"Dad, can you give me a lift to Home Depot?" These were the words of Sehmon Burnam, an eighth-grader, as he counted the earnings from his snow shoveling endeavors in his snowy New Jersey neighborhood. His mission? To acquire 200 feet of PVC pipe, all sparked by a YouTube video that had caught his attention. This video showcased the creation of a PVC xylophone, a unique musical keyboard crafted from large plastic pipes. Striking these pipes produced a medley of distinct notes, each corresponding to a different pipe's length. Armed with measurements and calculations, he embarked on his quest to construct his own PVC xylophone. The reason behind this endeavor was elusive to him; all he knew was that he had an unexplainable urge to build it.
Throughout his upbringing, Burnam had been a relentless creator, bursting with ideas and concepts, each yearning for manifestation in the physical realm. He immersed himself in the maker culture of the early 2000s, frequently browsing websites like Instructables and reading magazines like Make. Reflecting on his journey, Burnam stated, "My passion for art has always existed; it just took time for me to pinpoint its exact form."
In the fall of 2023, Burnam completed his MA in Interactive Media Arts program, a collaborative effort between NYU Shanghai and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
As he looked back on his time in the program, Burnam cherished the profound appreciation he had developed for the concept of context. He recalled, "The IMA program helped me realize the transformative influence of the environments and people that surround us." While he acknowledged the program's numerous merits, he held a special regard for the in-person sessions. He reminisced about the unique experiences he had encountered in various global locations, such as Berlin and Shanghai, where he had the opportunity to engage with fellow artists, curators, and program directors. These encounters offered him invaluable insights into diverse artistic communities and ways of life. He emphasized, "These experiences couldn't be replicated by merely touring as a visitor; they demanded genuine connections and relationships."
One particularly memorable moment transpired during a visit to a fine art museum in Shenzhen. Surrounded by works of art by renowned artists he had admired from a distance, Burnam had the opportunity to interact with the pieces in person. This experience left an enduring impact on him. It was during the ride back to the airport, with the gentle summer rain tapping on the car windows, that he had a profound realization. As he scrolled through his phone, searching for speaker components for his thesis project on Taobao, he pondered, "What am I doing here?" Yet, in that instant, amidst the rain and the lush green scenery of Shenzhen's highways, he felt an extraordinary sense of belonging.
The experiences he had in the program and his long-standing immersion in the world of art had a profound influence on him, opening his eyes to the vastness of the world and the myriad ways in which people could shape their lives. In art, he found a means to touch upon the sublime, a gateway to exploring human spirituality and the human experience. One vivid example that captured his thoughts was live music—a transcendent experience where bodies moved in unison to the same rhythm. He described it as "a feeling of being part of something greater, embracing collective experiences."
Driven by this fascination, Burnam embarked on a journey to create interactive experiences that could tap into the essence of the sublime and acknowledge the myriad forces shaping human existence, from the technological realm to the natural world. He believed in the potential of these powerful forces to prompt reflection on the individual and foster connections among people. His deep dive into the concept of the sublime led him to extensive research, all in pursuit of crafting interactive encounters that would awaken this sense of the sublime.
Ultimately, he arrived at a project he named "Daydreams of Simulacra," an endeavor delving into the realms of artificial intelligence and machine learning. In his vision, these technologies served as mirrors of human culture and human conversation, particularly large language models like ChatGPT and Bard, which harnessed the vast reservoir of human knowledge and interaction.
"Daydreams of Simulacra" aimed to act as an auditory mirror of human connection through machine learning. Burnam painted the picture, saying, "Imagine entering a room adorned with a sculpture, its walls lined with 19 multi-channel audio speakers. These speakers played a symphony of voicemail conversations—mothers to sons, friends to friends—a chorus of human voices captured in the voicemails left on our phones." Amidst this orchestrated cacophony, the audience found themselves immersed in simulated human conversations, serving as a reminder of the continuous stream of communication in our lives.
As the audience moved through the space, the project encouraged them to contemplate the collective human experience. The voices blended and overlapped, making it challenging to distinguish one from the other. Yet, each voicemail contained a fragment of humanity within it. For instance, the words of a grandmother checking on her loved ones might trigger the audience to reflect on their own family bonds and personal experiences. It was a machine learning model speaking, but the voices emanated from rich human interactions, serving as a reminder that we all shared in this vast collective.
Burnam's fascination with the project extended beyond technology; it mirrored his love for urban life, especially in bustling cities like New York. In these urban landscapes, he witnessed in the flesh what his project aimed to depict: a multitude of lives intersecting and coexisting. He mused, "I can't help but be amazed by just how many different lives are being lived."
In the end, his objective was crystal clear: to create artifacts of reflection, to manifest sublime technologies that embodied the dance between humanity and machines, inviting all who encountered them to partake in the symphony of human culture and connection.
Burnam expressed enthusiasm for the future of AI and what it could accomplish. He remarked, "We must acknowledge that AI is here to stay. Current generative models, including Bard and ChatGPT, are just the beginning. They will only become more proficient. The ChatGPT of today is the least advanced it will ever be." To him, AI was more than just a tool; it was a creative partner. While some may choose to maintain a purely humanistic approach to their work, he argued that the line between technology and nature was blurred. "Humans are part of nature, and they have created technology. The distinctions aren't as clear-cut as they may seem." Burnam recognized the existence of AI-generated music but believed that people would always seek a connection with the human behind the art. He asserted that the human touch would remain an essential element in the creative process. In his view, while machines could come close, they would never fully replace the intricacy of human creativity.
