HomeMémoires, formes et lieux : vers des modèles intelligents entre dataïsme et plasticisme

HomeMémoires, formes et lieux : vers des modèles intelligents entre dataïsme et plasticisme

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Published on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Abstract

Le colloque international Mémoires, formes et lieux : vers des modèles intelligents entre dataïsme et plasticisme explore l’impact de l’intelligence artificielle sur la perception des formes et des lieux, redéfinissant ainsi la cartographie cognitive et notre compréhension de l’environnement. Les travaux mettent en lumière l’évolution du rapport entre les technologies et notre interaction avec les lieux et les formes, suscitant des questionnements sur notre perception et notre interaction avec le monde. La mémoire, remodelée par le dataïsme, influence notre compréhension actuelle du monde.

Announcement

Argument

The symposium "Memories, Forms, and Places: Towards Intelligent Models between Dataism and Plasticism" stands at the crossroads of complex interpretations and technological advancements. As highlighted by the works of Cheng et al. (2020), the impact of artificial intelligence on the perception of forms and places is redefining cognitive cartography by analyzing spatial representation models in innovative ways. These advancements testify to the profound changes emerging at the intersection of technology and sensitivity in our perception and understanding of the environment.

Furthermore, in alignment with Smith's research (2019) on plasticism, the evolution of technologies is reshaping our relationship with the environment, shaping our interactions with places and forms, thus creating new perceptual paradigms. This transformation engenders a significant reconfiguration of our relationship with the physical and conceptual environment, raising key questions about our perception and interaction with the world around us. In this sense, Valéry's quote, "Memory is the future of the past," takes on its full meaning. Garcia's work (2021) on the impact of new technologies on the perception of the past illustrates how memory, reshaped by dataism and plasticism, influences our understanding of the current world and its transformation.

Indeed, the advent of dataism and artificial intelligence profoundly redefines how we understand the concepts of memory, forms, and places. These changes compel us to rethink our relationship with complexity, intelligibility, and mediation, thereby laying the groundwork for in-depth reflection on these themes. These evolutions urge us to reconsider not only our relationship with the past but also our interpretation of the present and our perspectives for the future.

The speakers will explore the dynamics underlying these transformations, ranging from prospective memory models to the emergence of new technologies, thus creating a rich and stimulating space for scientific debate. How do memories, forms, and places transform in the era of dataism and plasticism, and what impact do these evolutions have on our understanding of the world? These questions will guide our reflections throughout this symposium. We approach these essential themes through three axes of in-depth discussion:

Axis 1: Memories, Forms, and Places: Intelligibility, Perceptions, and Complex Representations.

In this axis, we delve into a comprehensive understanding of the complex links between Memories, Forms, and Places. It involves analyzing how these interactions shape the construction of knowledge, influence our perception of the universe, and mold our representations of the world. Memory is both singular and plural; it is generated and regenerated by the interaction of multiple components. From philosophy to psychology, cognitive neuroscience to design and engineering sciences, this axis explores a broad spectrum of the concept of memory, linking it alternately or simultaneously to forms, places, and sciences. Starting from the "multi-system" concept in neuroscience, "mnemonic representations and the 'traces' underlying them are intended to change over time" (Eustache, 2018). They are not static and fixed; their dynamic nature indicates complex cognitive processes that lead to assimilation, mastery, systematization, and ultimately, synthesis in guiding generative processes.

At this first level of the individual memory system, the collective memory overlays, constructed by social experience and events shared by the group. Moreover, beneath all these complex processes that combine individual and collective memory, the memory of the universe is formed within us and conditions our intelligible but also sensitive way of apprehending it. In his novel "Swann's Way," in search of lost time, Marcel Proust subtly describes this perceptive memory, “[…] But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised for a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest, bearing without giving way, on their almost impalpable droplet, the immense edifice of memory".

This memory is multisensory and allows the reconstruction of mental representations of object forms and places. These images are linked to living spaces and generate symbols through intuition, dream, insight, and meditation. These symbols constitute unique but significant creations "of a constantly questioned identity" (Dambricourt, 2018). This memory is evolutionary and in perpetual reconstruction. It is conveyed through systems of representations motivated by underlying contexts and evolutions.

