Punched Thoughts

The artwork “Punched Thoughts” is a mixed reality installation that consists of a metal sculpture and an AR app. The starting point of the project is a poem written by the artist. The poem refers to the last year’s personal experience due to COVID-19. Inspired by the punched cards the artist wrote an algorithm through which she created a new alphabet. With this algorithmic alphabet she ‘translated’ her original poem into a symbolic design. From the algorithmic design emerged the physical part of the artwork: a suspended construction of 15 metal square perforated plates, each of which has engraved parts of the original poem. The second part of the artwork is the experience of the AR app (custom, developed by the artist). The app is a digital layer that reveal parts of the engraved information. As each visitor scans the sculpture, fragments of the poem are activated through generative algorithms. The fragments projected in the form of text and sound in front of the corresponding metal plate.

Alexandra Niaka (GR)
Alexandra Niaka is an interactive media artist. She holds a Master of Architecture on ‘Design for Performance and Interaction’ from the Bartlett School of Architecture and a diploma of architecture from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She expresses herself through interactive installations immersive technologies, and written text. Through her work, she is trying to creatively answer to questions concerning the relation between human and technology and how this relation determines the manner in which we perceive and interact with our surrounding reality. To that end, she focuses on the use of cutting-edge technology to create MR, VR and AR reality experiences. The research question that determines her work is the interpretation of data as a new type of material, its transcription, and its interconnection. Her worked has been exhibited in UK, China, and Greece. She has worked for London- based creative studios, like ‘The Workers(inc.)’ and ‘Jason Bruges studio’. On 2020 she obtained the SNF Artist Fellowship Award on Visual Arts, from ARTWORKS.