Tim Kunt — More stitches, less riches
Genius Loci — Winter 2022
The Palace of Knossos is considered a borderline case between restorative and exploitative management of an archaeological site. [Alexandra Karetsou]
Restauration largely followed Arthur Evans's interpretation, reflecting his imagination and cultural biases rather than faithfully reconstructing its original form. His work itself is now falling apart. As a result, subsequent generations of archaeologists are confronted with iterative restorations upon restorations, obscuring the spirit of the original site.
Generative models feign a comparable position of neutrality. Instead, they reflect and reaffirm the cultural biases of their authors, training data, and their users. This raises the question if a similar distorting effect on the cultural cycle is emergent.
In 'More stitches, less riches' the dolphin fresco of the Minoan palace of Knossos consciously extends, applying outpainting methods. Viewers may engage in the process of restoration, decay and distortion or choose to remain observers.
