal of Adhesion
YEAR
2024/25
FIELD
design research
TYPE
material research
INITIATED BY
self-initiated
NOTES
exhibited at the Archaeological Museum Aguntum
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The two works EOP and realtimeexplosion explore a state of incapacity first referred to in 20th century literature as future shock or cultural lag. ...
"Like a kaleidoscope run wild" is how Alvin Toffler described the accelerated change that overwhelms people's ability to adapt and cope. Having to witness too much novelty in too short a time leads to disorientation, confusion, and anxiety. Now that we may have overcome the abrupt collision with the future, we realize in retrospect that the human body and mental state have been and continue to be severely strained by unprecedented novelty, that relationships have become overly transient, and that technological progress is still occurring at a pace beyond our ability to comprehend its adverse consequences.
For most of us checking our phones immediately upon waking, notifications buzz, ring, and pop up until we nod off again, keeping our brains in a constant hyper-alert state. Social media's pull-to-refresh command has become the new pull on the lever of slot machines, trapping us in a constant feedback loop with a new temptation just a swipe away. The techno-social reality demands postures our skeletal frames cannot support. The bones of Millenials and GenZ have been shown to become thinner, and a spike-like growth has begun at the back of their heads — most likely due to heavy smartphone usage. Terms like „Tik Tok Brain", „Text Neck" or „Text Thumb" emerge. Technological progress has outpaced evolution.
Cyberspace gradually becoming the home of mind leads to degenerating physicality. The weak digital body must be supported in order not to collapse, whilst the digital knows no gravity unless it is applied. EOP shows a meticulously crafted figure embedded in a framework of tubes. So-called "support structures", used in additive manufacturing to prevent overhanging parts from collapsing in the process of giving the digital a physical form, are scaled up and built in stainless steel tubes. Automatically generated by algorithms, the tubular frameworks resemble structural elements in public infrastructure such as stage elements or transmission towers.
We have become so intertwined with our mobile devices that our brains have begun to hallucinate about our smartphone vibrating or ringing even when it's not. Yet the human brain itself, while still largely unknown, serves as a model for recent technological efforts in the field of artificial intelligence. Understanding the brain as a kind of cellular machine may be the foundation of recent technological advances, and AI may also be the closest humanity has come to reconstructing the human brain, even if it still lacks consciousness.
In May 2023, an image of an explosion outside the Pentagon went viral. Shared by several accounts on Twitter and Telegram (including Russia's state broadcaster Russia Today), it was soon declared by US officials to be a fake image generated by artificial intelligence. The image is supposed to be the first AI-generated image to have had a real impact on the US stock markets, causing stock values to drop temporarily.
realtimeexplosion is a data sculpture that generates fake explosion images of significant buildings around the world in real time. It uses GPT (ChatGPT's base model) and Stable Diffusion, with the former randomly generating text prompts that are automatically fed into the image-generating diffusion model to generate an image. The most recent live-generated image is displayed on two screens, while each image is automatically uploaded to a custom website (www.realtimeexplosion.xyz) where it can be downloaded. Thus, each of the output images of the real-time data sculpture bears the risk of being distributed and believed to be real.
The work is intended to be an unsupervised closed circuit of two publicly available AI systems interacting with each other – one creating the thought, the other creating the image. Each image shown on the screen was generated in the very moment the viewer was looking at the previous image. By losing the ability to supervise the generated image, errors appear. For example, because the AI model used is designed to generate hyper-realistic human portraits, human hands may appear on the images. Another common error is the loss of physicality — buildings may appear to be hovering above the ground, or be shown multiple times in a single image. The image archive, which is created fully automatically on the custom website, is therefore also a snapshot of how the AI systems interact — and fail to.
While EOP metaphorically constructs a hypothesis of the post-digital body based on developments observable in our increasingly disposable presence, realtimeexplosion focuses on a current technological development over which we already seem to have lost control due to the pace at which it is occurring.
EOP: industry offcut-PU, glass fibre-reinforced acrylic resin, stainless steel
80 x 80 x 180 cm
realtimeexplosion:
realtime AI data sculpture (realtime LLM, diffusion model & web upload)
2x 55" Screens, dimensions variable
exhibited at: Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna (AUT)
For most of us checking our phones immediately upon waking, notifications buzz, ring, and pop up until we nod off again, keeping our brains in a constant hyper-alert state. Social media's pull-to-refresh command has become the new pull on the lever of slot machines, trapping us in a constant feedback loop with a new temptation just a swipe away. The techno-social reality demands postures our skeletal frames cannot support. The bones of Millenials and GenZ have been shown to become thinner, and a spike-like growth has begun at the back of their heads — most likely due to heavy smartphone usage. Terms like „Tik Tok Brain", „Text Neck" or „Text Thumb" emerge. Technological progress has outpaced evolution.
Cyberspace gradually becoming the home of mind leads to degenerating physicality. The weak digital body must be supported in order not to collapse, whilst the digital knows no gravity unless it is applied. EOP shows a meticulously crafted figure embedded in a framework of tubes. So-called "support structures", used in additive manufacturing to prevent overhanging parts from collapsing in the process of giving the digital a physical form, are scaled up and built in stainless steel tubes. Automatically generated by algorithms, the tubular frameworks resemble structural elements in public infrastructure such as stage elements or transmission towers.
