catherine spet

TOFUPUNK Spot // University Project

error 404 - sorry I’m currently not available, I’m dreaming

In an accelerating digital world, it is increasingly difficult to simply switch off and pause for a moment. At a time where the virtual sphere, which in recent months has become not an escape from but rather an escape into reality, is becoming increasingly important and the "online persona" is merging more and more with the "offline me," it is important to consciously take time off to breathe deeply, to reflect, to meditate. But what happens during downtime when everything seems to stand still and the system is switched to standby? Is there a digital unconscious? Can a digital entity ever stop processing? Can humans? Based on the YouTube trend of the "Self Care Routine", where influencers give personal tips on how to bring routine back into everyday life and how to experience the "lockdown“-life more consciously and mindfully, those tips are used as input for a Language Model (HAIM-1.5), which generates a synthetic text. This text is the basis for a series of imagined images that are processed using an AttnGAN network. “What could be a better way to spend time? Maybe you'll find some of the answers to some of these questions buried in the darkness of your unconscious mind. Take some time off. Try this activity too. Why are you still here?“ 

AN AI CALLED DIOTIMA - TRANSCENDING THE DIALOGUE 360

NAVIGATING TOWARDS THE IDEA

Then at last machines will behold BEAUTY with the eye of the mind and will be able to bring forth not mere IMAGES of what is good for machines but REALITIES.

ART WORKS! European Culture of Resistance and Liberation

Solely You It’s Not is a work produced by a group from the town of St. Pölten in Austria with the artist collective of Ruth Anderwald and Leonhard Grond. This work consists of photographic portraits of European women who took part in the Resistance during the Second World War accompanied by a poem written by Hilde Meisel, an Austrian journalist who used her writing to fight the Nazi regime. The work also includes an audio of different voices and languages that repeat the title of the Meisel poem. Through a VR installation, one can experience the peaceful yet powerful act of resistance by watching the spread  of leaflets, which contain the portraits of those women. The 3d animation aims to put the viewer right into the middle of the events as a gesture of raising awareness. 

As part of the international project ART WORKS! - European Culture of Resistance and Liberation we went on the search for artworks, that were created as a sign of resistance. After researching the Resistance during WW II individually, we realized that all of us focused on female historical figures. Thus, we chose to focus mainly on that aspect of the Resistance: the stories and accomplishments of those who are seldomly heard, whose stories are fractured and even harder to re-trace: the female resistance. During our research, we found out about Hilde Meisel - a resistance fighter in the Second World War. We were fascinated by her story and decided to make her poem ‘Das ist's’ the centrepiece of our artistic work. Using analogue and 3D Animation, 2D visuals and accompanying soundscapes, we created a short film. The goal hereby was to display the unity, diversity and fortitude of those who fought for liberty and justice. Today, 75 years after the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of the war we want to deliver the message Hilde Meisel once tried to make us understand: that solely you it's not.