Objects of Desire by Pleun Van Dijk

In her most recent work, Objects of Desire, van Dijk investigated the increasingly intimate relationship between humans and technology that may eventually lead to blurring of boundaries between the two.
To illustrate the concept, the designer, invented a three-step method.

In step one, the first dataset was curated containing both realistic (representing human genitals) and abstract sex toys. These toys are objects we by nature have a very close physical relationship with and could also be seen as an example of (sexual) objectification. 

In step two, a pre-trained machine learning (ML) model was used to generate a collection of 1,000 new, non-existing shapes based on the initial dataset.

In step three, the generated images were curated and translated back into a three- dimensional physical reality. This resulted in a series of undefined, anthropomorphic, human-like sculptures. 

The Objects of Desire design project encourages us to critically evaluate the fundamental questions and ethical implications related to the rapidly evolving relationship between humans and technology. It ‘confronts the viewer with a speculative scenario and leaves them to decide whether they perceive the outcome as human, non-human or something that exists in between.’ (van Dijk, 2021)

Photo credits: Nahmlos