Supervisor:
Joakim Formo
Our world is increasingly shaped by machines and algorithms. In a short amount of time, machine learning has gone from being a purely technical tool, to becoming an infrastructure that is reshaping the way we think and create. Because of this technology, the tools available to designers and creatives today have never been more powerful or accessible. Yet, our opinions about them are more divided than ever. It is therefore important that we explore ways to approach this technology and reflect on how it impacts the creative process.
As a designer, I have used this project as an opportunity to better understand the contemporary context I’m operating in and reflect on how emerging technologies shape the creative process. The project is organized into three phases. To start the exploration, I trained a machine learning algorithm on archival images of ornamental patterns from the Norwegian folk-art tradition. In the second and third phase I use the output from that model to explore other ways of reframing the archived material. By leveraging the archive as a source for my dataset, I draw upon historical references and use the past as a critical lens to reflect on various aspects of the machine learning.
The outcome of this project is a set of outputs and reflections from each phase, in addition to a digital tool. Together, these artifacts can be used as a framework to discuss and reflect on machine learning as part of the creative process.
Contact
Tuva Taasen Petersen