The history of memory arts comprises two categories: combinatorial art and figurative art. Born in the Middle Ages, these two occurrences of thought and representation matured in the Renaissance, intersected, and expressed themselves in the Baroque period before foreshadowing the arrival of moving images and the emergence of digital arts. The conveyed images become multiple and public; the couplings of places and images give birth to filmed sequences and interactive sites. New technologies immerse us in constructions and devices with infinite combinations. "From the camera obscura to the cinema, from cabinets of curiosities to virtual landscapes and up to the digital camera that today revives the ancient project of Mnemosyne, a great diversity of experiments form this history over time" (Boutonnet, 2018). The more imaginary the image, form, and place, the more they appear as good memorization support. In this axis, the aim is to move forward by taking into account both the meaning of history and the memory of the future. This axis promotes interdisciplinary research to reveal the intelligibility of the universe, the cultural richness and identity inherent in each conformation, and to facilitate the memorization and transmission of knowledge.

Axis 2: Memories of Forms, Memories of Places in the Era of Dataism and AI: Prospective Intelligent Models and Mediation

This axis focuses primarily on prospective intelligent models of the mediation of place and form memories involving various emerging digital techniques, namely artificial intelligence, virtual or augmented reality, social digital media, application programming interfaces (APIs), point cloud modeling, and internet of things (IoT). Emphasis will be placed on a transformation of our media "ecology" also analyzed by the philosopher Bernard Stiegler. Concerning memory, intelligent models can help extract relevant information from vast amounts of data, identify patterns and trends, and provide recommendations based on past experiences. They can also be used to create interactive interfaces that allow individuals and communities to share and safeguard their memories more efficiently. In addition to providing accurate representations, interactive experiences, and personalized narratives for a better understanding and appreciation of historical and cultural places.

Regarding places, intelligent models can be used to analyze and interpret geospatial data, create virtual and augmented representations of the physical environment, and provide contextual and personalized information to users during their movements. Lastly, concerning forms, intelligent models can be leveraged to recognize, classify, and generate complex patterns from 2D and 3D data, facilitate computer-aided design and manufacturing, and enable more natural interactions between humans and machines.

The works of Hoskins (2009) remind us of the importance of recognizing a new ontology for memory studies, taking into account media not merely as a partial, occasional, or temporary support for memory, but as a fundamental modification of what can be remembered and neglected. Thus, we emphasize that even though the history of memory is intrinsically linked to the history of techniques and has been the subject of various reflections dating back to ancient writings, we indeed observe a unique enthusiasm at the turn of the first decade of the 21st century for "mediated memory" (Van Dijck, 2005, 2007) and "mediated memory" (Hoskins, 2009, 2018; Niemeyer, 2011; Riefel, Rémy, 2014). Therefore, in this axis, mediation is approached as both a process, one - or a set of - practices, and also a place. It is a process because it implies an approach, a strategy, and an objective and is organized according to a clear methodology. It is a practice because it requires actors and decision-makers who often respond to institutional logics. It is a place (in the topological sense) because it is the space where something happens as much as it configures what is transmitted and what is charged with (or changes) meaning, or as Sébastien (Févry, 2017) specifies, a media environment within which the memorial subject operates, not only faced with new memorial applications but also situated within an interconnected universe that guides and conditions much of its remembrance processes.

As a media environment, the memorial dynamics of places and forms in the era of dataism will be studied as cultural phenomena (Erll, 2010) seeking to understand the central role played by the media and establishing the nature of the relationships they can maintain. Thus, we emphasize that the mediation of memories of forms and places in the era of AI requires a holistic and multidisciplinary approach that integrates both technical skills and ethical, cultural, and social perspectives. Several questions may arise: what happens when memories, understood as a type of relationship to the past maintained by individuals and social groups according to their present stakes, encounter media culture? What also happens during the process of documenting the media environments of these memories with the aim of enhancing the value of places and forms in the era of dataism?

Axis 3: Design and Plasticity of Memories of Forms and Places in the Era of Emerging Technologies.

