beyond gestell brings together technologies of different periods to provoke reflection of our increasingly entangled identities. Unassuming at first, the work consists of objects that remind us of the familiar blue and white ware we might see hanging at our grandmother’s. Upon closer inspection, plastic objects that pervade our contemporary lives are revealed: a coffee lid, yogurt bottom, the delicate folds of a takeout container. Their surfaces are covered by whimsical imagery that depicts an idyllic symbiosis between human and non-human.

Made using plastic containers as molds, and a generative model trained on a custom data set of blue and white ware spanning cultures and epochs, beyond gestell provokes reflection on the homogenizing effects of technology. What differs today from the trade and colonial conquest that spread porcelain designs from east to west – is velocity. Digital networks do not rely on ships but on instantaneous pulses of light, whose very nature is inherently biased due to being built on the English language. And, the velocity keeps increasing - for generative models have the power to distort, misinform, and threaten our sense of security. 

Amidst the polarizing panic and our desire for a narrative arc with a hero, a conflict, a resolution beyond gestell provokes us to lean into the complex web, to take a closer look. For if we do, we might just notice the strange artifacts before their pervasiveness makes them unassuming to our naked eye  – like the tiny fragments of plastic floating above the stream, of bits and bytes beneath.

More here.