New “sacred” symbols

The project was created as a result of reflections on the aesthetics of spirituality and is addressed to persons who would like to use it without an ideological burden. New “sacred” symbols were created in two ways. The first is based on subjective feelings and sensitivity. The second one was based on co-operation with an expert in artificial intelligence. On the basis of 2,000 collected signs-symbols, he created an algorithm generating new signs. The use of the computer was aimed at showing and comparing a more objective approach and possibilities offered by the new technology as a design and research tool. The signs are presented in contexts stressing their spiritual character: on the body, murals or textiles. Photographs and graphics using 12 designed symbols are contained in the form of a publication together with signs generated by the neural network. An additional element is the asemic alphabet, which completes the impression of a “sacred book” to be filled with content. The publication is complemented with two carpets emphasising the duality of the design –
the first one has a sign designed by a human, and the second one has a sign designed by artificial intelligence. The neural network was also used to generate an animation that shows smooth transitions between the selected characters.