In this axis, we explore the design and plasticity of memories of forms and places in the era of emerging technologies. The notion of "plasticity" suggests an ability to adapt, transform, or even be malleable, offering an innovative perspective on how forms and places are memorized, perceived, and interpreted. Emerging technological advancements have a considerable impact on the very conception of our memories. Forms and places, once anchored in material realities and often static, undergo metamorphosis. They become malleable, changing, influenced by the convergence between digital technologies, data, and technological innovations. This mutation raises fundamental questions about the nature of our collective and individual memory, as well as the construction of our identities and interactions with the surrounding world.

At the heart of this axis, we explore how emerging technologies transform how we conceive and perceive forms and places. Experts in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, digital arts, and philosophy will delve into the plasticity of our memories, shedding light on the complex dynamics at work in adapting our representations of forms and places. The plasticity of memory is not limited solely to the individual aspect but also extends to the collective scale. How do communities, cultures, and societies incorporate these transformations into their ways of remembering, interacting, and shaping their collective identities? This plasticity redefines our relationship with history, temporality, and the construction of our narratives. By exploring this axis, we aim to understand the mechanisms underlying this memory transformation, as well as identify the opportunities and ethical and social challenges that this evolution entails. We will highlight how the design and plasticity of memories of forms and places reshape our perception of the world, thus opening new perspectives for practical and theoretical applications. The works of Cheng et al. (2018) on the neural mechanisms underlying the formation of new spatial representations, as well as those of Kühn et al. (2014) on the cerebral representation of voluntary and automatic actions, provide essential insight into the plasticity of memory in the face of technological evolution. Konnikova (2016) addresses the transformation of memory in the Internet age, raising questions about the impact of the digital realm. Li et al. (2020) explore brain changes induced by the digital age, offering perspectives on the mutation of our mnemonic processes.

Furthermore, the works of Halbwachs (1992) and Assmann (2011) highlight the importance of collective memory in the construction of identities and historical narratives, thus underlining the impact of technological changes on these social processes. Finally, the research of Hirst et al. (2019) on social and identity memory, as well as that of Van Dijck (2014) on the datafied society, offers a crucial sociological and psychological perspective for understanding the evolution of collective and individual memories in a changing technological context.

Paul Valéry's quote, "Man is an essay to reconcile extreme specialization with extreme adaptability...but he has been given not only to endure. He is capable of modifying - of creating what he needs," emphasizes our creative and generative capacity for adaptation and evolution. Thus, we aim to discover new forms and spatial interactions that architects, artists, and designers have been able to produce and experience through new immersive technologies, big data, immediate data (Debono, 2020), and generative, augmented, and interactive intelligence. Through these hybridities, we are able to develop new ways of seeing, representing, proposing, and sharing imaginaries (Tassin, 2023). However, these uses provoke reflections and inquiries about the human, societal, economic, and conceptual consequences and stakes of artificial intelligence.

We will also focus on participatory action research/creation research projects integrating the spheres of art, design, culture, and technologies that have explored the memories of forms and places under the cross-eyed gaze of dataism and plasticism. These studies often explore how AI and the flow of digital information can be used to generate artistic forms, narratives, or compositions inspired by the visual, architectural, or conceptual heritage of specific places. They explore how machines and humans can co-evolve and merge to establish new ways of perceiving, memorizing, interpreting, and designing forms and places.

In the wake of participatory action research, the place as a material and immaterial support for individual and collective memories has been the subject of several works. Isabelle Becuywe's work (2020) highlighted how participatory and social dynamics were able to rely on an imagination of digital techniques to counter cultural loss and create an ambiguous relationship between the immaterial and the virtual.

Places

  • Hotel Djerba Resort - Zone Touristique, Rond-point le Rendez-vous et Boulevard de l'environnement
    Houmt Souk, Tunisia (4116)

Event attendance modalities

Full on-site event


Date(s)

  • Friday, November 15, 2024

Keywords

  • mémoire, forme, lieu, dataïsme, plasticisme

Contact(s)

  • Ferdaws BELCADHI
    courriel : ferdaws [dot] belcadhi [at] yahoo [dot] fr

Information source

  • Ferdaws BELCADHI
    courriel : ferdaws [dot] belcadhi [at] yahoo [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Mémoires, formes et lieux : vers des modèles intelligents entre dataïsme et plasticisme », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/vljt

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