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THE RISE OF METACREATIVITY
This book brings together history and theory in art and media to examine the
effects of artificial intelligence and machine learning in culture, and reflects on
the implications of delegating parts of the creative process to AI.
In order to understand the complexity of authorship and originality in re
lation to creativity in contemporary times, Navas combines historical and the oretical premises from different areas of research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences to provide a rich historical and theoretical context that critically reflects on and questions the implications of artificial intelligence and machine learning as an integral part of creative production. As part of this, the book considers how much of postproduction and remix aesthetics in art and media preceded the current rise of metacreativity in relation to artificial intelligence and machine learning, and explores contemporary questions on aesthetics. The book also provides a thorough evaluation of the creative application of system atic approaches to art and media production, and how this in effect percolates across disciplines including art, design, communication, as well as other fields in the humanities and social sciences.
An essential read for students and scholars interested in understanding the
increasing role of AI and machine learning in contemporary art and media, and their wider role in creative production across culture and society.
Eduardo Navas Media Design in the School of Visual Arts, and Research Faculty in the Col lege of Arts and Architecture’s Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI) at Pennsylvania State University, where he researches and teaches principles of cultural analytics and digital humanities. Navas is the author of Remix Theory:

The Aesthetics of Sampling (2012), Art, Media Design, and Postproduction: Open
Guidelines on Appropriation and Remix (2018), and Spate: A Navigational Theory
of NetworksThe Routledge Companion to Remix Studies
(2014), (2017), and The Routledge Handbook of Remix
Studies and Digital Humanities (2021).

THE RISE OF
METACREATIVITY
AI Aesthetics After Remix
Eduardo Navas

Designed cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Eduardo Navas
The right of Eduardo Navas to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978-0-367-75882-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-75304-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-16440-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003164401
Typeset in Bembo by codeMantra

CONTENTS
List of Figures xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Precedents 1
Critical Context 2
Historical Context 4
Theoretical Context 6
Organization of Chapters 7
Metacreativity 11
Paradigms 12
PART I
Interstitial Paradigms 15
1 Labor 19
Labor and Specialization 21
Labor and Automation 27
Labor and Art 29

vi Contents
Labor and Remix 30
Labor and Artificial Intelligence 32
Delegation of Creative Labor 33
2 Modularity 39
Modularity and History 40
Modularity and Indexicality 42
Modularity, Culture, and Nature 43
Modularity, Art, and Design 44
Modularity After Remix 45
Modularity as Binder 47
3 Memory 51
External and Internal Memory 54
Memory and Artificial Intelligence 56
Memory and Remix 58
Memory, Emotion, and Embodiment 60
Metamemory 62
4 Technology 67
From Hardware to Software 69
Soft Labor and Posthumanism 70
Artificial Intelligence and Posthumanism 73
(Dis)embodied Technology After Soft Labor 75
(Dis)embodied AI Technology Remixed 76
The Other 79
5 Compression 83
The Informational Layer 85
Convenience 86
Innovation 87
Compression 88
Art, Compression, and Artificial Intelligence 90

Contents vii
6 Simulation 95
Simulation and the Real 97
Simulation After Simulacra and Simulation 98
Simulation and Hypermedia 101
Remediated Simulacra 102
Simulation and Artificial Intelligence 104
Metasimulacra 105
7 Environs 109
Domestication of Nature 111
Emergence and Complexity 114
Complex Networks 115
Emergence, Complexity, Remix, and Artificial Intelligence 117
Metareflections 118
PART II
Meta Paradigms 125
8 Art 127
Precedents in Modernism 129
Precedents in Postmodernism 133
Precedents in Conceptual Art 135
Precedents in Digital Art 138
Art and Metacreativity 141
9 Music 149
Precedents in DJ Culture 150
Precedents in Music 154
Artificial Intelligence and Music 157
Artificial Intelligence and Selectivity 160
Music and Remix After Artificial Intelligence 162

viii Contents
10 Media 166
Precedents in Media 167
Aesthetics of Image, Sound, and Text in Media 169
Compression and Media 174
Intelligent Media 175
Metarealities 178
11 Culture 183
Culture as a System 185
Culture and Artificial Intelligence 188
Culture, Remix, and Metacreativity 189
After Culture 192
12 History 196
Emergence of History 199
History and Compression 202
History and Allegory 203
History of Multiples 208
Recurrence in Versions 210
Interstitial and Meta Paradigms 214
PART III
Metacreativity 219
13 Principles of Metacreativity 221
Preliminaries 221
The Four Layers of Production and History 222
The Expansional Layer 222
The Optimizational Layer 224
The Modular Layer 224
The Informational Layer 225
Cultural Variables 226
Convenience 227

Contents ix
Innovation 227
Compression 228
The Loop of Appropriation and Selectivity 229
The Rise of Metacreativity 231
14 AI Aesthetics After Remix 234
Aesthetics and Labor 235
From the Historical Avant-Garde to the Meta-Avant-Garde 238
Echo-Creativity and Mashup Principles 241
Meme Aesthetics 243
AI Aesthetics 245
15 Conclusion: Tripartages 248
Meta-Realities: A Short Story 248
Writing as Composing: Shareable Creativity 250
Tripartages 252
Index 259

FIGURES
0.1 Diagram of the symbiotic relation of metacreativity,
interstitial paradigmsparadigms 13
12.1 Diagram of the framework of culture 200
13.1 The four layers of production 222
13.2 The four layers of production intertwined with forms of economic infrastructures
223
13.3 The four layers of production intertwined with historical eras 223
13.4 Diagram of three cultural variables and four layers of production 229
13.5 The loop of appropriation and selectivity 229
13.6 Diagram of metacreativity, the loop of appropriation and selectivity, the four layers of production, and the three cultural variables
230
15.1 Diagram of a tripartage 253
15.2 Diagram of tripartages as multiplicity 254
15.3 Sub-nodes riding on meta-dynamic intensities flowing among tripartages
255

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When I began doing research for this book, I could not imagine that part of
the writing process would include living through the COVID-19 Pandemic,
which remains prevalent. I could not imagine experiencing political instability
in the United States, where I live; and by far, I could have never imagined wit
nessing an unjustified war on Ukraine by Russia, which is likely to continue for
much longer than initially expected by experts. All of this while we continue to
experience a climate crisis that will only get worse. For these reasons, I wrote
this book with bigger questions about life in mind. And I hope that people will
reflect on the research and theories I present as starting points to move forward
together to build a strong and stable global society.
This book brings together research that, in a way, I began over twenty
years ago. It builds on ideas I published in previous books and articles. It is also
shaped by long-term intellectual exchanges with colleagues, collaborators, and
friends. In what follows I thank many people. I certainly am not able to include
everyone who is part of my support system, which is why I try to highlight
groups of individuals who helped me in one way or another.
I thank the faculty in The School of Visual Arts (SoVA) at The Pennsylvania
State University, who during the Pandemic came together to support everyone
in our community. My research is directly connected to my teaching, and I
thank Carlos Rosas and Andrew Hieronymi who oversee the Digital Arts and
Media Design Program, and Karen Keifer-Boyd who oversees the Art Educa
tion Program at SoVA for supporting the incorporation of emerging research
into our curriculum. I thank Director Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead and the
entire office staff at SoVA who make it possible for faculty to teach and do
research. A special thanks to Folayemi Wilson, Associate Dean for Access and

xiv Acknowledgments
Equity and Professor of Art who served as SoVA Interim Director for part of
the year 2022. I thank B Stephen Carpenter II, Dean of The College of Arts
and Architecture at The Pennsylvania State University, for his ongoing support
in all aspects of my teaching and research. I thank William Doan, Director
of the Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI) for supporting my ongo
ing research and practice activities, and for creating a strong interdisciplinary
community that brings together the arts, humanities, and sciences. I also thank
Mallika Bose, Associate Dean for Research and her assistants Barbara Cutler
and Tracie Mehalick for their continuing support. I thank Tara Caimi who
made possible five panel discussions on Remix Studies at ADRI throughout
2021 and 2022. The discussions that took place during the panels helped me
reflect on some ideas that are now part of this book.
I thank Robert Fraleigh, Kory Blose, Alexander Korte, Luke Meeken, and
Stephen Fast for our ongoing collaboration on data analytics and visualization.
Our many discussions and analyses about remix patterns in music and media,
while not part of this publication, helped me grasp the complexity of the in
creasing role automation plays across culture at large.
I thank xtine burrough and Owen Gallagher for being amazing friends,
colleagues, and collaborators. Our ongoing discussions on all things remix are
vital to my long-term interest in understanding creativity. I thank colleagues
who are part of my online community with whom I am fortunate to talk to
from time to time. If there is a silver lining to the Pandemic it is that online
video conversations became more common.
I thank all my undergraduate and graduate students who over the years took
my classes and produced studio projects and critical writing in response to my
lectures. Some of the ideas I shared with them are now part of this book. Many
thanks to many conference organizers who provided a space for me to test ini
tial ideas that eventually became essays and articles. I also thank editors at var-
ious academic journals where I published initial ideas, which at the time were
closer to theoretical fragments that are fully developed throughout this book.
Those chapters stand on their own. I provide proper citations throughout this
book whenever I reference related publications, or conference presentations.
I want to thank Erica Wetter, who initially considered my book proposal at
Routledge, and I thank Sheni Kruger who was so kind to reconsider my book
project after I put it on hold for over a year. Many thanks to Emma Sherriff at
Routledge, and Muhilan Selvaraj at Codemantra for keeping me on track to
finish my manuscript. Their patience and support in making sure all things fell
into place to meet deadlines were invaluable.
I thank peer reviewers who provided early feedback on my book proposal
and sample chapters, particularly Owen Kelly and John Vallier. A special thanks
to Joe Julian, ADRI Lead Investigator, who over the years shared his expert
knowledge on how the mind works. It was Joe who first told me that, in a way,
the mind remixes memories. His feedback on my writing provided a broader

Acknowledgments xv
sense of cultural variables as part of metacreativity. Another special thanks to
writer and producer, Larry V. Santana, for his critical feedback on my analysis
of films and media. I thank my wife and partner, Annie Mendoza, who, while
writing a major publication of her own, was kind enough to listen to my ideas
as I worked them out. She unselfishly read and provided feedback on selected
chapters. I dedicate this book to Juancarlos and Tina in remembrance of Greg
Kolacz, who left us too soon. And, as I have done in previous publications, I
dedicate this book to my two sons Oscar and Oliver. They continue to remind
me that what is important in life is to live it as well as you can with those you
love. Finally, this book is dedicated to empathy: a quality our world desperately
needs to survive.
—Eduardo Navas

DOI: 10.4324/9781003164401-1
INTRODUCTION
Precedents
I produced the online work Diary of a Star
1
between 2004 and 2007. The proj
ect was a critical take on blogging consisting of selected entries from The Andy
Warhol Diaries
2
Like sampling in music remixes, my purpose was to recontex
tualize the diary entries as an allegorical piece of art. As I was finishing the
project in 2007, I reflected on its actual production: much of it consisted of
selecting and retyping entries along with updates as blog posts I wrote on events
and issues Warhol mentioned in his diary. Blogging, at the time, consisted of
people reposting news items, quoting posts from other blogs or websites with
comments, writing new content as commentary on a news event, or a combi
nation of these possibilities. As I went through the daily process of posting on
my blog, I thought that it would be interesting if there was a way to automate
finding and producing content. And I asked myself, “What if content could
be produced for me according to my behavior, and I do not have to write it
at all?” I speculated on this possibility in terms of chance playing a role in the
type of content produced. I also considered this possibility an extension of
conceptual art in its own way following the tradition of Sherie Levine and
Marcel Duchamp.
3
Around the time that this question came into my mind,
I learned about TrackMeNot, a Firefox plug-in by Daniel C. Howe, Helen
Nissenbaum, and Vincent Toubiana.
4
I decided to install the plug-in to create
Traceblog,
5
a daily ghost log of my online searches. While I surfed the web,
TrackMeNot was activated with the aim to cover my online surfing, creating
searches I never performed. I came to consider
explored in Diary of a Star
private and public as seen by celebrities. With Traceblog

