Garbage In, Garbage Out
2020
Projection, Spray Painted Foam and Wood
7’ x 1’ 4.5” x 4’
I began this work by surveying participants to search for objects in one of my paintings in order to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to generate new interpretive images. The resulting visuals inform an integrated sculptural projection.
I unintentionally prompted viewers to seek the work’s most legible objects, even if they were sparsely present. Our draw to the most evident patterns in our vision leads us to perceive a world defined by tangibility. By training the CNN to find specific objects like lightbulbs, it sought and rendered lightbulb geometries where no viewer would; consequently, its view of my work became visually defined by this obsession.
When one relies on preconceptions, pursuing the ideas that grab attention fastest, nuance must break through sometimes and clear up the picture. “GIGO” is a reminder of how perceptual misconceptions manifest existential impacts when we idolize the judgement of machine visions and hastily seek technological gateways to concretize our thoughts.
“Fleshed Out” — Acrylic Paint on Flatscreen TV, 48” x 27”
Top 10 Objects Perceived by 70 Viewers
CNN Composite Image Projection 00:00:45
