JUAN MANUEL ESCALANTE


SERIES 01

  

  ABOVE: The project was soft-released on social media. For the first video series, nuclear warfare was reported in real-time as news headlines.

THE MeanTIMES


2023     AI     GENERATIVE


The MeanTimes is a code-generated newspaper project from the not-so-distant future. It explores the problematic condition of our modern society questioning the role of art, science, and artificial technology.

Multiple speculative scenarios were prepared and processed using text and image machine-learning models. Custom Java Software takes the AI output and recodes it into ASCII data.

The headlines appear gradually to the audience with a modular synthesizer soundtrack.

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Two versions are currently under development:

    • 1. A single or multi-channel video installation, optimal for spaces with museum-grade displays/projectors and sound systems.
    • 2. A pen-plotter version of the project. The printed version will assemble the multiple dystopian scenarios in newsprint paper sheets. The physical format of the project is more suitable for display and distribution in a traditional gallery format.
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Completed series to date:
   01 Nuclear War
   02 Drone Diaries
   03 LayFlat



ABOVE AND BELOW : Simulation of a 360 large-scale immersive projection.




SERIES 02



ABOVE: The second installment tells a rise and fall story of drone technology.
The video's aspect ratio demonstrates the project's visualization in wide exhibition screens/projections.


SERIES 03





VIDEO: Twelve short headlines about the LayFlat movement.


VIDEO: Official submission to the Mapping Festival in Geneva (2024).
 

THE SOFTWARE




ABOVE: The MeanTime software v10.0

ABOVE: UI Detail

We coded over two thousand lines of code to generate the kinetic content of each series. Our custom JAVA app allows us to change the resolution of the ASCII output. We can also change the character rendering palette and navigate to each item of a specific series. The system exports the final result as TIFF images, PDF files, and TXT data.





EARLY-STAGE PRINTS


Printing tests using a pen-plotter machine.




BITMAP FILES



ABOVE: A compilation of all images generated so far.

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SOCIAL: IG / VM
© 2023