Janek Simon (born 1977) combines in his works elements of post-colonial theory, computer science, and anarchism, with do-it-yourself practices. Meta Folklore is a series of figures printed in 3D technology based on a neural network created by the artist. The continually expanding database—a set of photographs of the most varied figurative ethnic sculptures from various eras and cultures—is processed based on principles of machine learning and generates new patterns mutated in various ways. Based on these designs, Simon elaborates the final shape of his figures, and then prints individual elements from multicoloured plastic threads and composes them into a whole. Simon’s sculptures offer a fantastic vision of a universal contemporary folklore, generated using AI but drawing on authentic sources. Their forms seem futuristic but at the same time intuitively near and familiar, as if logically deduced from a long tradition of non-academic figurative sculpture.
Meta Folklore v0.1.2.2, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 65 × 19,5 × 18 cm
Meta Folklore v0.1.2.2, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 65 × 19,5 × 18 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.2.2, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 85 × 23 × 21 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.2.2, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 85 × 23 × 21 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.3, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 98,5 × 21 × 22,5 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.3, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 98,5 × 21 × 22,5 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.6, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 69,5 × 13 × 12 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.6, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 69,5 × 13 × 12 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.4, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 77 × 19 × 20 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.4, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 77 × 19 × 20 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.7, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 70 × 17 × 17 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.7, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 70 × 17 × 17 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.6.2, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 67 × 18 × 15 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.6.2, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 67 × 18 × 15 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.7, 2023, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 55 × 22.5 × 10.5 cm | 21.5 × 8.8 × 4 in
Meta Folklore v0.2.8, 2023, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 66 × 17.5 × 10 cm
Meta Folklore v0.1.1.5, 2023, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 51 × 13 × 12 cm
Meta Folklore v0.2.5, 2022, 3-d print, polymer PLA, 68 × 18 × 14cm