Welcome everyone to this audio companion to the Intersect newsletter.

If you're new here, we basically explore the ideas and connections from the latest issue today.

That's issue number 49.

We're going to be focusing on the insights from Jurgen Berkessel, the curator.

He really unpacks these fascinating intersections of art and technology.

We'll just go through the topics as they pop up in the newsletter, making sure to, you know, give Jurgen's perspective center stage.

Yeah, it's always interesting to see what Jurgen pulls together.

Okay, let's jump right in then with that first one.

Goth artists taking over the USS Hornet.

So this is a decommissioned aircraft carrier in Alameda and it's hosting a two day goth, art, fashion and music fest.

It's put on by the menagerie oddities market.

They've got fashion shows, bands, even paranormal tours of the ship, apparently.

And a dark refuge tea lounge.

A tea lounge.

Okay.

Jurgen's take on this is, well, he finds it really thought provoking.

He calls it an example of a code switching society.

That code switching idea is interesting here.

It's like the deliberate clash, isn't it?

You've got the goth scene, you know, with his whole aesthetic against this backdrop of a military vessel.

Exactly.

And Jurgen really digs into that.

Why this pairing?

Is it just irony?

Yeah.

He asks, is it brilliant irony?

Is it maybe like poetic chaos or just cool aesthetic combo?

He gives this really vivid picture.

He says, imagine moody synths echoing off bulkheads while someone in leather and lace poses beneath a cold war era fighter jet.

Wow.

Yeah, that paints a picture.

It really does, doesn't it?

Makes you think about the layers of meaning created when you put those things together.

For sure.

And like Jurgen implies, it's more than just a temporary thing.

It's about how we interact with these spaces that have such strong histories.

Are they, you know, subverting the ship's original meaning or maybe highlighting a different kind of haunting that clicks with the goth vibe.

That's a great way to put it.

That intersection of history, subculture, and just the place itself.

Okay, moving on.

The newsletter also talks about design education, specifically the Istituto Marengoni Milano design school.

Ah, yes, design boom covered this.

They've got this new curriculum really blending creative work with tech.

Three new programs focusing on AI, robotics and VR.

Basically getting designers ready for a tech heavy future.

Jurgen found this really resonated with his own background.

Yeah, he talks about his own path being pretty non linear.

Right.

Fine arts, then in programming, banking, marketing, tech, and then back to arts and music.

Right.

And through all that, he learned something important.

He says, when you combine creativity with systems thinking, you don't just adapt to change, you can actually shape it.

That's a powerful idea.

He seems genuinely pleased that design schools are embracing this kind of, well, tech, updated liberal arts approach.

He thinks it's vital and it suggests.

A real shift, doesn't it?

It's not just using tech as a tool anymore.

It's about fluency, understanding it deeply so designers can innovate in ways we maybe haven't even thought of yet.

Totally.

And Jurgen throws out this question.

What path would you have taken if your art degree had included a class in machine learning?

Yeah, that makes you wonder.

It really highlights how creativity isn't just for artists.

You know that imaginative problem solving is valuable everywhere, especially in tech fields.

Okay, next up is something really surreal.

Artsy reported on an AI project to reimagine a lost science.

Salvador Dali screenplay.

Oh, the one for Harpo Marks.

Giraffes on horseback Salad.

That's the one from 1937.

They're using Google's VO2 platform, working with Goodbye Silverstein and Partners and the Dali Museum.

But the key thing is it's not meant to be a replica.

It's a new interpretation based on his ideas.

Jurgen's thoughts on this are pretty complex, tied into how he feels about Dali himself.

Right.

He mentions being totally captivated by Dali's surrealism as a kid, the melting clocks, all that stuff.

But then learning more about Dali, the person, the narcissism, this self promotion, his feelings got, well, more complicated.

Yeah, I think a lot of people experience that with artists they admire.

Jurgen even quotes Dali talking about the exquisite joy of being himself and how amazing his own creations would be.

That Persona was so baked into his brand, even if it feels a bit much now.

And this AI project really brings that tension to the surface for Jurgen.

He wonders, you know, would Dali have even liked this AI version, or would he have thought it wasn't weird enough?

Oh, good point.

It definitely raises questions about authorship and originality when AI gets involved with a deceased artist's work.

Exactly.

Jurgen sees the project as kind of a metaphor for how we deal with Dali's whole legacy.

You know, the amazing art versus the difficult personality.

He asks, can we really separate the art from the artist or should we?

And that question goes way beyond Dali, obviously.

So many creators have aspects that clash with modern views.

How do we handle that?

Do we compartmentalize?

Or does the artist's life inevitably change how we see the art?

It's tricky.

Definitely something to think about.

Okay, let's shift gears.

CLO Tagazine interviewed the French Moroccan artist Hicham Berata.