2 Introduction
fact that online corporations are data-mining people’s information. In terms of
selectivity, I appropriated (remixed) surf-logs and made them public as posts,
but this eventually was futile as search engines got better at overpassing the
plug-in, and I decided to stop working on
found most interesting about the project, besides aesthetic exploration, was that
I did not have to write the content—just focus on the process being completed;
in turn the content exposed a side of me that did not exist, but which was still
connected to my online persona: a ghost—a trace of what I could be based on
searches I never performed; content production was delegated to an algorithm.
All I needed to do was surf as I normally would, and at the end of my surfing
session, I downloaded the log and reposted it on Traceblog
Then I thought how even posting the content could be automated, but I did not
pursue automation for that project. It would be pointless because I was bringing
it to an end; I had decided to move on to a different online work that in its
own way was a combination of both Warhol’s diary and the Firefox plug-in.
6

My interest shifted to data mining and data visualization research, which I
continue to perform to this day.
7
And as I shifted my focus, machine learning
(ML) became popular, and automation of content-writing, itself, began to be
implemented across media.
8
Perhaps the most well-known and much written about open-source project
to date is Generated Pre-trained Transformer (GPT), which now is on its third
version.
9
This AI algorithm has been implemented by artists, data designers,
hackers, and creative individuals for experimental exploration, and by media
and communication corporations for efficiency in content production.
10
Artifi
cial intelligence has been increasingly implemented across all conceivable daily
activities. And, as it is covered throughout this book, when looking back at
history, we can notice that automation had been at the core of the Internet since
its foundation in one way or another. The level of selectivity written into com
puter programs has been more advanced since at least the 1990s culminating in
AI algorithms commonly referred to as ML. Basically, much of the delegation
of work that I speculated about in my own creative practice is now a reality
for all types of labor and mundane activities, functioning as meta-processes
of automation that are almost invisible to most people. Creative production
thrives with the support of an emerging shift in which metacreativity plays a
defining role. This book is a critical reflection on the implications of this cul
tural shift in terms of remix and aesthetics.
Critical Context
The Rise of Metacreativity: AI Aesthetics After Remix brings together principles
of postproduction and remix in relation to art, media, and culture in order to
reflect on the implications of delegating parts of the creative process to artificial
intelligence and ML. A pivotal query in this investigation is the changes in the

Introduction 3
cultural conception of the creative individual and collaboration in terms of
metacreativity: an advanced stage of production in which parts of the creative
process are automated. As artificial intelligence continues to develop, creativity
continues to be redefined beyond humanistic presumptions. To make sense of
this ongoing shift, the book considers the creative application of systematic
methods of communication in art and media production during earlier peri
ods, and how this in effect percolates across disciplines including art, design,
communication, and other relevant fields in the humanities, and social sciences.
Remix plays a key role in metacreativity as will be explained throughout
this book. Remix is a type of binder that brings together content, ideas, and
materials that may not be related, but once combined become something new
and unique.
11
This process had been mysterious to humans for most of our exis
tence, but since at least the time of postmodernism throughout the late 1960s
into the early 1990s, the creative process has been analyzed and scrutinized.
In postmodernism, it was commonly argued that nothing was original. Our
sense of borrowing from others became more transparent, and the privilege of
authorship was questioned. In turn, progress and history were questioned, thus
leading inevitably to our current period some scholars refer to as posthumanism
in which human existence is questioned, not only because of human’s undeni
able abuse of our planet, but because of the emergence of artificial intelligence
as a third variable that changes the pre-existing dualism between humans and
nature. During and after postmodernism communities tried to get past binaries
with the goal to move beyond confrontations that were clearly detrimental to
human long-term existence. The Cold War could arguably be considered a
major vestige of modern binaries that plagued people as a global experience.
But as I wrote this book, political economists and historians have reflected on
how the 2022 War of Ukraine is the result of a remnant ideology that goes back
to WWI, which WWII tried to resolve, but clearly could not.
12
The idea of
empire will not die, as Vladimir Putin tries to bring back a past that was and
remains unsustainable, claiming that the Soviet Union needs to be reestab
lished.
13
If nothing else, such a claim is proof that even with an awareness of
the past, historical tropes reemerge. As an ideology, historical demagogueries
remix themselves, and flow anew as concepts reshaping material reality.
Artificial intelligence forms part of our global reality on practical and ideo
logical terms. It can be operationalized to simulate possible futures, including
possibilities to travel to other worlds, as well as survival after a war. In terms of
the latter, AI has been used to simulate our apparent inevitable self-destruction
if nuclear warheads were to be deployed as an all-out attack by both the United
States and Russia.
14
Such research is urgent given the current global crisis. But
artificial intelligence beyond the existential threat under which I am finaliz
ing the introduction of this book mostly is integrated across the entire human
spectrum in ways that are unnoticeable. Just about every aspect of daily life is
dependent to some degree on AI technology. ML is everywhere, from paying

4 Introduction
for a cup of coffee with a personal bitcoin wallet to research projects on Mars.
Yet, the implications of artificial intelligence in terms of aesthetics have not
been explored as extensively as its broader cultural, political, and historical
implications.
My goal in this book is to examine how AI is changing our creative produc
tion and in turn aesthetics as a means for critical reflection. I consider aesthetics
as a foundational set of principles necessary to exercise the mind. Engaging in
aesthetic reflection is equivalent to physical exercise, not only to support the
resiliency of memory, but for critical thinking which is important for human
interaction on personal and abstract terms with others across the world. Critical
reflection is essential to practice empathy, and necessary for fair civil societies.
The importance of criticality on issues of our world through art in terms of aes
thetics must be promoted; doing so has the potential to break down the polarity
we currently experience in culture wars across the global political spectrum. AI
aesthetics, as a strand of aesthetics, in which human reflection and perception
of the world is reshaped functions in terms of metacreativity and is having a
major influence on human critical awareness. For this reason, I decided to bring
together my research in this book on how AI is connected to strands across
different areas of human history, culture, and media in close relation to art and
music in terms of remix.
Historical Context
Automation makes the process of appropriation and remix, not only more effi
cient but also more complex by creating an additional production layer that
reconfigures the role of the artist/author closer to that of a programmer devel
oping tools for selective production. ML, in particular, has become a subject of
creative exploration in the arts. A recent example that has been the subject of
major discussion among members of the art community and has been featured
on the national and international news is the auction of Edmond de Belamy,
from
15
The work
consists of a print created by an algorithm that learns to render based on a
dataset of drawings it analyzes to develop an image of its own. The project
raises several questions on creativity and authorship, including how the “hand”
of the artist may or may not be at play in the process. In this case, the project
questions authorship byway of potential plagiarism; Computer programmer
Robbie Barrat has accused the Obvious artist collective of using his algorithm
to produce the portrait without accreditation. The implications behind the pro
duction of this work touch on many questions previously explored by Marcel
Duchamp during the first half of the twentieth century, which were later revis
ited by conceptual artists during the second half, as well as net artists and new
media artists toward the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the
twenty-first.
16
This book considers these and other historical precedents in the

Introduction 5
arts and culture as well as in other areas of research through a number of par
adigms that evaluate the role of creative labor in the reconfiguration of pro
duction processes shared by humans and machines. Earlier periods beyond the
arts are also discussed in order to provide an evaluation of the broader impor
tance of aesthetics throughout history, eventually connecting such traces to AI
aesthetics.
The dissolution of critical distance, as previously defined, is being experi
enced at the time of this writing. In the past, history was generally understood
to emerge with an admittedly undefined sense of hindsight, which allowed
objectivity to emerge in order to assess previous events. But this undefined dis
tance for proper critical reflection lost its agency once we entered the current
just-in-time period when this book was written, which I refer to as postpro duction communication.
17
At this moment, we can record and/or stream live
events, which means that, once we have an awareness of the viral potential of networked communication, people can develop a sense that it is possible to watch history as it emerges just-in-time changes in human experience. For example, just-in-time-connectivity made possible the Arab Spring in 2011. And more recently, it provided cultural strength for social justice organizations such as Black Lives Matters to gain stronger momentum as an activist movement, when a video of George Floyd gasping for air under the knee of a police officer went viral across social media almost immediately after he died.
18
Many other African American deaths due
to encounters with police officers or hostile private individuals have become part of the media landscape before and after Floyd’s death, but his brutal mur der in front of a crowd who recorded the event as it happened was the tipping point for African Americans and people of color to become proactive in fight ing racism and social injustice with numerous protests during the COVID-19 Pandemic, not just in the United States, but around the world.
Postproduction communication also played a major role during the Janu
ary 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which were shown live on television while simultaneously streamed across social media. The speed of communication has made the experience of life-changing events so immediate that commenting on occurrences as they happen has led to an almost knee- jerk reaction of constant self-reference, often embodied in memes and social commentary across culture. The term “that's so meta” which has been part of the vernacular since the early 2000s is but a reflection of our current media saturation. Contemporary media relies on incessant recycling of content that is not only reposted, but remixed at increasing speeds, to the point that just about all cultural elements are commenting on themselves. Perhaps this is the reason why Facebook decided to change its corporate name to Meta. I began writing this book three years before FB announced its new name, and when I learned about their decision, I considered it as another symptom of the increas ing speed of content circulation that continues to challenge our ability to make

6 Introduction
sense of our ever-changing cultural environment.
19
Artificial intelligence is
popularly promoted as the element that will help humans keep up with the
exponential growth of content production—which, as it appears, will expand
the natural realm into virtual realms created across what is currently referred
to as the metaverse. For this reason, the creative dynamic of humans and AI
algorithms in our current moment is the subject that needs close examination;
doing so will expose the real questions behind the incessant exploration of AI
as a supposed key driver for humanity’s future, which leads to expounding the
theoretical motivations behind this book.
Theoretical Context
This book does not focus on technical aspects of artificial intelligence. The goal
of this investigation is to engage and analyze the ideological and cultural impli
cations of artificial intelligence as part of the creative process. For this reason,
the book includes examples from the arts, humanities, social science, and data
science. Sci-fi, films, and literature are discussed along with scientific research,
literary theory, and art historical accounts, among other research across disci
plines to offer a broad yet focused overview of metacreativity as the result of
an advanced stage of cultural production informed and shaped by non-human
actors, which in this case are ML algorithms commonly referred to as artificial
intelligence.
The book is in part a theoretical exploration of what artificial intelligence
in the past was envisioned could be, in relation to what it is at the time of this
writing. Inevitably throughout the chapters, some speculation on where AI
could go in the future is offered. Such speculative premises are informed by
actual research in respective fields discussed throughout the book. Skeptical
readers should not be quick to dismiss possible ways AI could develop simply
because technology may not be at a point where such propositions are possible.
Being aware of this skeptical position, I provide research sources on possible
futures. After all, much of the technology we experience and use today was
pure sci-fi speculation just a few decades ago. For what else is the metaverse,
which is in the process of becoming a reality? It was a sci-fi concept introduced
by Neal Stepheson in his 1992 book Snow Crash
20
that now is worth billions of
dollars to large-cap tech companies. The irony, arguably, is that such a concept
comes from a dystopian vision of our future, which corporations such as Meta
consider worth long-term investment.
The creative aspects of AI and ML form part of the driving forces of con
temporary media, and understanding the process behind them is crucial not
just for creative individuals in any field of the arts and humanities, but also for
people who analyze and proactively participate in the shaping of culture. Based
on this foundational approach, the book is unique in that it focuses on AI to
specifically evaluate the role of creative production across culture and society,

