ARK(HIVE) is a contemporary cabinet of curiosities located in the vibrant heart of Hansen House in Jerusalem. Amid societal shifts and uncertainties, ARK(HIVE) serves as a testament to resilience, inviting reflection on the essence of our shared humanity. Like an ark preparing for an inevitable flood, it urges us to curate the values and treasures that define us, ensuring their passage to future generations.
At the exhibit’s heart is the contribution of Hansen House visitors, who shape a collective narrative by leaving personal objects. Once digitally captured and ARK(HIVE)d, these artifacts undergo curation through an AI-driven process. Blending physical and digital realms, the objects’ stories are carefully selected, forming a compelling narrative for future generations.
In ARK(HIVE), visitors contribute everyday objects rich with personal significance. These artifacts are placed at the light table, symbolizing the bond between memory and materiality. The artist/archivist assigns each object a uniqe ID number, transforming the ordinary into the significant. Later, each object is photographed and renamed, its essence immortalized. Images are shared on a dedicated Instagram page, paired with descriptions from ChatGPT, reflecting on the human connection to these seemingly mundane items. The AI generates a description of the object, capturing its essence in fifty words, while the physical object is displayed on the light table atop the metal cabinet.
At the end of each day, all the AI-generated descriptions were uploaded, enabling ChatGPT to choose which object, among those collected throughout the day, was the most representative in defining humans. The following day, selected objects were declared the “object of the day” and displayed in the dedicated niche.
The SIGNS collective created the project with Mia Gaia Trentin and Andrea Tinazzo. It was presented at the Jerusalem Design Week 2024
Custom cabinet, camera, projector, custom software