Open Space 2024
16 February 2024 - 16 June 2024
Luc Weytingh
Creative technologist Luc Weytingh maps people’s subconscious experiences of the coronavirus pandemic. In this Open Space work, he uses artificial intelligence to translate a collection of dream reports into images. Using this remarkable data set, Weytingh explores our shared state of mind. He not only answers the question of how isolation and fear have influenced our dreams, but also discusses the way we represent them in contemporary society. After all, how we express (in art) the hard-to-describe inner world of thoughts, feelings and social scenarios reflects our common mindset.
To the lighthouse of dreams
Dreams provide us with a unique perspective on our shared inner thoughts and emotions. An important function of dreams is thought to be as a simulation of threatening and social scenarios. They can be thought of as world simulations with us, as dream ego, at the centre of the simulation. These simulations are mainly experienced in the subconscious part of the brain and can offer us perspectives unavailable to the active mind. The depiction of dreams in art goes back a long way, and has changed greatly throughout history. Whether from a religious or more psychological perspective, the historical expression of dreams allows us to analyse the states of mind of their dreamers.
In collaboration with Yuki Asano (University of Amsterdam) and Jarno Tuominen (University of Turku), Luc Weytingh analyses the impact of the pandemic on our dreams through a large dataset of anonymised dream reports. He also tackles the inherently subjective question of how to represent the indescribable with visitors and an AI that evolves through collective interaction.
About Luc Weytingh
Luc Weytingh is a creative technologist currently based in Berlin. With a background in artificial intelligence, his work has a technological approach at its core and explores current and future visions and ideologies. For new insights, inspiration and because he understands the positive potential of AI in synergy with various disciplines, he seeks to collaborate with artists and experts from many backgrounds.