Reinventing the Colonial Gaze Employing AI: a Case Study
Date Issued
June 2022
Author(s)
DOI
10.7238/ISEA2022.Proceedings
Abstract
This short paper accounts for a case study of artistic research
revolving around Cyprus’ colonial past and inspired by present
day decolonial affairs. The endeavour pivots on a hybrid AI
system, trained on text from colonial handbooks of Cyprus
(originally published when Cyprus was still part of the British
Empire) and employing a custom image dataset meant to reflect this colonial view of the island. AI then generates new
colonial ‘gazes’ of Cyprus upon demand. Output text and imagery is used in a number of physical and digital artefacts and
events that are presented herein
revolving around Cyprus’ colonial past and inspired by present
day decolonial affairs. The endeavour pivots on a hybrid AI
system, trained on text from colonial handbooks of Cyprus
(originally published when Cyprus was still part of the British
Empire) and employing a custom image dataset meant to reflect this colonial view of the island. AI then generates new
colonial ‘gazes’ of Cyprus upon demand. Output text and imagery is used in a number of physical and digital artefacts and
events that are presented herein