Ersan Ilktan “Asset No001” par par ency ency

We now live in a world where our digital lives have altered our perception of reality, measurement of time, the value of our commodities, and aesthetics that suggest direct facts.

There is no distinction between how ‘real’ the experiences humans perceive from their screens and outside them. We are now all cyborgs.

Asset No011 is drawn physically by hand using ink without rules in NY. Blue Lines are drawn after experiencing LA physically on the day of the submission. A digital grid, where there are infinite resources, is superimposed on the site-less analog object.

Asset No012 is a drawing as a photograph of our Higgins Hall commute towards Atlantic Ave superimposed by aesthetic digitization glitching the physical reality of our movement. Is this a rendering? Is this digitally modeled? Who is responsible for the design of our daily experience? Who inhabits our streets? Is it you, the commuter; the person that lives inside the brownstones; the restaurants that serve food with QR codes? Where are the underlying power structures of money, influence, and art when they are all hidden by the seemingly infinite resources on our screens? Can you see them now that it is glitching?

The submission format, QR codes, has forced these drawings to be superimposed with the mark of the medium of transfer, the scanner. The four analog registration marks on the corners allow intensional decisions between solid & void spaces of the drawing. Call-outs & transitions between varying scales act as screens through which the collage drawings are made.

Have you seen Ex Machina? Well, I hope you did, because otherwise, I will spoil it for you.

Ex Machina shows us a story of a young man testing an AI’s limits only to end up falling in love with her. She appears to reciprocate his feelings, but in the end, she uses them as a tool to escape her enclosure and live disguised as a human. This series of images depicts Ava - the AI - during her escape.

Ana Bulacovschi “Cyber Escape”

Even though Ava’s body is not of flesh and bones, she is still a victim of the male gaze, created to fulfill a fantasy of control, subservience, and devotion to her maker.

From her figure to her personality, her sexuality is used as a tool to “humanize” her. But the truth is, robots do not need to be conventionally attractive or sexual to replicate human behavior... unless that’s what you think gives us humanity... there’s a lot to unpack here...

While watching the film it is easy to root for Avawe want her to escape both her physical cage and the illusion of a relationship with Caleb. But when applying the same mindset to our society, we fall short. We are not as progressive as we think: if we could create hyper-intelligent, conscious robots, why do we feel entitled to their service? Why is this service gender-biased? Why is AI either “rogue” or objectified?

Just take a look at Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant: you trap a bit of Ava in your pocket every day.