Introduction 7
by using art, media, and forms of communication as frames of analysis. The
goal is to make evident why AI aesthetics, as part of aesthetics broadly speaking,
is an important variable in the shaping of the world in conjunction with other
areas such as science and politics. For this reason, the book does not go into
technical jargon unless necessary, and in such cases, the terms are explained as
they are introduced. The reader is not expected to have any knowledge of the
concepts discussed.
The Rise of Metacreativity: AI Aesthetics After Remix is a contribution to remix
studies, written to be relevant across various areas of research. Some of the
fields of relevance include Art, Design, Communication, Education, Digital
Humanities, Music, Sound Studies, Literature, New Media, Media & Culture,
Visual and Cultural Studies among others.
The theories proposed introduce new terminology and conceptual frame
works that are among many other ways to conceptually map the current infor
mational landscape humanity finds itself in. The terms selected as titles for each
chapter were evaluated on their cultural importance and organized to provide
a coherent cognitive map of creativity in relation to remix and artificial intel
ligence. Artists, scholars, and researchers in diverse disciplines are sure to find
other ways and terminology to discuss the same issues and topics I analyze
throughout this book; and for this reason, my argument should not be consid
ered more than what it is: a framework among many; a theoretical exploration
of creativity and aesthetics in relation to computing, culture, and human his
tory. What stands in this research, no matter what terminology or disciplinary
language a particular scholar may prefer, is that what I describe and theorize
about is taking place and cannot be denied: creativity and aesthetics are being
redefined by the emergence of an advanced stage of smart automation. Ulti
mately, people need to be critically engaged in questioning the cultural shifts
that took place when I wrote this very sentence, as well as the shifts taking place
as they read this very sentence; because all of us are subjected to what metacre
ativity in terms of AI makes possible.
Organization of Chapters
The Rise of Metacreativity: AI Aesthetics After Remix is organized to examine
how art and media are intertwined with all major aspects of contemporary
production and how they also affect the existential questions behind comput
ing. This is possible by engaging the history of computers in correlation with
the history of art, media, and culture. The chapters are organized to make the
historical precedents across these paradigms transparent, and they can be read
in sequential order, in order to get the full narrative arc. They can also be read
in any order according to the reader’s preference. Footnotes throughout the
book function as guides that connect concepts that are discussed across the
chapters.

8 Introduction
The book has a total of 15 chapters, which are preceded with a definition
of metacreativity and related terms that inform the overall theory. I will not
go over each chapter in this introduction because they are organized into three
parts that provide respective abstracts. Instead, in what follows, I will go over
the general organization of the parts.
The book consists of three major interwoven parts: interstitial paradigms,
meta paradigms, and metacreativity. The three parts and their respective chap
ters are organized to function as a modular thread that makes apparent how the
different paradigms intertwine with metacreativity. Part I is titled “Interstitial
Paradigms” and consists of seven chapters: “Labor,” “Modularity,” “Memory,”
“Technology,” “Compression,” “Simulation,” and “Environs.” Each focuses
on the respective terms in order to examine how interstitial paradigms func
tion in-between meta paradigms that people in general are likely to recog
nize in one way or another as part of daily reality. Interstitial paradigms can
also be considered cultural variables that have informed creative production
and shaped forms of communication throughout history. Part II, “Meta Para
digms,” includes five chapters titled: “Art,” “Music,” “Media,” “Culture,” and
“History.” These chapters evaluate more recognized discourses that interstitial
paradigms symbiotically support. These paradigms often are identified as major
drivers of cultural change, and each is discussed to reflect on their importance
according to their own process of legitimation both institutionally as well as on
popular terms. Part III, called “Metacreativity,” includes three chapters titled
“Principles of Metacreativity,” “AI Aesthetics,” and “Conclusion: Tripartages.”
In the last part theoretical premises are revisited with the goal to offer a cohe
sive theory of metacreativity in relation to AI aesthetics. A closing reflection
provides questions on AI aesthetics and the future of human creative produc
tion by exposing tripartite processes, referred to as tripartages, in which the
creative process, itself, is the focus.
What I have set out to do throughout The Rise of Metacreativity: AI Aesthetics
After Remix
and is connected to human history. I demonstrate in this book that such a
creative process is supported with meta forms, intensities, and qualities that
flow through different frameworks that provide humans with the means to
make decisions that can be fair and ethical. I do believe, if I am to believe
anything, that fairness based on ethics and morality is a better way to engage
with the conflicts of the world. The most basic way to know if something is
“right” or “wrong” is by placing (projecting) oneself in a specific situation, and
if one decides that such a situation is not something one would favor for one
self, or find beneficial to one’s well-being, so it should be for the person who
may be subjected to such reality.
21
In turn, decisions should be made that not
only treat the symptom, but more importantly the cause of such reality. This
should be performed with basic empathy, something people appear to exercise
selectively to favor only their in-groups, while otherizing anyone deemed an

Introduction 9
outsider. This has reached a dangerous point at the time of this writing when
in-groups are increasingly becoming violent toward anyone labeled as “other.”
This has been the reasoning for wars in the past, and it currently is the case as
the War in Ukraine is still taking place as I complete this introduction. But the
swift efficiency with which hate and in-group justification is deployed across
networks makes the current global toxic environment unprecedented. Artifi
cial intelligence, paradoxically, is being used to create layers of separation that
exacerbate the dehumanizing process of anyone considered the other
this reason, this book was written to offer a framework: a cognitive map that
makes it possible for anyone, who is willing to have an open mind, to detach
from self-interest and be able to understand how everything in our world is
connected; and that the reasons why there is an “us and them” is due to an ide
ology of hate that has proven to be the most persistent virus
Such ideology is everywhere hiding in plain sight. Its elusiveness is discussed
throughout this book in relation to metacreativity and AI aesthetics with the
purpose to confront it for what it is and to find ways to engage it head on. If
there is any positive aspect of posthumanism as a discourse by its proponents, it
may well be this possibility.
Notes
1 Eduardo Navas, Diary of a Star
2 Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries
1991).
3 I wrote about this in an essay in which I discuss conceptual art and net art. Eduardo
Navas, “Traceblog,” Net Works: Case Studies in Web Art and Design
burrough (New York: Routledge, 2012), 140–142.
4 Daniel C. Howe, Helen Nissenbaum, and Vincent Toubiana, TrackMeNot May 1, 2022, https://mrl.cs.nyu.edu/~dhowe/trackmenot/.
5 Eduardo Navas, Traceblog
6 The next project combined elements of Diary of a Star and Traceblog. on Theodor Adorno’s book of aphorisms, Minima MoraliaMin ima Moralia Redux com/. I wrote a paper about the project: Eduardo Navas, “Rhetoric and Remix: Reflections on Adorno’s Minima Moralia,” Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric (2/3): 68–78, accessed May 4, 2022, http://contemporaryrhetoric.com/archive/.
7 My research on data mining has focused on image, sound, and text. It can be found on my websites: http://remixtheory.net, http://remixdata.net. Adorno’s project mentioned in footnote 5 is a data-mining project focusing on text.
8 For more on my ongoing research, see http://navasse.net, http://remixtheory.net, and http://remixdata.net.
9 For an explanation of GPT3 see “GPT-3 Powers the Next Generation of Apps,” accessed May 1, 2022, https://openai.com/blog/gpt-3-apps/.
10 A list of places using GPT can be found on Openai’s website listed in footnote 8.
11 This is discussed in my first book, Eduardo Navas, Remix Theory: The Aesthetics of Sampling “Regenerative Culture,” Norient Journal https://norient.com/academic/regenerative-culture-part-15.

10 Introduction
12 Fiona Hill explains how the current Ukraine War is linked to World War I in
the podcast, “Putin’s Endgame: A Conversation With Fiona Hill,” The Daily, New
York Times
daily/fiona-hill-ukraine-russia-ezra-klein.html?
13 Roger Cohen, “The Making of Vladimir Putin: Tracing Putin’s 22-Year Slide From Statesman to Tyrant,” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/26/world/europe/vladimir-putin-russia.html.
14 A visualization of this possible scenario has been made public. The results are not optimistic as 94 million people would die under an hour. See, Alex Glaser, “Plan A,” accessed May 4, 2022, https://sgs.princeton.edu/the-lab/plan-a.
15 Ibid.
16 For details on this process, see Chapter 8, “Art.”
17 This loss of critical distance was perceived in the late 1990s. See Rosalind Krauss, A Voyage on the North Sea: Art in the Age of the Post-Medium Condition (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000).
18 A chronology of events is available on the NY Times website, “How George Floyd Died, and What Happened Next,” The New York Times May 8, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html.
19 I discuss Facebook’s name change to Meta in the conclusion of this book.
20 Neal Stephenson,
21 I also discuss this at length in terms of empathy in Eduardo Navas, “RS (Remix Studies) + DH (Digital Humanities): Critical Reflections on Chance and Strategy for Empathy,” The Routledge Handbook of Remix Studies and Digital Humanities Eduardo Navas, Owen Gallagher, Xtine Burrough (New York: Routledge, 2021), 140–156.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003164401-2
METACREATIVITY
In this brief section, metacreativity is defined in relation to interstitial par
adigms and meta paradigms. Their relation is covered in detail throughout
the chapters of this book, and their definitions are fully defined in Part III,
Chapter 13. The terms are presented upfront, in this instance, for readers to
keep basic definitions in mind as they engage with Parts I and II. Each chapter
points to other chapters whenever terms discussed in-depth in one chapter are
mentioned in another, thereby enabling the reader to look into specific topics
or terms in no specific order according to interest. The chapters can be read
in any order, keeping in mind what is outlined below will support a nonlinear
selective reading approach for the rest of the book.
*****
In popular culture, “metacreativity” has been used to describe a type of mental
ability in Dungeons & DragonsForgotten Realms
1
In cognitive
psychology, the term is discussed as a distinct self-awareness of the creative pro
cess.
2
In data science, the term has been used specifically to describe computer
simulation of creative self-awareness.
3
In this book, the definition of metacre
ativity overlaps in part with those of cognitive psychology and data science
while adding connotation in terms of AI aesthetics. Metacreativity, in this case,
is used to refer to an advanced stage of creative production that is transparent
to humans as a process that consists of reinterpreting and repurposing material
previously produced. Such process falls under our understanding of remix, and
its increasing dependency on AI automation to enhance the concept of cre
ativity beyond what could be accomplished solely by humans. To move further

12 Metacreativity
with metacreativity in relation to AI aesthetics, we need to look at the basic
definition of each word that makes up the term.
Metacreativity is a compound word consisting of metacreativity
Meta means to refer to itself; it can also denote a change in position, as
in metamorphosis, and it also implies something that comes later, or after
an event already known. In terms of linguistics, it could mean a higher
order language as in “metalanguage.”1 Creativity means the ability to use
one’s imagination. The dictionary specifically connects the term to artistic
work.
4
Based on these two definitions, we can define metacreativity
variable that emerges when the creative process moves beyond human produc
tion to include non-human systems. Note that in terms of metacognition this
is much broader from a person having awareness of the creative process, but,
as it is discussed in the chapter about memory in this book, such processes are
not always embodied.
5
Metacreativity, as an abstract concept, can be consid
ered the next cultural stage of posthumanism, in which human production can
be delegated to non-human agents or actors or collective flow of intensities.
6

This definition includes artificial intelligence and machine learning, but the
term can expand beyond AI as is currently understood. For emerging intelli
gent technology, specifically, this means that non-human entities, agents, and/
or actors are able “to learn” in order to produce something through what is
commonly considered a creative process. At the time of this writing, metacre
ativity delegates parts of creative labor to self-training algorithmic machines.
7

In the stage of metacreativity, artificial intelligence, while freeing humans from
labor-intensive performance of repetitive actions so that humans can focus on
broader issues that inform the creative process also pushes humanity to question
its own identity.
Parts of the definition above are revisited in chapters throughout this book.
The definition of metacreativity is likely to evolve beyond the framing in this
book as the creative process continues to be redefined. The next section goes
over interstitial and meta paradigms on and through which metacreativity takes
place.
Paradigms
Metacreativity is at play across cultures through various intertwined para
digms. Each paradigm is italicized in the following paragraphs for brevity, and
each has a dedicated chapter which is also listed the first time the paradigm is
mentioned. The paradigms are not fully defined in this section because they
are discussed at length in respective chapters in Parts I and II. Instead, they are
contextualized in the form of a cognitive map that should help in understand
ing their interconnectivity (Figure 0.1).

