Perpetual Present

Sofia Crespo

The increasing temporal distance from our Palaeolithic ancestors who painted Altamira's caves paradoxically heightens their relevance. New imaging technologies reveal hidden layers, dramatically shifting our understanding of who created these works and why. This prompts a crucial question: how can current technologies help us reinterpret these ancient creations? The cave paintings depicted their contemporary ecosystem, many species which now are extinct.

Today, as digital tools become ubiquitous, we must examine our own representations of nature. Large machine learning models, trained on millions of organism images, shape our perceptions despite uncertain accuracy and inherent anthropocentric bias in data collection. Technology exists as a present tool, not merely a future promise, and may not endure. This work employs image generation from custom trained ML models, 3D clay printing, and robotic painting to reinterpret ancestral art using critically endangered species as subjects. While the hardware creating these works may last only years, their physical impressions could outlive viewers and featured specimens alike.

The Altamira paintings exist in our present, viewed through our contemporary lens. The stone wall transcends mere surface, becoming plastic under digital examination, emerging from apparent inertness. This project explores how technological developments shape both understanding and worldview, questioning how cultural remnants broadcast through time. By juxtaposing ephemeral digital processes with potentially enduring physical marks, and ancient art with current ecological crisis, the work interrogates our relationship with both past and future, asking what testimony we leave for those who follow.

Project Collaborators:

Production Design by Feileacan Kirkbride McCormick. In collaboration with Ilias Poutsiakas, computational designer and researcher at the Map-Aria lab. With the support of the Map-Aria lab.