Isabella Lee Arturo: Tabula Rasa, 2023
Type: Master’s Project Degree Programme: Media Art and Design Professorship: Media Environments Advisor: Prof. Ursula Damm, Dr. Alexander König, Adelheid Mers

“Tabula Rasa” is a transdisciplinary project that involves texts, drawings, an installation, a performance and Generative AI.

The project explores three main phenomena: The resistance to forced silencing and censorship. The loss of information through the processes of translation and interpretation. The symbolic rupture of grieve and trauma.

The performance consists of a live drawing that the artist makes on the floor, while attempting to verbally express a message. This message is recorded with a wireless microphone and transmitted to a program that activates audio files in a database. The program is designed to trigger different phrases based on the volume of the artist's voice, giving the impression of a machine translating the message. However, the translation is far from perfect, resulting in a gibberish cacophony that overpowers the original message.

Media Art and Design
Media Environments
Prof. Ursula Damm
Dr. Alexander König
Adelheid Mers
Isabella Lee Arturo