Metacreativity 13
Interstitial Paradigms
Interstitial paradigms, as the term implies, are not always perceived by people
and can be taken for granted. They make possible the emergence of meta
paradigms, which are generally more recognizable across cultures.
(Chapter 1) functions in correlation with the domestication of natural resources;
its streamlining, supported by innovation and optimization, leads to specializa
tions which in turn make it possible to think of material elements as parts or
modules.
ment of labormemory
humans develop a sense of our past according to the human conception of time
as configurable in order to evaluate the future. Technology
humans to reference and reconstruct memories
ciples of modularitylabor
through constant
turn supports simulation
modeling of possible scenarios. Simulationlabor
according to technological innovation.
self-fulfilling scenarios that put into question reality, consequently disrupting the
status quo in positive and negative ways. The result of the relation of the previous
interstitial paradigms has led to dire repercussions on the environment; hence,
considering them in terms of environs (Chapter 7) is crucial to critically reflect on
the implications of meta paradigms in terms of cultural production.
Meta Paradigms
Meta paradigms are recognizable as commonly understood concepts that
define daily reality. They provide concrete means for sharing information,
to
communicate, and to explore creativity, and are supported by interstitial
art media culturemusic history
labor
modularity
memory
technology
compression
simulation
environs
ular
co
nolo uladul
metacreativit
Metacreativity fows across all paradigms via modularit
FIGURE 0.1 Diagram of the symbiotic relation of metacreativity, interstitial para
digms, and meta paradigms.

14 Metacreativity
paradigms.
liest days of cultures around the world. Music
human cultural evolution since the early days. Both artmusic
be considered foundational and integral to mediamedia
was not a distinct and recognizable paradigm until the emergence of mechan
ical reproduction in the nineteenth century. C (Chapter 11), which goes
back to early human times, and as archeological findings demonstrate, included
music and art even in prehistorical times. History
be considered a paradigm under which all the other meta paradigms function,
can best be evaluated according to cultural contexts because (as history itself
has proven and is discussed in the respective chapters of CultureHistory
culture frames the actual writing of history. In other words, interpretations and
narratives, which are culturally defined, have a contentious role in the fair
assessment of facts and the reality in which they are negotiated in the process
of writing history.
Meta paradigms can be considered cultural modules that inform each
other by making the most of interstitial paradigms, and their interconnectiv
ity enables principles of metacreativity come into play with the support of AI
aesthetics. Chapters in Parts I and II of this book go over how metacreativity
is at play across interstitial paradigms and meta paradigms. Part III goes over
principles of metacreativity that expand on the cognitive map above and the
arguments posed in Parts I and II. The last chapter discusses AI aesthetics after
remix, and the conclusion reflects on the possibilities of creativity once AI is
fully integrated into all aspects of human activity.
Notes
1 “Metacreativity,” Forgotten Realms Wiki: accessed May 5, 2022, https://
forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Metacreativity.
2 Zemira R. Mevarech and Nurit Paz-Baruch, “Meta-Creativity: What Is It and How Does It Relate to Creativity?” Metacognition and Learning 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-022-09290-2.
3 Simo Linkola, Anna Kantosalo, Tomi Männistö, Hannu Toivonen, “Aspects of Self-Awareness: An Anatomy of Metacreative Systems,” 189–196, Association for Computational Creativity (ACC), 2017, https://researchr.org/publication/ LinkolaKMT17.
4 New Oxford American Dictionary, Apple app 2021, s.v. “creativity.”
5 For external memory see Chapter 3, “Memory” in this book.
6 Intensities is a word used throughout this book. Its connotation derives from Deleuze and Guatarri. See Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia versity of Minnesota Press, 1987).
7 Machines in this case stand for a broad concept that is both conceptual and material. It relies on Deleuze’s theory of the body without organs. See Introduction of this book for more. For the actual theory see Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, “Desir ing Machines,” Anti Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia Mark Seem, Helen R. Lane (New York: Penguin Books, 1977), 1–50.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003164401-3
PART I
Interstitial Paradigms
Interstitial paradigms are interwoven throughout culture and support meta
paradigms, which are generally more recognizable and, in some cultures, are
considered actual institutions or industries. Interstitial paradigms as the term
implies can go unnoticed but are integral for complex cultures to function and
thrive.
Part I includes seven chapters: “Labor,” “Modularity,” “Memory,” “Tech
nology,” “Compression,” “Simulation,” and “Environs.” The chapters provide
an in-depth analysis of a specific paradigm in relation to artificial intelligence,
remix, and metacreativity. Each chapter builds on others with a clear relation to
meta paradigms, which, in turn, are discussed in Part 2. The relation of inter
stitial and meta paradigms to metacreativity is discussed in Part 3.
In Chapter 1, “Labor,” major aspects of human activity are defined. It pro
vides an overview of labor in relation to specialization and automation, and
considers how, during the time of metacreativity AI and machine learning
reconfigure labor as an enhanced and streamlined extension of human pro
duction, communication, and creative expression. The chapter examines how
labor has evolved in relation to four layers of production consisting of the
expansional, the optimizational, the modular, and the informational. It then
evaluates how labor continues to play a role in the shaping of art and remix with
the ongoing implementation of artificial intelligence.
Chapter 2, “Modularity,” focuses on the ability to produce, interact, com
municate, and create with discrete objects and conceptual models. In both
cases, modularity privileges swappable pieces or elements (parts) that can be
interchanged and/or recombined with other pieces or elements. This paradigm
develops contingently with the stabilization of specialization and automation
in terms of labor. Modularity is also discussed in relation to history, nature,

16 Interstitial Paradigms
culture, art, and principles of indexicality in order to evaluate its relation to
artificial intelligence and metacreativity.
Chapter 3, “Memory,” is a critical reflection on what takes place once prin
ciples of modularity support models of research and practice for accessing infor
mation, and how this conceptualizes memory to function in terms of modules
that are reconfigurable. The chapter offers an evaluation of memory currently
being considered in constant reconstruction, which in turn affects the human
understanding of the past, while shaping, both, the present and the future.
Memory is contextualized in relation to artificial intelligence and remix to
reflect on how external memory with the purpose to enhance human memory
may evolve in the future, as humans become increasingly reliant on AI to find
ways to assure possible stability for recalling past events.
Chapter 4, “Technology,” goes over the ways in which material and con
ceptual tools reshape human actions to form a modularized global society. The
chapter evaluates technology as a type of binder that makes interstitial and meta
paradigms efficient amongst themselves. The concept of soft labor is discussed
as a specific form of work that becomes predominant with the ubiquity of com
puting. The chapter first goes over important moments in computing innova
tion that lead up to artificial intelligence to then evaluate such achievements in
terms of posthumanism, remix, and metacreativity.
Chapter 5, “Compression,” considers humans’ ability to compact things
leading to ever-increasing efficiency. It discusses compression in relation to the
concepts of convenience and innovation in close relation with capitalism as the
driving force behind artificial intelligence. The chapter examines the acceler
ation of technology as an abstract process of value creation by contextualizing
such a process in relation to three cultural variables: compression, innovation,
and convenience. These variables thrive on the informational layer, which in
turn supports a networked economy that continues to achieve unprecedented
efficiency with ongoing implementation of artificial intelligence. The chapter
ends with an evaluation of compression and its supplementary variables in rela
tion to art, remix, and artificial intelligence.
Chapter 6, “Simulation,” focuses on simulation’s cultural role in the prag
matic development of computing and eventually the current rise of artificial
intelligence. It focuses on simulacra’s cultural role in the pragmatic develop
ment of possible scenarios with real-life repercussions that resonate with specific
needs for ideological engagement supported by mediation through remediation
of media. For in-depth analysis of this tripartite deployment of simulacra, the
chapter specifically examines the way simulation is at play across cultures in
three specific ways: as emulation of the real world, which is useful to enact
possible scenarios and outcomes for practical purposes; as an ideological space
that pushes people to interpret the world with specific ideas in mind; and as a
means to engage with media by analyzing how it is used to experience imme
diacy through mediated forms. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the

Interstitial Paradigms 17
instability of knowledge access and the constant challenge to assess what can
be considered true.
Chapter 7, “Environs,” considers humans’ relation to the environment. It
builds on the analysis from previous chapters to assess the role that artificial
intelligence plays in humans’ ongoing drive to implement technological inno
vation to control all things in the world, and how this drive appears to be det
rimental to the future of the planet. It specifically considers humans’ relation
to the environment based on theories of complexity and emergence, which in
terms of remix function as modular complexity in relation to nature. It con
cludes with a reflection on AI’s emerging role as a metavariable constructed
to expand human capacities that rely on a territorial ideology that needs to be
superseded if humans are to find constructive ways to participate in an emer
gent and complex process that intertwines culture and nature.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003164401-4
1
LABOR
Upon entering the art gallery space, the visitor encounters a robot producing
a low hum, slowly moving parallel to the walls. It draws vertical lines, some of
which are rendered larger when the room is filled with individuals.
Sabrina Raaf’s Translator II: Grower
draws variations of green and brown lines on a special paper or, occasionally,
on the gallery wall to record a carbon dioxide reading of the gallery space. The
drawings metaphorically resemble fields of grass. I first wrote about this work
in relation to nature as “the subject of contemplation and critique,”
1
and con
sidered the installation a critical reflection on the history of the gallery space:
The robot’s acknowledgment of gallery visitors through the reading of
carbon dioxide levels can be viewed as a critical gesture on behalf of Raaf
on the displacement of the body with the rising pervasiveness of infor
mation and its deployment through global connectivity, which is one of
the elements experienced by most people who migrate from their place
of origin to another part of the world.
2
In my initial writing about Raaf’s work, I was not considering artificial intel
ligence as the main subject of analysis for the exhibition. It was “glocal” labor
that informed my curation for Transitio’s Biennale in 2009.
3
What I did note
at the time, however, is the premise that informs the subject of focus for this
chapter that is pivotal to the rise of metacreativity: the delegation of creative
labor. If there is anything that drives automation and its current reliance on
machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence, it is justifying the develop
ment of self-training technology as a means to streamline the production for
all cultural forms.

