Dreams of the Machine: Scarabs


Daydream


"Day Dream" emerges as an Archived inquiry into the invisible patterns our civilizations have built through the lens of a machine. Daydream is an antithesis to static recollections of Collective memory. It invokes fluid, constantly evolving interpretations of memories that may have transpired. The Archives shift and adapt over time, colored by new experiences and insights, suggesting that our recollection of the past is a living, dynamic process rather than a fixed narrative.

Daydream is a series of archiving acts that caught Machines daydreaming.





Act 01: Dreamt about Roots during the Islamic Pattern Archive



I have always been intrigued by the ancient Islamic geometric patterns, renowned for their intricacy, complexity, and spiritual depth. By training a custom AI Model to archive the NYPL's extensive dataset of these patterns, I invited my Machine into the realm of archiving the patterns

What emerged was an unexpected mesmerizing web of new geometries that danced ancient secrets while dreaming of the aesthetics of time. In its dream, the AI delved deep into the essence of these patterns, crafting networks that resembled the very roots of trees—roots that, in many ways, mirror the foundational Natural elements of the patterns themselves.






Act 02: Dreamt about Faces(?!) during the Serif Font Archive

This experiment exceeded initial expectations when the AI, in its state of creative 'hallucination,' generated new fonts. Weirdly enough, these were not mere letters but intricate morphs of human faces, evolving the essence of typography with the nuanced complexity of human features.

Post Patterns, I delved into letters and their representations. Serif fonts, known for their decorative strokes that enhance readability and aesthetics, I introduced the Machine to an archive of hundreds of serif fonts, which aimed to decipher how machines interpret the nuances of human communication.







Act 03: Dreamt about Tales of People during the Scarabs Archive



After a recent trip to Egypt, I became interested in Scarabs, a symbol of rebirth and protection. Introducing the Machine to an archive of hieroglyphics behind the Egyptian scarabs from Met aimed to explore the depths of historical symbology through the lens of artificial intelligence. However, in the process, the Machine's daydream transcended the initial scope, leading to unanticipated dreams of the people and their tales from the hieroglyphs -  a snapshot of a moment in history.

Dreams of the Machine: Scarabs