Marta Palacz (she/her)
Marta Palacz is a multi-media creative technologist. She presents imagined illusions of how machines and computers could begin to understand mindfulness, meditation and yoga.
What do machines ‘see’ when witnessing the practice of mindfulness and meditation? How could this be visualised? With these questions in mind she uses digital tools ranging from creative coding software to artificial intelligence and machine learning. She creates works by allowing the computer and machine to view her mindfulness practice and recording abstract results in the form of digital prints, paintings and videos.
Captured Transitions
Captured Transitions records traces of human movement on a digital canvas. Creative coding is used to observe mindfulness practice in the form of yoga.
The white lines represent the pose which the machine was trained to recognise while the black lines show the transition through to the second pose not taught to the machine. The abstract drawings vary between more delicate and subtle to bolder more obvious outcomes where a human body is easier to identify.
The abstract illustrations derive from the machine learning model’s struggle to ‘see’ complex yoga poses resulting in missed body parts. These delicate lines and minimalistic colour scheme expose the machine’s perception of yoga practice.
Immersive Projections
Immersive Projections allows physical movement to directly impact a person’s immediate surroundings. By practicing mediation or yoga on a Wii Balance Board the values of weight distribution have an influence on the position, scale and rotation of projected shapes.
The dataset of shapes is created through machine learning’s unconscious generated imagery further scrutinised by object detection. Through the application of creative coding these outlines become projected shapes in a dark space. The work is interactive and runs in real time.
The audio consists of recorded chords played on a Kalimba, the steady chords being played back allow for guided breathing practice. The projection of the shapes was influenced by Henri Matisse and his cut-outs collage works.
Morphing Figures
Morphing Figures explores how machine learning provides a way to invent imagined yoga poses and imitations of the human body. The moving outcomes are reminiscent of the subtle trembling of the body when holding a pose or breathing.
The machine learning software often has no previous knowledge of yoga or the anatomy of the human body. The outcomes are purely based on self-portrait pictures taken during yoga practice. The videos present the machine’s illusions of morphing from one surreal pose to another.
Moving Paintings
This personal work exposes the computer to mindfulness practice in the form of yoga. The machine hallucinates new poses and is not limited by human capabilities.
The paintings are inspired by Francis Bacon and present the unconscious observations of the machine. The moving projections are a deeper and more extensive exploration of the still figures in the paintings.