We have become so intertwined with our mobile devices that our brains have begun to hallucinate about our smartphone vibrating or ringing even when it's not. Yet the human brain itself, while still largely unknown, serves as a model for recent technological efforts in the field of artificial intelligence. Understanding the brain as a kind of cellular machine may be the foundation of recent technological advances, and AI may also be the closest humanity has come to reconstructing the human brain, even if it still lacks consciousness.
In May 2023, an image of an explosion outside the Pentagon went viral. Shared by several accounts on Twitter and Telegram (including Russia's state broadcaster Russia Today), it was soon declared by US officials to be a fake image generated by artificial intelligence. The image is supposed to be the first AI-generated image to have had a real impact on the US stock markets, causing stock values to drop temporarily.
realtimeexplosion is a data sculpture that generates fake explosion images of significant buildings around the world in real time. It uses GPT (ChatGPT's base model) and Stable Diffusion, with the former randomly generating text prompts that are automatically fed into the image-generating diffusion model to generate an image. The most recent live-generated image is displayed on two screens, while each image is automatically uploaded to a custom website (www.realtimeexplosion.xyz) where it can be downloaded. Thus, each of the output images of the real-time data sculpture bears the risk of being distributed and believed to be real.
The work is intended to be an unsupervised closed circuit of two publicly available AI systems interacting with each other – one creating the thought, the other creating the image. Each image shown on the screen was generated in the very moment the viewer was looking at the previous image. By losing the ability to supervise the generated image, errors appear. For example, because the AI model used is designed to generate hyper-realistic human portraits, human hands may appear on the images. Another common error is the loss of physicality — buildings may appear to be hovering above the ground, or be shown multiple times in a single image. The image archive, which is created fully automatically on the custom website, is therefore also a snapshot of how the AI systems interact — and fail to.
While EOP metaphorically constructs a hypothesis of the post-digital body based on developments observable in our increasingly disposable presence, realtimeexplosion focuses on a current technological development over which we already seem to have lost control due to the pace at which it is occurring.
EOP: industry offcut-PU, glass fibre-reinforced acrylic resin, stainless steel
80 x 80 x 180 cm
realtimeexplosion:
realtime AI data sculpture (realtime LLM, diffusion model & web upload)
2x 55" Screens, dimensions variable
exhibited at: Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna (AUT)
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In their industrial environment, machines craft perfectly replicable geometric shapes and shiny surfaces, being controlled in such a way as to leave little or no trace of their interference with the material. ...
But how does machining time change shape? How far can shape be rationalised to the point of losing function? How does machine work relate to human work?
For toolpath, a computer-controlled milling machine was used to mill directly into wet plaster, producing a plaster negative that could be used for immediate slip casting. The shape of the negative mould is defined by how the robot moves the cutter through the plaster material. To gain control of the robot's movement, custom CAM software was programmed to provide much more variability than conventional software. Starting with a parametric input shape, the toolpath and G-code are generated within the program.
By developing a toolpath rather than a surface, the project merges the design process with 3D data processing and mould making.
slip-cast porcelain series in milled plaster negative, based on custom parametric CAM software
For toolpath, a computer-controlled milling machine was used to mill directly into wet plaster, producing a plaster negative that could be used for immediate slip casting. The shape of the negative mould is defined by how the robot moves the cutter through the plaster material. To gain control of the robot's movement, custom CAM software was programmed to provide much more variability than conventional software. Starting with a parametric input shape, the toolpath and G-code are generated within the program.
By developing a toolpath rather than a surface, the project merges the design process with 3D data processing and mould making.
slip-cast porcelain series in milled plaster negative, based on custom parametric CAM software
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fakes is a series of works that investigates co-authorship with artificial intelligence and its self-manifestation through image generation. ...
For the work, a few hundred photos of industrial human anatomy models were web-scraped to build up a custom dataset that was fed into a Generative Adversarial Network (image generating algorithm). The algorithm trained for almost 2 weeks on 2.3 million images, progressively approaching the realism of the input images, but failing to reach it due to the variation of the input images and the size of the dataset, resulting in a "hallucination" of the AI.
The term, coined by the tech industry, describes false or invented output of generative AI, attempting to mystify a major problem of the new technology. Based on the visual information of the input data, the algorithm calculated models neglecting the anatomical reality and writing itself as well as its history into the depicted anatomy, creating technologically distorted biological forms.
One of the images was hand-modeled into a digital 3D model, CNC-milled and cast in ceramics multiple times. The strangely colored AI-generated images were reimagined by pouring colored ceramics into the mold, resulting in a similar fluid coloring.
series of unique, slip-cast ceramics, transparent glaze (cast from CNC milled, digitally hand-modeled 3D model based on an image generated by an AI trained on a custom dataset)
60 x 22 x 8 cm
2023
exhibited at: Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna
The term, coined by the tech industry, describes false or invented output of generative AI, attempting to mystify a major problem of the new technology. Based on the visual information of the input data, the algorithm calculated models neglecting the anatomical reality and writing itself as well as its history into the depicted anatomy, creating technologically distorted biological forms.
One of the images was hand-modeled into a digital 3D model, CNC-milled and cast in ceramics multiple times. The strangely colored AI-generated images were reimagined by pouring colored ceramics into the mold, resulting in a similar fluid coloring.
series of unique, slip-cast ceramics, transparent glaze (cast from CNC milled, digitally hand-modeled 3D model based on an image generated by an AI trained on a custom dataset)
60 x 22 x 8 cm
2023
exhibited at: Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna
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