machine is human is machine is a zine presented at CtrlZ.AI, an event alongside the 2020 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT) in barcelona. CtrlZ.AI harbored conversations and criticisms of new technology and AI by providing a space for zines and workshops. this zine was born from these ideas. through satire and art, it explores how tech is being developed using our behaviors without us really knowing, and how this tech in turn influences our behaviors and ways of thinking.
THE BEGINNINGS
when i think about AI and emerging tech, i think about surveillance. our facial data, search history, every single move we do online, is tracked and uploaded for someone to use. i get a feeling of dread when i think about this too much and i start to wonder how one can escape such a system, which brings me to: juggalos. juggalos resurfaced in the media when people found out juggalo makeup evades facial recognition software. what a charming fault, i thought, but now people know. what if to improve the software, AI started digitally putting juggalo makeup on people in order to recognize faces through it? what would it mean if this tech was developed for face masks, while people are actively protesting against oppressive governments?
i also thought about how AI is developed and what it stands for. most of this tech tries to emulate some aspect of the human experience with data and predictive algorithms, essentially generalizing human experiences to create a specific instance. what are the dangers of being complicit in the development of this tech, and where do we draw the line for the role that this tech plays in our lives?
FORMULATION
my challenge with this zine was in ideation. not in the lack of it, but rather that i was thinking too much. i was thinking about surveillance, the flattening of human experience through data collection, the biases that inevitably make its way into tech. i had many concepts for spreads that i wasn't quite sure how to link together yet. a friend linked me a few resources to help me get my mind in order, where i latched onto two things: google's captcha that gathers data for self-driving car software and shoshana zuboff's research. the bit about the captcha was a revelation, and i was so disturbed by this invasive data collection that it set the entire mood for this project. shoshana zuboff's theories about surveillance capitalism grounded my swirling thoughts and concerns into a clear direction for the zine.
the zine starts off with an AVERAGE PERSON (you) using their phone and unknowingly feeding data to aliens with vulgar intentions. the AVERAGE PERSON (you) doesn't care, becoming one of many faces in the database where our CHARACTER springs to life. they try to move forward, try to protest how their information is being taken, but the TECHNOLOGY (unseen) takes it anyway. our CHARACTER is stripped of the specific traits that make them human by TECHNOLOGY's data collection, represented by their clothing. even as CHARACTER is devoid of a sense of self, TECHNOLOGY fills it in for them with an automated system made from data. CHARACTER attempts to escape TECHNOLOGY by wearing juggalo makeup, but through more data collection from the crowd TECHNOLOGY learns to see past it. our CHARACTER is left empty, floating with no direction at the mercy of TECHNOLOGY.
click through the zine:
the zine has a gritty aesthetic and in-your-face colors to contrast the airy designs and exaggerated optimism that tech now usually presents itself with. the words in this zine, representing TECHNOLOGY, are taken from various large tech companies' privacy policies. the brutalist presentation of the text changes words that were meant to pacify, making them heavy and intimidating.
CREATION
in true zine fashion, machine is human is machine is self-printed and self-bound. it was sold at CtrlZ.AI along with stickers.
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something strange happened in my city
is a socially relevant storybook written by CSU Fullerton's Dr. Shu-Chen Yen, made to help children understand and navigate the world in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
i illustrated the book, researching and considering best practices to include a diverse cast of characters for all children to relate to, and to spread the message that we all must work together in the fight against COVID-19.
full pdf here
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untitled photo zine
a zine for personal creative exploration, in which i am publisher, photographer, and artist.
a few years back, i learned there was still an avid film photography community. i did a little research, went on ebay, and got myself an unassuming 35mm point and shoot camera: my yashica t3. it sort of resembles a brick, makes a distinct whirring sound whenever i take a picture, and my first roll came out blurry and unfocused (in a bad way!). i loved it. i loved its bluntness and unfussy nature, and how it feels almost like an extension of my mind's eye. i now carry it with me wherever i think inspiration will strike.
the zine is a compilation of my film photography and corresponding art. though i think the photos stand strong on their own, this zine is a completely unrestricted space i am creating for myself to explore my own headspace, my own styles, and to be unafraid to push my own boundaries. i'm following a theme in my photos to establish a basic storyline: chaos to tranquility, finding peace in a wreck of a mind.
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i am lost without you
is an animation exhibited at Authentication Error [SOLVED] at Broad Art Center, about a character who loses a friend and struggles with themself and with reality.
the installation of the animation is to convey the initial feeling of security and comfort, as a child in a blanket fort. this installation method then juxtaposes the remainder of the animation, as reality distorts and that feeling of comfort is stripped away even as you are within its physical manifestation.
the process
the animation was drawn and animated on Photoshop. seeing as Photoshop is not primarily an animation tool, the process was a little more complicated and tedious than it could have been. i made the choice to continue animating this way because i was going for a rougher handmade animating style to convey a childish feeling in the animation.
i also initially wanted the backgrounds of every frame to be a photo i took using my 35mm film camera, but since going through with that would have been more time and money consuming i decided to use digital photos instead. i kept the resolution that it would have been with the 35mm photographs to keep the cozy, old-timey feel.
all the backgrounds were photos i took, some with a digital camera, some with my phone, some were old film photos that i manipulated and mashed up together in photoshop.
the basis
the story is one of someone losing a friend, and eventually coming to a reconciliation with the fact.
i wanted viewers to feel isolated during the experience and come away feeling that the sense of comfort from the blanket fort they are in is fabricated in a way, and is only there to cloud over the feeling of loneliness that the animation gives.
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past messages
a piece relaying a pivotal point in my life when a close friend passed after his cancer relapse. the audio consists of a reading of real messages that my friend had sent me.
his ashes were scattered in the bay of our hometown. to convey this time, this project is a mesh of recreated scenes of what his last months were like (lots of rest at home!) and the ocean where he lays now.
adobe premiere, nikon D5100
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shorts
something follows a girl throughout the day, and it has a curious effect on her.
Adobe Premiere, Canon 80D
a surreal experience out in the desert.
Adobe Premiere, Canon 80D
the ducks are here to stay.
Adobe Premiere, Nikon D5100
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hazey
is a collection of graphic works revolving around the band glass animals and their single, 'hazey'.
poster design for a glass animals concert using light projected through paper onto a red jacket.
cut paper, light, adobe photoshop
vinyl album design for glass animals' album ZABA, with inspiration from their tropical-synth sound and the guaranteed presence of at least one pineapple on their set at live shows.
adobe indesign, adobe photoshop
handmade book of forty single covers for 'hazey'
adobe indesign
book designed, printed, bound by me.