Melancholic Machines is an interactive media installation — a real-time dialogue between human body movement and artificial intelligence.

A generative AI interprets movements in front of a live webcam to create evolving image sequences. These visuals draw inspiration from 500 years of art history — echoing the aesthetics and atmospheres of Caspar David Friedrich, Albrecht Dürer, Jeongseon, Edvard Munch, Anne Imhof, and Hayao Miyazaki among others.

Layered with voice messages from artists, designers, cultural practitioners, and technologists, the project becomes a polyphonic reflection on our present moment with AI — intimate, ambivalent, and deeply human.

Melancholic Machines juxtaposes the affectless logic of machine systems with the reflective, vulnerable voices of human beings. It asks: Where do we stand at this turning point in our shared history with technology? Who participates in shaping it—and who is excluded? Are we, perhaps, the melancholic machines?

Melancholic Machines is a project within the framework of “AI JOINS US”, initiated by the Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken.

Find the playlist of the voice messages here.

Hardware
Projector, computer (local), webcam, speakers, tablet, headphones

Software
Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI, Hugging Face, JavaScript

Credits
Artistic Direction: Hojin Kang
Curation: Katharina Ritter, M.A.
Exhibition Setup: Jörg Schallmo
Assistance: Shannon Luka, Lin Mara Kraemer, Chloe Gabbar
Programming (AI Interaction): Fabby
Programming (Audio Playlist): Conrad Hoffmann
AI Soundtrack: Allicante
Photoo & Video: Leon Fuertig

Melancholic Machines is an interactive media installation — a real-time dialogue between human body movement and artificial intelligence.

A generative AI interprets movements in front of a live webcam to create evolving image sequences. These visuals draw inspiration from 500 years of art history — echoing the aesthetics and atmospheres of Caspar David Friedrich, Albrecht Dürer, Jeongseon, Edvard Munch, Anne Imhof, and Hayao Miyazaki among others.

Layered with voice messages from artists, designers, cultural practitioners, and technologists, the project becomes a polyphonic reflection on our present moment with AI — intimate, ambivalent, and deeply human.

Melancholic Machines juxtaposes the affectless logic of machine systems with the reflective, vulnerable voices of human beings. It asks: Where do we stand at this turning point in our shared history with technology? Who participates in shaping it—and who is excluded? Are we, perhaps, the melancholic machines?

Melancholic Machines is a project within the framework of “AI JOINS US”, initiated by the Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken.

Find the playlist of the voice messages here.

Hardware
Projector, computer (local), webcam, speakers, tablet, headphones

Software
Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI, Hugging Face, JavaScript

Credits
Artistic Direction: Hojin Kang
Curation: Katharina Ritter, M.A.
Exhibition Setup: Jörg Schallmo
Assistance: Shannon Luka, Lin Mara Kraemer, Chloe Gabbar
Programming (AI Interaction): Fabby
Programming (Audio Playlist): Conrad Hoffmann
AI Soundtrack: Allicante
Photoo & Video: Leon Fuertig