Distorted Deception

Overview

A papercraft sculpture made in collaboration with AI. One of my biggest inspirations to learn papercraft was the work of Taras Lesko. The visual aesthetic of his creations is something I have been able to achieve myself. I want to include AI in this sculpture for texturing. The texturing and colors I want to include in this sculpture will be based on a gradient, with hues of pink, orange, blue and white. For the visual identity of these textures and their assembly, I am referencing collage artists like Adrian Ghenie and Derek Gores.

Motivation

  • Creative Integration: To merge your artistic skills, philosophical interests, and knowledge of papercraft into a single, engaging project.
  • Celebration of Paper Art: To showcase the beauty, fragility, and impermanence of paper as a metaphor for life itself.
  • Exploration of Perception: To investigate how people respond to what they don’t understand—whether confusion stems from complexity or simplicity.
  • Philosophical Inquiry: To reflect on philosophical ideas from the past about identity, concealment, and the human tendency to wear metaphorical masks.
  • Use of Misdirection: To explore the artistic concept of guiding attention, inspired by the principles of magic, through forms like masks or hands.
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Additional Info

The masks explore the juxtaposition of precise machine-generated patterns with the organic, often flawed process of hand-folding paper. Each mask represents a different facet of identity, distorted through the lens of digital interpretation.

Challenges

  • Ensuring seamless pattern alignment across physical fold lines.
  • Managing the structural integrity of thin paper for large-scale masks.
  • Predicting how AI textures would look under specific physical lighting.

Takeaways

  • AI can be a powerful collaborator in traditional craft.
  • Physical presence adds weight to digital concepts.
  • Lighting is as much a part of the piece as the object itself.
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Extras

The installation was accompanied by a link to download a template for a horse piece that you can try to make yourself.

Download Template