20 Interstitial Paradigms
Physical labor is at the foundation of civilizations. It is the most basic act for
survival, which is compartmentalized into four layers: The expansional layer,
the optimizational layer, the modular layer, and the informational layer (these
will be discussed in detail in the following section).
4
As each of these layers
is configured to work together for efficiency, the result is the optimization of
repetitive actions that eventually do not need to be performed by humans but
by “someone” if not “something.” Based on this premise machines were inte
grated into daily production of all types, and they continue to be constantly
designed to meet efficiency demands. Considering the constant delegation of
labor to different types of automation, Raaf’s robot becomes a critical com
mentary on the human drive to create a comfortable concept of nature that
fits human reality, which is optimized for exponential efficiency with the least
amount of discomfort.
But what could happen when humans are unable to produce at a pace of cap
italistic development itself? In this regard humans may become a burden given
our inability to keep up, thus humans turning into an obstacle.
5
In this sense,
human labor is superseded in repetitive jobs consisting of manual and service
labor, and those unable to adapt to the new forms of production will face
real challenges as societies relying heavily on information become increasingly
defined by automation of labor across all areas of human production. This shift
is largely driven by the optimization of labor by machines over humans with
the purpose to have the largest profits possible.
Considering the broader implications of automation of labor what we find
in Raaf’s work is the compression of human’s relation to nature and the world.
The drawings of grass produced by the reading of carbon dioxide in the gallery
space point to our destructive relation with the world, because the bigger the
line drawn, the higher reading of CO
2 in the room. While higher grass would
normally illustrate a strong environment; in this case, it represents human pro
duction of a natural gas that is detrimental to humans if they were to breathe
too much of it.
With global warming and climate change, in mind, the relation between
labor and nature is more pronounced at the time of this writing. Grower
effect, is a delegated trope for labor toward our own potential demise to become
more efficient with less effort; all in search not of being a better society, but of
reaping profits from the very world we live in at the cost of our own extinction.
How we arrived at this paradoxical moment needs to be reflected upon, and
what follows is a review of historical precedents that lead to our current state of
unrelenting self-destruction for the sake of short-term interests. In this chapter,
I consider how labor and aesthetics are intertwined in our current understand
ing of creativity, and how creative processes have played a major role in the
development of new technology. This chapter considers how specialization of
labor evolves in relation to four layers of production that frame labor in terms
of expansion, optimization, modularity, and information. It then evaluates how

Labor 21
labor based on the interrelation of these four layers is constantly redefined while
also playing a role in the shaping of art and remix with the ongoing implemen
tation of artificial intelligence.
Labor and Specialization
Labor is a term often used interchangeably with the term work. Both imply the
act of doing something for a living.
6
Labor and work have a general connota
tion founded on physical action. The terms may also be related to producing
something that can be evaluated on some practical level or in tangible form.
Labor in the development of civilizations finds its roots in agriculture.
7
As
cultures and societies developed, this led to complex systems in different parts
of the world that produced hierarchies generally understood in terms of those
who worked the land and those who oversaw the work. This separation took
place in different forms throughout the world prior to the enlightenment. Once
Europeans discovered the Americas, new forms of economic production, par
ticularly those linked to mercantilism paved the way for the current global
capitalist system. A new stage of economic production eventually developed
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries known as the industrial era. This is
the time when factories were built in large cities of Europe and the Americas
in particular, according to a broad implementation of major infrastructure for
regional growth. This stage was followed by the postindustrial period, which
was the rise of service-based economies that would increasingly become reli
ant on information-based knowledge in order to thrive; and by the end of the
twentieth century, we entered the information age.
The chronological development of labor and work described above, is well-
known and can be considered common knowledge; it is briefly mentioned
here in order to reframe it as a reconfigurable set of sequential events, which
are useful to examine and to understand the interrelation of four major lay
ers of production: the expansional, the optimizational, the modular, and the
informational. The first three layers in terms of Western history have played a pronounced role in agriculture, industrialization, and postindustrialization. The fourth layer has greater emphasis in current times. The chronological development of labor and technology is discussed in the context of the four layers with an emphasis on human production on this occasion because, as is argued in later chapters that specifically focus on metacreativity, all of the nat ural and cultural variables at play across the layers exist in potentia sider natural and cultural development in terms of vectoral (ever-
expanding)
variables that are deployable when specific circumstances demand for such deployment in relation to technological innovation.
8
These layers continue to
enhance each other, and in current times, are increasingly dependent on arti ficial intelligence technology for efficiency in human activities. The follow ing sections consider how the four layers support our global reality, and how

22 Interstitial Paradigms
artificial intelligence is playing a major role in reshaping their interrelation.
Note that while these layers are discussed chronologically according to specific
periods of production: agriculture, industrialization, and postindustrialization,
because of technological innovation, their relation should not be thought of
in linear terms, or as a specific type of “progress.” Rather, they should be
approached as non-linear because they emerged as their interrelation became
more complex, allowing layers to thrive as technology was and continues to
be developed. All layers remain relevant and continue to increase in efficiency
through their ongoing symbiotic flux.
9
The Expansional Layer
On the expansional layer formulations of material and cultural production are
established; the definition of territory, and possibilities to expand labor in rela
tion to natural and human resources are at play.
Delegation of work emerged early on in societies; hierarchical compart
mentalization plays a key role in the allocation of labor to certain parties. Agri
culture was a specialized form of food production that, as it became more
complex, eventually was compartmentalized. In this sense, the efficiency of
any type of production leads to constant evaluation of labor for an increase in
productivity based on streamlining of specific procedures, consistently depen
dent on growth.
Historian Ferdinand Braudel observed that once agriculture emerged as a
stable force of human civilization, and demand for goods increased, the limits
of human labor became evident. Humans, in effect, implemented technolog
ical innovation since the early days of agriculture to keep up with the needs
of their communities. Invention of the plough, for example, was possible with
the understanding that it would be powered by the pull of animals such as the
ox, buffalo, xebus, and eventually horses once they became less expensive.
10

These animals were in effect used as extensions of simple or repetitive actions
to enhance mainly brute physical force for efficiency. It is worth noting that the
value of the labor performed by these animals combined with hardware was
calculated mainly in terms of force in relation to human strength.
11
Human labor was, nevertheless, valued for specific jobs that required more
than basic repetition; to fulfill this material need, slavery was implemented
since the early days of civilizations. Slavery is integral to the foundation of the
United States, as natives from Africa were traded.
12
People in power eventu
ally arrived at the conclusion that humans’ real strength was ultimately not in
physical prowess, but in the conception of ideas—inventions. Braudel notes this
several times throughout his research. He points out that “man, using his mus
cles alone, is not a very powerful engine.” He also adds that humans’ strength is
not physical but rather the ability to implement technology for labor: “Man had

Labor 23
many tools at his disposal, some of them dating from the distant past: hammers,
axes, saws, tongs, and spaces[. . .]”
13
Agriculture was the main form of labor in most areas of the world up until
the eighteenth century,
14
and it remains part of the expansional layer upon
which the other three layers depend for their ongoing development and sta
bility. The expansional layer, should not be considered to be part of the past,
because it thrives just as strongly in contemporary times. Today, speculative
innovation takes place on the expansional layer: going to the moon is part of
the expansional layer under the auspice of colonization, and the possibility to
build off-world colonies in places such as Mars is moving away from science
fiction to potential investments in venture capital.
15
The Optimizational Layer
On the optimizational layer activities become more specific, thus the layer sup
ports development often associated with what would be considered the indus
trial and postindustrial period. Arguably the most pronounced features of the
industrial period are the streamlining of repetitive labor contingent with the
use of specialized machines making production more efficient and profitable.
16

The most obvious example of this is the emergence of the factory, which made
it possible for people who lived in the countryside to move to the city for stable
jobs. The first factory, according to history was a silk mill in Derby England,
established by John and Thomas Lombe in 1721.
17
However, the factory that
may come to people’s mind at first may well be the car factory, which was the
conception of Henry Ford, who mainly streamlined the features of automation
to assign one function to a single person to perform all day.
18
This reduc
tive stripping of labor from compartmentalized actions to be performed with
carefully synchronized repetition became the model for all factories in more
advanced stages of industrialization.
The factory was the subject of awe for artists and intellectuals alike, which
at the same time, as industrialization evolved, increasingly became the subject
of criticism. Factories turned out to be integral to the economic structure of
capitalism.
19
Perhaps the most notable acknowledgment of this cultural ambiv
alence is captured in the film Modern Times
to live in a city, while working in a factory and in the process he is able to
find love.
20
The film, considered a classic, encapsulates the complexity of the
working person who is subjected to mind-numbing work. As comical as the
film may be, it is also a critical reflection on the psychological toll of repetitive
actions in which workers can experience absent-mindedness in low-skill labor.
Factory work remains vital in our time, and with automation, once computers
were eventually incorporated with machines, robots were able to perform most
of the tasks.

24 Interstitial Paradigms
Factory work, unlike other types of jobs, such as carpentry, or plumbing
which demand a high degree of training, requires low skills to perform; for
this reason, factory work eventually became a low-paying job, especially when
exported for cheap labor to underdeveloped countries. Automation evolved,
and the optimizational layer remains in place and today it is obviously at play
in the convenience of washing machines over handwashing, as well as banking
online and paperless transactions across the economic sector. Perhaps its most
pervasive manifestation is in the automation of payments of all forms, ranging
from monthly household bills to road tolls. Not only do people no longer need
to talk to a person to complete any of these transactions, but they can automate
the process so that bills are paid whenever they are due.
The Modular Layer
On the modular layer, specified tasks become streamlined and specialized and
fall under what has also been called the service industry. As noted when dis
cussing the optimizational layer, the focus on automating simple actions led
to repetitive jobs to be taken over by machines that could perform assembling
tasks, particularly in the automobile factory throughout the 1960s. Around
this time period of industrialization, a shift toward a service-based economy
emerged, which would lay the ground for the informational layer that makes
possible current networked culture.
Factory work came to be known as “blue collar” as a reference to the color
of the denim usually worn by people who performed manual labor.
21
The
term blue-collar contrasts against the term “white collar” which refers to office
workers (men in the nineteenth and twentieth century) who were required to
use white collar shirts.
22
The differences between these terms are important to
keep in mind because once we enter the advanced stage of the industrial period,
specializations emerged in two forms intricately intertwined with class. The
concepts of “careers” and “jobs” are connected to different types of labor that
would define the industrial revolution, and the use of either term often implied
a job that belonged to a specific social class. Many, though not all, of the labor
that would fall under the term “jobs” would be prone to automation once
machines became prevalent in the workforce; thus, the office worker became
the iconic opposite of the manual worker.
Repetitive labor is popularly associated with manual labor in large
part due to its prominence across factories, but as research has shown
some office and service-based jobs are more likely to be overtaken by com
puter automation, particularly desk jobs focused on data entry.
23
In the bank
industry, for example, a range of high and low-paying jobs have been dimin
ished including bank-tellers being largely replaced by ATMs, and loan officers
with ML algorithms that can provide approval of small loans to applicants in
minutes.

Labor 25
Jobs most likely to take the longest to be replaced include highly skilled
jobs such as carpentry, and plumbing, because these tasks require complex and
unique decision-making with practical and in-depth knowledge, which is not
possible to perform by AI now or in the near future. What can be noted in the
nuances of repetitive labor in relation to the human ability to problem solve is
that the rise of automation with computing enables repetitive processes to be
implemented modularly, based on the complexity of the task rather than strict
labels of types of jobs. What the rise of automation across the sectors of both
manual and service labor led to was the increasing importance of the informa
tional layer. The automation of labor in this field is not clearly aligned with the
division of labor in terms of service or manual work, but rather based on the
complexity of problem-solving involved in the type of work. We can call some
“white” collar labor informational because workers in this area are evidently
in the production, gathering, manipulation, and deployment of information
and data.
The Informational Layer
The informational layer makes human production more efficient by enhancing
the capabilities of other layers with specific data and information as needed,
while also supporting the production of information itself as a material good.
Labor entered an unprecedented moment of flux when the informational layer
began to play a larger role in the economy. Means of production were redi
rected to optimize the informational layer to be foundational for the eventual
implementation of artificial intelligence not just in single-task jobs, but also
and perhaps more importantly for “multi-tasking.”
24
The prominence of the
informational layer is intertwined with the rise of computers as machines sup
porting professional and daily mundane activities. As computers moved from
the military-industrial complex to commercial use for diverse tasks ranging
from day-to-day office writing, text-based information across the Internet and
smartphones with text messaging, as well as the development of computer-
generated imagery (CGI), the informational layer supported, and continues to
support, a new type of production that created jobs that modularly combine
blue collar and white collar labor in ways that at times blur the lines between
the two.
25
A particular industry that emerged that consists of highly skilled
labor, but runs along the lines of technical school training in Information Tech
nology (IT) jobs. These jobs bring together people with advanced degrees,
as well as people trained with hands-on labor to put together hardware and
software for the building of network infrastructures. The latter function more
along the lines of carpentry or plumbing in terms of being on call, and on the
field to repair and maintain infrastructure as needed. At the same time, many
people who are part of the IT force have advanced degrees and function doing
analysis that requires an academic education, if not a masters, certainly a Ph.D.