His work is this really unique mix of science and artistic intuition.

He basically sets up chemical or electrical processes and lets materials, materials evolve naturally.

Things like erosion, electrolysis, decay.

Jurgen seems quite taken with this approach.

Yeah, it's a big departure from the artist being in total control, isn't it?

Barada sort of creates the conditions and then nature does the shaping.

Jurgen calls it letting nature work, which he finds quietly radical.

He mentioned specific examples like landscapes formed electrochemically or 3D printed sculptures that are designed to decompose.

And Jurgen finds this idea of embracing impermanence, even decay, really moving and kind of relevant today when so much creative work aims for control and digital perfection.

There'S something profound in accepting that transience.

Yeah, even in art.

Jurgen quotes Berrada talking about how being able to recreate sculptures from digital files opens up this whole dialogue between preservation and impermanence and, you know, what materials even mean now.

Which leads Jurgen to this really big is the future of art, maybe a collaboration not just between people, but with nature, with code, even with decay itself.

Itself.

That definitely challenges the standard idea of what art is.

And when it's finished, it points towards something more dynamic, maybe less static.

Art that keeps changing.

Okay, now for a complete change of scenery, literally.

Space.com had these incredible videos from NASA astronaut Don Pettit on the iss.

Ah, the auroras from space.

Yes.

Amazing views.

One of the southern lights near Antarctica.

Another showing this intense green atmospheric turbulence.

Jurgen's reaction was pretty strong.

Well, seeing them from up there gives such a different perspective, doesn't it?

Like Jurgen says, they look familiar, but also totally different.

Grand.

He described them as rippling like liquid energy, almost becoming planetary behavior, not just lights in the sky.

He was really struck by Pettit's description.

Green vaporous turbulence.

Jurgen said it sounded like something from, like a Geiger sketchbook.

But it's real, happening right above us.

Humbling the scale of it.

Absolutely.

And Jurgen wonders, how would you even capture something that vast and silent in art?

He also mentioned being surprised that even Florida saw northern lights this past winter.

Shows how active things have been.

Yeah, quite.

The solar activity all right.

Bringing it back down to Earth.

But still in the realm of tech, Adobe's making some moves.

Their CTO of Digital media, Eli Greenfield, announced AI agents coming to Photoshop and Premiere Pro.

Ah, okay.

Integrated AI assistants.

Yeah, In a new actions panel, they'll respond to natural Language prompts.

You could say things like remove background people or add a text box or organize my layers.

Jurgen thinks Adobe's approach here is interesting.

How so?

He notes they seem pretty careful and integrated about it.

It doesn't look like they're trying to replace creativity.

It seems more focused on reducing the technical hurdles.

Maybe.

Yeah.

So creatives can focus on the ideas.

That's the impression Jurgen gets.

He quotes Greenfield saying AI can make educated guesses with user input to get projects started or smooth things out.

But of course, it raises that big question for creatives.

Does this kind of AI helper feel empowering or does it feel intrusive?

That's the million dollar question, isn't it?

Finding that balance where the AI is genuinely helpful but doesn't take over the artist's voice or control.

Its success probably hinges on how well it actually works in practice and how seamless it feels.

True.

Okay, one last piece from Holo Magazine.

It features researcher and media artist Eric Salvaggio and his exhibition, Signal to Noise.

Salvaggio argues we're past the point of lacking information now.

The problem is we're just overwhelmed by it.

You can't escape the noise.

And he sees AI not as the core issue, but just the latest filter we're using to try and manage the chaos.

Jurgen mentioned he's always been interested in that signal to noise idea.

It's a classic concept, signal to noise.

And Salvaggio is saying the noise is basically one that's pretty stark.

Jurgen reflects on, you know, what's left when clear signal feels so rare, even with all this data flying around.

He likes that the exhibition makes us question if we should even call this the information age anymore.

Right.

Jurgen quotes Salvagerio calling the show post AI, framing AI as just the latest chapter in this ongoing clash between computer logic and human creativity.

And this leads Jurgen to a final, really thought provoking question for all of us.

What if the next big creative breakthrough isn't about getting more information or better tools?

What if it's about learning when to stop listening, Learning how to filter out the noise?

That's a powerful thought to end on in a world drowning in data.

Maybe discernment, the ability to find the essential and ignore the rest.

Maybe that's the most crucial creative skill now.

Definitely challenges the idea that more is always better.

Well, that wraps up our exploration of issue 49 of the Intersect, using Jurgen Berkessel's commentary as our guide.

We hope it gave you some interesting things to to think about regarding art, technology and how they connect.

If you want to read the original articles or Jurgen's complete newsletter?

Definitely.

Check out the Intersect art again.

That's the Intersect art.

Thanks for tuning in.