What is your occupation now?
Multidisciplinary artist in the field of new media art. Commercially active in the video, animation and design industry.
What did you gain from your study at WdKA?
A lot of opportunities to gain the experiences that I desired.
Favourite WdKA memory?
"Name a favourite memory" is such an ultimatum, but the first thing that pops up in my head is: sitting outside the school and watching the patches of reflected light on the waves, whilst pondering on my own life and where it was going.
The AI Cookbook
This project challenges the seriousness that surrounds the topic of Artificial Intelligence. AI often associates with topics like Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) or facial recognition on social media sites. This project approaches the topic of machine learning through a humoristic and more human approach. Food is a relatively unexplored topic for machines, and very relatable for humans. The project aims to both reflect our own obsession with digitising our edible fuel and the (current) incapability of machines to truly understand the physical world.
This project was exhibited and funded by V2_, Lab for the Unstable Media. Photography: Lavinia Xausa
What is the future of your profession in your opinion?
I don't think I have defined what my profession is yet. I don't like limiting myself and I embrace the fact that I am good at million little things and not highly specialised in any one of them. I think right now the major threads are music and poetry. These are pretty old-fashioned media, but in combination with the other different pieces of knowledge I've gained over the years, they can become wildly fascinating. My work Mechanical Rhyme which was part of the She By Reality exhibition during KunstRAI Amsterdam fair being a good example.
Mechanical Rhyme
The installation is made to generate its own poetry with complementary sound. The computer uses machine learning to read and dissect poetry. It analysis a database of poetry that is provided by the artist. It uses this database to generate new works. Furthermore, the installation using the presence of the audience to generate new sounds. The output of the machine is then in turn curated and formatted by the artist.
You never leave your house without…?
notebook, pen, music.
Any words of advice to future students?
Try. The worst that can happen is that you have to try again. Also, the question "is this allowed" is redundant, just find an angle to make whatever you think is worthwhile fit within whatever box you're presented with.
Future plans and hopes.
I mostly want to focus on making and releasing more music, besides that, I will always write more poetry, and I hope to do more residencies.
Header image: Automated Scriptures, this installation generates a new holy scripture, using a neural network trained on the Bible and Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. It was displayed at Dat Wat We Nog Niet Wisten. The visitors were also asked to add their own beliefs to the database to help this neural network learn further.
Visit Noa's website and learn more about his past and future projects.