26 Interstitial Paradigms
The IT labor force was non-existent prior to the rise of the Internet and the
ubiquity of computers across large and small businesses.
This is further complicated by a new type of labor that is not necessarily
white collar but gray
machine parts in a factory, sit in front of computer screens, answering phone
calls for transnational corporations, or performing diverse types of online cus
tomer service. Sometimes this takes place in an office or at home. Due to the
growth of this sector, at the moment, the development of the informational
layer as part of the global economy is what is ambiguously celebrated more
often with the term “gig economy.”
A unique and perhaps unexpected way to frame the type of labor at play in
the informational layer is according to two types of emerging classes that did
not exist in their current form prior to the Internet and the ubiquity of com
puting. They are the hacker class and the vector class. McKenzie Wark discusses
these two concepts to reposition how labor redefines class once the production,
manipulation, and sharing of information become the means to make a living,
and, in turn, shape our reality.
26
Wark argues that “. . .a class of vectoralists, so
named because they control the vectors along which information is abstracted,
just as capitalists control the material means with which goods are produced,
and pastoralists the land with which food is produced.”
27
The hacker class,
in turn,
. . .is the class with the capacity to create not only new kinds of object and
subject in the world, not only new kinds of property form in which they
may be represented, but new kinds of relation, with unforseen properties,
which question the property form itself.
28
Both classes function and are defined within the informational layer. And both
classes are dependent on information as their product and validation.
There is a certain privilege in the vector and the hacker classes which
became apparent in the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020. In the United States,
and other countries around the world, people who worked primarily with data
using computers were able to work from home with little interruption, while
workers who were in the service industry, and manual labor who had to be in
a specific place, were furloughed, laid-off, or fired. At such a moment in his
tory, the previous definition of blue-collar and white-collar did not correlate
directly with a loss of jobs. The key variable in this case was whether or not a
particular job could be performed remotely.
29
What was exposed during the
Pandemic is how labor has been reconfigured by the informational layer. The
apparent separation of classes based on manual and service labor has been dis
rupted by the implementation of informational labor. This makes it evident
that automation is redefining class structures that in political discourse con
tinue to be separated based on pre-existing notions of the industrial period. In

Labor 27
effect, global culture since the beginning of the twentieth century has moved
from a manufacturing economy through a service-based economy to a hybrid
ized information economy.
Labor and Automation
Based on the brief overview of the four layers that inform the state of economic
and cultural production at the time of this writing, we can now consider the
relation of labor, automation, and creativity. It is worth outlining the parallel
developments in the emergence of computing as another element in the overall
socio-economic infrastructure that made possible modernism in our current
times. This will provide an overview of implementation of pattern analysis
across culture, leading to the current emergence of metacreativity.
As previously noted, automation is most evident in the factory during the
1960s,
30
but the concept of automation goes as far back as the second century
B.C. with technology known as the Antikythera Mechanism used for astro
nomical predictions by the Greeks.
31
Automation as we understand it today
was formally conceived with the invention of the computer by Charles Babbage
with the help of Ada Lovelace, who is recognized as the first computer pro
grammer.
32
Babbage took inspiration from the Jacquard Silk-weaving-loom,
which was clearly linked to streamlining principles of factories at the time—
to optimize the production of textiles.
33
Babbage developed designs for two
machines: The Difference Engine in 1819 and the Analytical Engine in 1837.
34

Both engines were conceived with the goal to automate repetitive mathematical
processes. Babbage was interested in accurate computing for an “increasingly
industrialized society.”
35
His interest in automating repetitive labor, which can
be considered “mindless” lies at the foundation of the current drive of artificial
intelligence innovation; and, as is argued throughout this book, it remains a
key driving force in framing creativity as the privileged and most valued asset
in human productivity.
36
As previously noted, the first factory was built in England in 1721,
roughly 100 years before 1819, when Charles Babbage conceived of The Dif
ference Engine. What happened in the 100 years between is an increase in
systematic analysis of the world. What the factory achieved was to put into
action, in practical terms, principles that in theory were extremely complex.
Karl Marx focused on the factory in his own study of capitalism to explain
how the streamlining of production was part of a complex abstract system that
seemed straightforward for workers trying to meet basic needs, but upon closer
examination he demonstrated that it was a multilayered process that due to
its quantitative abstraction turned out to dehumanize people, treating them
as mere subjects of labor.
37
A sense of people being treated like “numbers”
started to emerge, especially when it became possible to quantify the growing
population.
38

28 Interstitial Paradigms
By the end of the 1800s, the United States government was struggling with
the census, and Herman Hollerith developed a method to count the population
by using punch-card technology, following the basic principles of the Jacquard
Loom, as well as Babbage’s idea of automation for his engines.
39
Hollerith was
successful in meeting the deadline for the census of 1890 and his company
Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company was established. It would later
become IBM, a company that along with Xerox, introduced the computer to
the corporate market in the 1960s, and eventually, once Apple Computers were
launched along with the software company Microsoft, they played an import
ant role in the personal computer market during the late seventies.
40
Hollerith’s use of tabulating machines and punch cards for the census was
contemporary with Sigmund Freud’s research on human behavior. Freud’s
research launched psychoanalysis, a new discipline that later became super
seded by cognitive psychology and related sub-disciplines. The latter fields
moved past much of what Freud first proposed on human behavior; never
theless, building on his systematic approach of treating humans as subjects of
science. Prior to Marx’s and Freud’s systematized analysis of humans, there had
not been a specific separation between humans and nature. Their analysis laid
the ground for what today we call posthumanism, or new materialism, areas of
research that focus on how humans are intertwined with the planet in ways that
in the past were not recognizable during the rise of modernity.
41
These examples offer ways of looking at the world in terms of pattern
recognition—or treating the world as a complex system best evaluated based on
a close analysis of its parts. The cultural, economic, and scientific fields became
reliant on systematic approaches that made it more efficient and accurate to
measure and qualitatively analyze diverse subjects of study, across nature and
culture. During this time period, the relation between technology and labor
was also intertwined with cultural variables that are difficult to measure based
on simple theories of materialism. Braudel makes a clear case to remain wary
of this tendency:
The mistake of Lefebvre des Noettes, still in many ways an admirable
writer, was to reduce the history of technology to a simple-minded mate
rialism. It just will not do to say that the horse-collar, which replaced the
yoke-harness from about the ninth century, thus increasing the traction-

power of horses, ‘progressively reduced man’s slavery.’
42
The simplistic approach by Lefebvre remains prevalent in current times, and due to such an assumption, human slavery has been displaced in the informa tional layer as described by Wark:
The farmer becomes a worker, and the worker a slave. The whole world becomes subject to the extraction of a surplus from the producing classes

Labor 29
that is controlled by the ruling classes, who use it merely to reproduce
and expand this matrix of exploitation. Time itself becomes a commod
ified experience.
43
The reality of this unfair treatment of groups of people who have been sub
jected to slavery in the colonial period, specifically African Americans, has
led at the time of this writing to public protests in the United States, as well
as other parts of the world, spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The vicious cycle of this situation is driven by a transactional approach based
on materialistic principles, which, in part, drive the economic investment in
artificial intelligence. Automation in this sense reconfigured labor and made
way for the informational layer to thrive in contemporary times. The principles
for efficiency promoted with ML technologies are not so far off from what des
Nottes theorized in his own time period, as argued by Braudel. The drastic
movement toward measuring the world by increasingly automating basic tasks
would eventually begin to permeate the possibilities to automate creativity
itself.
Labor and Art
Art since at least the 1910s, in particular with idea-oriented work such as Mar
cel Duchamp’s, presents a direct challenge to the experience of fine art when
such work appears to lack an apparent intensive manual labor process. Duchamp
developed works known as readymades that were at a glance put together with
out much thought or physical commitment. Upon closer examination, how
ever, such works of art have proven to be carefully developed and accepted by
the art institution as some of the most important in the history of modern art.
Duchamp’s work affected later generations of artists including neo-Dadaists
such as Robert Rauschenberg as well as Jasper Johns, and later pop artists such
as Andy Warhol. But it was the conceptual artists of the 1970s who took on
Duchamp’s approach to develop work that focused on dematerializing the work
of art, meaning that they strived to develop work that questioned the physical art
object, its process, and how it would be shown and/or sold. The result was work
that often lived through documentation of performances, ideas written as phil
osophical treaties, instructions to draw on walls, among other strategies. Artists
such as Hans Haacke, Lawrence Wienner and Sol Le Witt are among some of
the key figures of conceptual art who explored the possibilities of focusing on
ideas rather than form. In other words, the general approach of conceptualism
often led to an emphasis on writing and documenting processes or ideas, rather
than producing objects. This approach directly linked art practice to intellec
tual work; and artists since then, even those who privilege processed-based
approaches, found themselves influenced by the explorations of conceptual
ism.
44
Duchamp’s methods and philosophy are structural. The works produced

30 Interstitial Paradigms
by conceptual artists following his approach, for example, function much along
the lines of algorithms: They develop a set of rules to abide by in order to pro
duce the work.
45
In contemporary times, at least in the artworld as a proper institution, there
is a general acceptance of artistic practice being defined, even in labor-intensive
production, by an idea or theme that drives creative interests; such premise
may remain open-ended but the implication is that the work means some
thing beyond formal exploration. The challenge to keep in mind when passing
aesthetic judgment on a work of art is how does each individual evaluate it? Can such an individual see it with “disinterestedness”? meaning that the work is evaluated as a thing that is decontextualized from the cultural aspects of labor and tangential cultural connotations as explained above in order to be appreci ated strictly on formal terms. The judgment of taste is particularly difficult for people who tend to view the world on practical terms.
46
ML automation complicates our relation to art and in turn our understand
ing of originality, in terms of labor, when some of the creative processes are delegated to computer algorithms. ML technology has made possible in part the automation of creative labor. The easiness of the delegation of parts of the creative process to machines is closely linked to principles of remix, this process emerged as an overall cultural development with the global adoption of the Internet as a vital form of communication.
Labor and Remix
Remix is arguably stigmatized with a two part populist assumption: originality is unique to humans, and it emerges out of hands-on work.
47
This is perhaps
best expressed in popular culture with comments similar to those of Henry Rollins, who dismisses (in crass form) electronic music because of the use of sampling and the computer:
I would seek to basically sensor some of these people to get back to some other shit and maybe get some real Jazz, some real R & B, and some real soul, and some real Rock & Roll and all the other groovy stuff too, but just less of the dairy frees ffuuurrgghhh! Here’s your CD! ffuuurrgghhh! Here’s your CD!”
48
This is a common dismissal of sampling and remixing primarily because the critics do not see any skills as part of the labor process; but even those who acknowledge the creativity of remix have certain assumptions about labor if not in terms of creativity, certainly in terms of skills. Kirby Ferguson com ments indirectly on this issue in his well-known short film Everything is a Remix, Part 1 when contextualizing remix as a democratizing creative variable across the Internet: “Skip ahead to the present. . . and anybody can remix

