The Traveller
Above: The Traveller. Overview of the installation.
The Traveller is an installation consisting of a four-part, four-channel film with accompanying objects/sculptures. It is based on the accounts of Noah and other self-proclaimed time-travellers, which were uploaded to YouTube in late 2017. In these videos, individuals are interviewed in an anonymous talking-head style telling of their travel back from the future, how world events will develop and what the society of the future will be like. With periodic uploads over approximately two years the time-travelling accounts gathered media attention through their frequent predictions, production of various forms of evidence of the future and the testing of the authenticity of the traveller’s statements. Having since been largely discredited, the accounts have become a form of speculative fiction.
In the film The Traveller the accounts have been transformed, visualised and re-sonified with AI into a fiction of science fictions. Using data harvesting techniques the AI generated subtitles on YouTube were extracted from numerous videos, passed through a Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT-2) text generating model to compose them as a complete narrative and finally used as source for AI to generate the spoken-word narration and the edited video. What is created is the result of networked media and the interconnection or networking of various AI with the artist only intervening in the final sequencing process. The film is presented through voice-over, subtitles and sourced footage in a style common to video essays to convince the viewer of the traveller’s truth. Yet what quickly emerges is a composite of science fiction tropes and clichés that create a post-truth narrative.
The Traveller, installation overview.
The Traveller, part 1 - The Traveller.
The Traveller, installation overview.
The Traveller, “I was doing well in school and then there was that one day where I was pulled aside in school and I was contacted by two men in tuxedos … and they told me that I was going to be involved in a government project”, printed document, custom design, laserjet print, US letter-size white paper, silver paper clip.
The Traveller, part 2 - The Tomorrow Project.
The Traveller, part 2 - The Tomorrow Project.
The Traveller, part 2 - The Tomorrow Project and “I had to escape from them but I took with me the 3d model to be able to show something for you to share my story and life in future”, 3D printed AI generated 3D model, ABS plastic, airbrushed acrylic paint.
The Traveller, part 2 - The Tomorrow Project.
The Traveller, part 2 - The Tomorrow Project.
The Traveller, part 2 - The Tomorrow Project.
The Traveller, “the U.S. president in 2030 is someone named Ilana Remikee”, button badge, custom design.
The Traveller, “the time machine was collaboration of metallic chairs, human bodies series and physics of electricity and frequencies of time”, lapel pin badge, custom design.
The Traveller, “time travel was released to the public in 2028 along with the existence of aliens … a lot of people were curious about these aliens and what having certain they said made them seem like they are from the future”, lapel pin badge, custom design.
The Traveller, part 3 - The World to Come.
The Traveller, part 3 - The World to Come.
The Traveller, part 3 - The World to Come.
The Traveller, part 3 - The World to Come.
The Traveller, "I went back recently and a bunch of other time periods, and I was able to record a video from the future … today I will show you guys this video", VHS cassette tape, green screen timecoded video.
The Traveller, part 4 - The First Operation.
The Traveller, part 4 - The First Operation.
The Traveller, “in 2120, I was able to record from the top of a building with my hands a video from the future and I wish I wish it was great … I took the SIM card back”. red and blue SIM cards, plastic, colour sticker, foil sticker, laserjet print.
The Traveller, “in 2120, I was able to record from the top of a building with my hands a video from the future and I wish I wish it was great … I took the SIM card back”. red and blue SIM cards, plastic, colour sticker, foil sticker, laserjet print.
The Traveller, “the file was really corrupted but it still is a video and I can show it to you guys”, SD 32GB memory card, camera timestamped green screen videos and photos.
Above: The Traveller. Navigate with the icons at the bottom, click to view larger images.