The Identity Matters Project

The Identity Matters Project is an exploration into the heart of what makes us unique as individuals. Here, technology is not just a tool, but a collaborator in the artistic process, bringing to life the diverse tapestry of human experience.

Each person's identity is a rich source of inspiration and creativity. Our platform interprets these individual nuances and transforms them into various forms of art, from stirring melodies to evocative visual pieces, and from poignant poetry to captivating narratives.

At present, from users who've chosen to publicize their work on this site, you can find over 50 poetic identities and 600 poems, over 20 musical identities and 28 hours of music, over 20 narrative identities, and thousands of pieces of identity-driven digital art. Add your voice to the mix!

Go to the collection! Artistic Identity

Collaborate/Participate

Participation in our project is an opportunity to deepen your understanding and expression of different identities. Renowned artists have utilized this platform to expand their artistic horizons, demonstrating its utility in professional-level artistic exploration. Your involvement contributes to enriching the dialogue around identity in art, while also offering a chance to own unique AI-generated creations.

We are actively seeking collaborators and participants of all backgrounds and professions, whether to help with the technical work, create art as a user, or facilitate an art workshop for students or clients. Please contact us if interested.

Please note that, at present, it takes about $3-5 of compute power to generate a full set of art works for a given identity, which is why we unfortunately cannot offer this as an automated service. We will try to accomodate all requests within our budget, but please let us know if in addition to participating, you would like to contribute to offsetting our costs or help those from underserved populations express their identities through art.

This project is more than just art creation; it’s about the exploration of self and the myriad identities that make up our world. As a participant, your contribution is invaluable to both the artistic community and the ongoing research in identity and the arts.

Project Philosophy

Unleashing Artistic Potential with Creative Technology - Our project reimagines the boundaries of artistic expression. It's rooted in the belief that creativity should be empowered by the imagination, not hindered by a lack of technical skill.

We embrace a world where everyone can be an artist, liberated from the constraints of technical expertise in specific domains. Our innovative technology serves as a bridge, transforming each individual's self-determined profile into a large collection of art, irrespective of the user's background in the art form.

Central to our ethos is the recognition of identity as a cornerstone of creativity. Each person's unique experiences and cultural background shape a distinctive artistic voice. Our goal is to harness this diversity, enabling our technology to interpret and manifest these personal identities into music, poetry, digital art, and beyond.

This project is more than a technological innovation; it's a movement towards democratizing art creation. It's about opening doors for anyone with a story to tell, a vision to share, or an emotion to express, through art. Join us in reshaping the landscape of creativity, where your imagination and identity are the only limits.

What is Identity?

Identity is a tapestry woven from the threads of our experiences, beliefs, and preferences. It includes aspects like gender expression and biographical details, but extends to nuances like favorite artists, philosophical beliefs, or even a love for puns. For professional poets, it might include the extensive use of the subjunctive, or a fondness for Emily Dickinson-like ambiguity.

One area of focus when designing this technology was to interact with identity in all its facets, whether they're deeply personal traits, seemingly trivial preferences, or elements of an artistic manifesto. This versatility allows users to explore and express the full spectrum of their identity through art, creating a space where every aspect of who they are can be celebrated.

Empowering Artists of All Backgrounds

You might wonder if this project is yet another instance of AI taking away autonomy from artists. Actually, it's exactly the opposite - a way you can "put on different hats" and decide which ones feel right, after which you can move on to creating automatically or manually. To us, artistic identity is something you can and should feel comfortable exploring, and we provide a unique platform to do that by allowing you to quickly stress-test a given identity against your artistic and personal vision. Importantly, each identity can create a vast number of different works of art, so you can really see the implications of declaring a certain identity. So go on - align yourself in your use of mythology with Yeats, or express a fondness for intense chromaticism in passages with rhythmic stability, and see where it leads you!

More Than Just ChatGPT

Our project transcends the capabilities of a typical chatbot like ChatGPT. Here, your artistic identity shapes a new "generative distribution" of art. In lay terms, this means the technology creates a range of art that's tuned to the nuances of your identity, regardless of the art form. Unlike naive use of ChatGPT, our technology allows you to create many distinct pieces, across multiple modalities, that fit together cohesively to produce a repertoire representative of your identity.

This approach ensures that not only is every piece of art a true reflection of you across various artistic domains, but the entire generated body of art paints a picture of you that's more than the sum of its parts. It's a fusion of technology and personal expression, generating art that is deeply connected to your individuality.

The Identity Matters Project - Exploring Artistic and Personal Identity with Creative Technologies