Labor 31
anything. Music, videos, photos, whatever; and distribute it globally pretty
much instantly. You don’t need expensive tools, you don’t need a distributor,
you don’t even need skills.
49
As these statements make evident, labor has been a key element in legitimat
ing creative processes. During the seventies and eighties, sampling as part of
music remixes forecasted the rising importance of selectivity as a defining fac
tor for creativity. Sampling, due to the apparent effortless way it was performed,
questioned labor and talent; it was dismissed by many as an uncreative act: a
banal appropriation that anyone could perform. The assumption was that with
sampling there was no need for the type of practice that goes into mastering a
musical instrument, and that sampling turned remix merely into a straightfor
ward process of pushing buttons (this is the implicit paradigm in Rollins’s and
Ferguson’s views on skills). This assumption lingers and finds its way even into
constructive reflections on sampling’s role in remix culture.
Regardless of this stigma, or perhaps because of it, sampling questioned
originality once it became a vital element of remix as a creative practice; it
challenged assumptions of creativity: sampling compressed labor as a modu
lar method consisting of executable actions that could be optimized through
depersonalization—no person needs to play an instrument. Sampling repur
poses recorded sounds similar to musical notes available on the piano, the gui
tar, or any other instrument to create compositions of all types. This is the case
for all media beyond music. Sampling as a foundational property of remix made
possible the dissemination of ideas and the production of new forms based on
a selective process that absorbed physical labor as a subverted action (an ana
logical algorithm reconfigured to be performed by a machine) in the service
of intellectual labor. Hence, sampling exposes the depersonalization of labor,
turning it into executable abstraction.
When considering the overview of labor in this chapter, then, it is evident
that intense labor has always been linked to creativity—perhaps the most obvious
concept is that of constant experimentation as part of the creative process. One
only needs to look back at the history of music creation in order to understand
this relation, which is also linked to the rise of authorship in the modern sense.
50
In music since the late 1970s, remix challenged labor directly with the rise of
DJing. The production of melodies and harmonies prior to the rise of the music
sampler was reserved for live performance by a musician in a studio. This pro
cess was eventually replaced, particularly by producers in hip hop and electronic
music with sampling—once the music studio was reconceptualized as a proper
instrument in its own right.
51
The repurposing of excerpts of pre-existing
recordings is foundational for remix as we understand it today, not just in music
but in all other forms of media and communication. Sampling made music
creation more efficient by streamlining the creative process to focus on ideas.
With sampling, a music producer can treat entire pre-recorded melodies much
like music tones to be used in a composition as basic musical elements as one

32 Interstitial Paradigms
would with an actual music instrument. The issue with this possibility in sam
pling, however, is that the element being repurposed is someone’s previous
labor (a previously played melody on a music instrument). From this standpoint,
sampling creates meta-resources (databases of sounds) that for people who do
not understand the complexity of sampling as a creative process based on selec
tivity may perceive it as a banal exercise with no apparent special skill. This is
something that is riffed against by even those who view remix as a form that is
important in the creation of new content.
Sampling in remix as technological implementation makes it possible for
creativity to gain critical distance from its production. Conceptual art and
musique concrète
the emergence of ML in creative practices across art, music, literature, and cul
ture at large. Neural network and Generational Adversarial Network projects
such as This Person Does not Exist
52
which are portraits of people who, as the
title of the project implies, do not exist; as well as works by AICAN,
53
which
consists of paintings that resemble the styles of famous artists, implement ML
algorithms to produce images that, without contextual information, would be
assumed were created by a human.
Labor and Artificial Intelligence
We can now return to consider the four layers of Production: the expan
sional, the optimizational, the modular, and the informational, which lead to
a symbiotic optimization through the constant investment in ways to dele
gate work: all layers optimize relatively simple actions that involve no complex
decision-making.
All layers continue to function; none are left behind, and as previously noted
in their respective sections above, they need each other for the entire infra
structure of the Anthropocene to function and thrive. In this sense, metacre
ativity comes out of a surplus of innovation. Once the four layers are fully in
place metacreativity emerges within the fourth, where a delegation of decisions
is merged with specialized actions that fall in line with previous forms of del
egation. Metacreativity in this sense is unprecedented as it pushes the normal
ization of delegation of labor.
In digital art and media production, perhaps the most pervasive example
is Adobe’s implementation of ML across all of their programs to learn what
the user knows and does not know in order to support the creative process
according to individualized needs. Gavin Miller, the Head of Adobe Research
explains how he sees AI playing a role in graphic design software, when he
discusses how smart technology can help humans focus on the creative process:
. . . in the future, using neural nets for actually doing a great job, say,
with a single click, or even in the case of well-known categories, such as

Labor 33
people or animals, with no clicks, where you just say ‘select the object,’
and it just knows the dominant object is a person in the middle of a pho
tograph; those kinds of things are really valuable if they can be robust
enough to give you quality results.
54
Such a future is arguably here. The question is if the machine will no longer
need humans to state a command, but execute decisions on its own. At such
point, machines may be moving toward the one privileged area that up until
now seemed reserved for humans: creativity itself.
Delegation of Creative Labor
As it is evident throughout this chapter, humans have continued to delegate
specific actions since the beginning of time; usually in the name of efficiency in
relation to profit or need of food production, shelter, and when conflicts arise,
war. In order to engage deeper with this process in terms of metacreativity,
in this chapter I discussed the ways that humans have constantly implemented
technology for increased efficient labor. This, in turn, reshapes our engage
ment with the world in creative ways that become encapsulated in aesthetics,
and informed by automation, now also linked with ML; making possible the
emergence of metacreativity.
The delegation of creative labor to machines, which has become global is
reflected in Sabrina Raaf’s robot,
installation exposes the tension, or dislocation that can be superseded if the
human subject is willing to come to terms with the displacement of the body as
a means toward an autonomy informed by globalization. The work also exposes
an ongoing modification of labor, not only physical, but also informational.
Raaf’s robot slowly drawing on the gallery wall, building on observations
made in the introduction, can also be interpreted as a critical commentary on
the history of labor automation: a form of power over human subjects. The
term “robot” derives from the Czech “robota” which means forced labor. It
is worth noting that the word’s slavic root “rab” translates to “slave.”
55
And
here is where the implications of repetitive labor emerge. Based on the history
outlined throughout this chapter, we can notice that humans went through the
process of separating laboral actions into manageable parts, to the point that
basic actions could be performed with optimal efficiency in constant repetition.
This eventually led to the factory. When considering the basic definition of
robot in this context, one could argue that people who found themselves work
ing in factories, were not always doing so by choice but due to their limited
options. They were forced to choose monotonous work due to the economic
challenges they experienced. The time constraints of physical work and the
toll it takes on the body make it difficult for the laborer to move to other jobs
of choice.

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épîtres amoureuses.
Il eut des succès à n’en plus finir.
Le Laurier, comme de raison, choisit une carrière tout à fait
opposée.
En passant sur le Pont-Neuf, il suivit un raccoleur qui l’engagea
au service du roi de France.
Il fit campagne avec le prince de Soubise, et prit Port-Mahon au
son des violons du maréchal de Richelieu.
Il se retira avec le brevet de colonel.
Pendant toute la durée de sa carrière militaire, il mena l’amour
tambour battant, mèche allumée, ce qui ne l’empêcha pas d’avoir
autant de succès que son camarade le Myrte.
Aussi ne pouvait-il souffrir les airs de supériorité que ce dernier
se donnait de temps en temps, et qui faisaient naître entre eux des
sujets de querelles sans cesse renaissants.
La discussion que nous venons de raconter avait été beaucoup
trop loin pour qu’il fût possible qu’elle en restât là. Une fois assis ou
plutôt cloués sur leurs fauteuils, ils se regardèrent comme deux
chiens de faïence, d’autres diraient comme deux lions. Enfin, le
marquis toussa et reprit ensuite:
—Ah! c’était là le bon temps! Il voulut continuer, mais un violent
accès de toux lui coupa la parole.
Le colonel profita de ce moment de répit pour bourrer son nez
de tabac, tout en faisant voir, par de nombreux signes de tête, qu’il

approuvait l’exclamation finale de son interlocuteur.
—Mon cher ami, fit-il après un moment de silence en
s’adressant au marquis, savez-vous une chose?
—Quoi donc?
—C’est que nous ferions bien de songer dès à présent à la
retraite. La guerre et la galanterie ont fait leur temps; la jeunesse
méprise les feux de Vénus aussi bien que les jeux de Mars; on vous
traite de papillon et moi d’invalide. Il faut savoir se retirer à propos.
L’art des retraites est peut-être le plus difficile de tous. Notre
passage sur la terre n’aura pas été sans charme, si nous savons
nous préserver de l’ennui des derniers moments; retournons chez
notre excellente amie la Fée aux Fleurs.
—Mais vous n’y songez pas!
—Au contraire, je ne songe qu’à cela.
—Et la présidente?
Le colonel ne put s’empêcher de rire à gorge déployée.
—Palsambleu! s’écria le marquis.
—Tout beau, ne vous fâchez pas, répondit le colonel en
continuant à rire.
—Vous me rendrez raison, s’écria le marquis en montrant son
blason.
—Quand vous voudrez, riposta fièrement le colonel à l’attaque
de son compagnon.
—Insolent!
—Fat!
Nous avons oublié de vous dire que le blason du marquis
consistait en une branche de myrte tenue par un Amour et

écartelée d’une écharpe de soie. Les armoiries du colonel, car il
avait aussi ses armoiries, consistaient en un bouclier ombragé de
laurier, passé dans une main à gantelet de fer. Ils juraient assez
volontiers, l’un par son blason, l’autre par ses armoiries.
Le Myrte et le Laurier allaient se prendre aux cheveux; mais,
cette fois, ce fut un violent accès de toux qui les retint cloués sur
leurs sièges. Un catarrhe épargna à l’humanité une nouvelle et
terrible tragédie.
Ce fut le Myrte qui recouvra le premier la parole.
—Je vous trouve singulier, fit-il, d’avoir l’air de mettre en doute
mes succès, moi, la fleur des marquis de mon temps!
—Il vous sied bien, riposta le Laurier, de me menacer, moi, le
foudre de guerre de mon époque!
—Foudre éteint!
—Fleur fanée!
Plus irrités que jamais, ils firent une dernière et suprême
tentative pour se joindre. Cet effort violent les emporta. Sans
doute, un vaisseau se brisa dans leur poitrine; ils expirèrent à la
fois. Le Myrte, à ses derniers moments, garda ses prétentions
d’homme à bonnes fortunes; le Laurier mourut comme il avait
vécu, le poing sur la hanche.

CHEVRETTE LA CHEVRIÈRE
I
LE PRINCE CHARMANT
E prince Charmant se promenant un jour
dans la campagne avec son précepteur,
rencontra une jeune chevrière.
Elle avait les yeux noirs, les cheveux
noirs, la démarche vive, la physionomie
piquante, et par-dessus tout, un petit air
piquant et timide à la fois qui lui donnait un
certain air de ressemblance avec le joli
animal dont elle portait le nom.
Elle s’appelait Chevrette et gardait les chèvres dans les
environs.
—Olifour! dit le prince à son précepteur.
—Plaît-il, Altesse? répondit celui-ci.
—Tu vois bien cette jeune fille?

—Parfaitement.
—Comment la trouves-tu?
—Je la trouve comme vous voudrez.
—Je la trouve adorable.
—Adorable.
—J’ai, de plus, formé un projet que je trouve excellent.
—Excellent.
—Je veux la prendre pour femme.
Olifour ne put s’empêcher de se récrier:
—Mais que penseront vos aïeux, que diront votre père et votre
mère, et vos sujets, et la terre, et le ciel, et les dieux, et les
hommes? D’ailleurs, votre mère refusera son consentement.
—C’est ce que nous verrons.
—Vous n’êtes pas majeur.
—Qu’importe!
—Vous ne réussirez pas.
—Tu vas voir.
II
UNE MÈRE ÉPLORÉE
La reine s’arrachait les cheveux et versait un torrent de larmes.
Le prince Charmant venait de lui faire part de ses intentions au
sujet de Chevrette.

Sa mère s’était roulée à ses pieds, l’avait supplié de renoncer à
un dessein qui ne pouvait manquer de causer sa mort. Le prince
Charmant avait résisté à toutes les instances.
—Quelle fermeté! pensait Olifour, qui assistait à cette scène;
c’est pourtant moi qui l’ai élevé!
La reine alla jusqu’à menacer son fils de sa malédiction. Alors le
prince Charmant se roula par terre à son tour, déchira ses poils
follets, mit son cafetan en lambeaux, et déclara que puisqu’on lui
refusait celle qu’il aimait, il prenait la résolution immuable de
mourir de consomption avant six mois.
—Non, mon fils, non, tu ne mourras pas! s’écria la reine
éperdue; conserve-toi à notre amour et à l’admiration de tes
peuples. Allez, Olifour, allez chercher Chevrette; je veux que mon
fils l’épouse à l’instant.
—Quel machiavélisme! pensa de nouveau Olifour; comme sa
ruse a réussi! Quel élève j’ai fait là!
Il alla chercher Chevrette.
III
CHEVRETTE A LA COUR
Chevrette aurait autant aimé ne pas épouser le prince Charmant
et rester chevrière; mais ses parents étaient pauvres, avides de
trésors, il fallut se résigner.
Une fois à la cour, elle ne put s’empêcher de reconnaître que le
prince Charmant était un sot, et son précepteur Olifour un imbécile.
Quant au roi et à la reine, c’étaient de bonnes gens qui n’y
voyaient pas plus loin que le bout du nez de leur fils.

Chevrette s’ennuyait donc beaucoup. Elle aurait voulu sauter,
courir, gambader dans la campagne. L’étiquette la rendait
malheureuse. Elle commettait à chaque instant les erreurs de
cérémonial les plus grossières. C’est ainsi qu’à la réception de
l’ambassadeur de l’empereur Parapaphignolle, elle lui embrassa le
côté gauche de la moustache au lieu du côté droit. L’empereur de
Parapaphignolle, exaspéré de cet outrage fait à son envoyé, ne
parlait de rien moins que de mettre à feu et à sang les États du
prince Charmant. On eut beaucoup de peine à lui faire entendre
raison et à arranger la chose.
Ce n’est pas que Chevrette manquât de leçons: son mari lui
faisait chaque jour un cours d’étiquette qui durait trois heures; mais
Chevrette, après cela, descendait au jardin, et oubliait les leçons du
prince Charmant en jouant avec une petite chèvre qui la suivait au
moindre signe, sur la simple présentation d’une tige de fleurs.
Voyant tant d’indocilité et une ignorance qui pouvait
compromettre l’avenir de la monarchie, le conseil des ministres
décida que Chevrette serait confiée à Olifour, qui se chargerait de
compléter son éducation.
Le conseil des ministres déclara nettement à Olifour que si dans
trois mois la princesse, interrogée dans un examen public, ne
parvenait pas à résoudre toutes les difficultés du cérémonial et de
l’étiquette, on lui trancherait la tête, à lui Olifour.
IV
CE QUI SAUVA OLIFOUR
Ce fut la fuite de Chevrette, qui disparut le soir même où on lui
signifia la décision des ministres.
V

CE QUI LE PERDIT
Ce fut la joie imprudente qu’il montra en apprenant la fuite de
la princesse.
Le prince Charmant en fut instruit par des envieux que depuis
longtemps le savoir d’Olifour offusquait, et sur le rapport de ces
gens, il lui fit trancher la tête.
VI
LA PROPOSITION D’UN BON PERE
Cependant le roi ne comprenait rien au désespoir de son fils.
Pour remplacer Chevrette, il lui offrit de lui faire épouser toutes les
chevrières de son royaume.
Le prince Charmant refusa, et déclara qu’il ne lui restait plus
qu’à mourir de consomption, ainsi qu’il en avait formé le projet, si
l’on ne parvenait à découvrir la retraite de Chevrette.
Tous les efforts tentés dans ce but étaient superflus.
La reine alla consulter la fée qui avait présidé à la naissance de
son fils, espérant bien qu’elle ne voudrait pas laisser mourir de
consomption un prince qu’elle avait accablé des dons les plus
précieux du corps et de l’esprit.
La fée écouta la reine et voulut la consoler. Elle lui fit part de ce
qui s’était passé dans le royaume des Fleurs et lui apprit que
Chevrette n’était autre chose que le Chèvrefeuille, qui s’était
incarné dans le corps d’une jeune et jolie chevrière.
—Vous concevez que la fleur du chèvrefeuille est trop sauvage,
trop simple, trop capricieuse même, pour vivre à la cour. Laissez-la

aux champs avec ses chèvres, et dites à votre fils que je lui
ménage une jolie petite princesse dont il me dira des nouvelles.
La reine raconta à son fils la conversation qu’elle venait d’avoir
avec la fée. La petite princesse le fit réfléchir, et il promit à sa mère
de ne pas mourir de consomption.
—Voilà une singulière histoire néanmoins, pensa-t-il, et c’est
grand dommage que j’aie fait trancher la tête à Olifour: nous en
aurions bien ri tous les deux!
VII
FIN
En quittant la cour, Chevrette se demanda ce qu’elle allait faire.
—Parbleu! se dit-elle, je garderai encore les chèvres.
Mais où trouver un troupeau? Elle se dirigea du côté de la
chaumière de ses parents.
La chaumière appartenait à de nouveaux propriétaires.
Depuis le mariage de leur fille, le père et la mère de Chevrette
avaient trouvé indigne d’eux le métier de paysans.
Ils s’étaient rendus à la ville voisine, où ils habitaient un riche
palais.
Voilà Chevrette bien embarrassée.
—Si je retourne à la ville, pensa-t-elle, le prince Charmant me
fera saisir par ses gardes, et je serai obligée de retourner à la cour,
où l’ennui me tuera.
Si je reste cachée à la campagne, comment ferai-je pour vivre?

Elle était au milieu de ces perplexités lorsqu’un joyeux bêlement
se fit entendre derrière elle.
C’était sa chèvre, sa chèvre favorite qu’elle avait emmenée avec
elle à la cour, et qui, la voyant partie, s’était échappée du palais
pour la suivre.
Elle oublia un moment la fâcheuse situation dans laquelle elle se
trouvait pour recevoir les caresses de sa chèvre. Le fidèle animal
sautait, gambadait autour de sa maîtresse, et venait de temps en
temps frotter son joli museau contre le sein de la chevrière.
—Tu m’aimes bien, lui disait-elle, ma pauvre chèvre, tu es
heureuse de me revoir; hélas! je n’ai rien à te donner, pas même
un brin de luzerne ni un petit toit pour te mettre le soir à l’abri du
loup.
Comme elle prononçait ces paroles, elle entendit quelqu’un qui
s’écriait:—Oh ciel!
Celui qui parlait ainsi était un jeune chevrier nommé Jasmin. Il
errait dans les bois, triste et désolé, parce qu’il avait perdu
Chevrette qu’il aimait.
Mais Chevrette ne le savait pas.
En le voyant elle se sentit rassurée; elle l’appela:—Jasmin!
Jasmin!
Il s’approcha et elle lui raconta son malheur. Jasmin, à son tour,
lui parla en pleurant de tout ce qu’il avait souffert pendant son
absence.
Chevrette essuya ses larmes, et lui dit de se consoler: si elle
avait su son amour, jamais elle n’eût consenti à épouser le prince
Charmant.
Le chevrier suivit le conseil de la chevrière. Il essuya ses larmes
et se consola. Chevrette lui permit de la suivre au fond de la forêt;

ils vécurent heureux, chevrier et chevrière, Jasmin et Chèvrefeuille,
mais après s’être mariés.

LES REGRETS DU CAMÉLIA
I
IMPÉRIA
L n’était bruit dans Venise que des attraits de la
comtesse Impéria.
Sa beauté fière et majestueuse frappait tout
le monde d’admiration; son teint d’un blanc
velouté, nuancé d’une légère teinte rose, était
un objet d’envie pour toutes les dames de
Venise. L’élite de la noblesse l’entourait d’une
cour brillante et nombreuse. Le glorieux époux
de la mer, le doge lui-même, avait dit, le jour de son
couronnement, que s’il avait été libre de son choix, ce n’est pas
l’Adriatique qui aurait reçu son anneau de fiançailles.
Les gondoliers de Venise admiraient sa beauté, et le soir sur la
grève, lorsque l’improvisateur, récitant les strophes de la Jérusalem
délivrée, parlait au peuple d’Armide, de Clorinde et d’Herminie, il

s’écriait, dans un transport d’enthousiasme, qu’elles étaient belles
comme la comtesse Impéria.
Elle recevait tous les hommages indistinctement; tout seigneur
était admis auprès d’elle, sans qu’elle eût l’air d’écouter celui-ci
d’une oreille plus favorable que celui-là. Tant de vertu unie à tant
de beauté faisait de la comtesse une exception, et la rendait
célèbre dans toute l’Italie.
Ce devait être un grand triomphe que de dompter ce cœur
rebelle; aussi l’émulation de la jeunesse vénitienne était-elle
vivement excitée; l’époux de la belle Impéria aurait tant et de si
redoutables rivaux à vaincre!
On commençait à croire, à Venise, que la comtesse renonçait
définitivement au mariage, lorsqu’on apprit qu’elle avait fait un
choix.
II
STENIO
C’était un des plus jeunes, un des plus nobles, un des plus
riches, un des plus aimables cavaliers de Venise.
Son bonheur parut si mérité, qu’il fit taire la jalousie.
Pour connaître les sentiments dont Stenio était animé, il nous
suffira de jeter les yeux sur la lettre suivante qu’il écrivit, la veille
de son mariage, à son ami d’enfance Paolo:
«ChÉê ami,
«Elle a consenti à me donner sa main. Comprends-tu ma
joie, Paolo? elle m’aime!

«Il y a des moments où je doute encore de mon bonheur.
Je me dis quelquefois: Non, cela n’est pas possible; cette
noble et fière créature ne peut aimer un mortel. Et
cependant pourquoi m’aurait-elle choisi? Quel motif l’aurait
forcée m’aliéner cette liberté à laquelle elle tenait tant, si ce
n’est l’amour?
«Tu me connais, Paolo, tu sais que ma seule ambition a
toujours été de posséder le cœur d’une femme, d’y régner
sans contrainte, sans partage, d’échanger mon âme avec la
sienne, de vivre des élans d’une mutuelle sympathie. Ce
rêve sur la terre, je le réaliserai; Dieu n’a pas voulu que la
beauté fût un don stérile: à celles qu’il a choisies pour faire
naître les flammes de la passion, il a donné un cœur pour les
comprendre.
«Remercie le ciel, Paolo, il a exaucé les vœux de ton ami.
«StÉniç.»
III
RÉPONSE DE PAOLO
«Prends garde à toi, tu es poète!»
IV
APRÈS LE MARIAGE
Nous ne dirons rien des noces de Stenio et d’Impéria; Venise en
a conservé le souvenir. Qu’il nous suffise d’apprendre qu’elles furent
dignes des deux époux.
Stenio emmena sa femme à la campagne.

Il voulait passer ces premiers mois de la lune de miel, si
charmants et si doux, sous les arbres, au chant des oiseaux, au
murmure des brises, au parfum des fleurs, au milieu de la solitude.
—N’est-ce pas que nous sommes heureux? avait-il dit à sa
femme.
Comme celle-ci avait répondu par un soupir, Stenio se sentit le
plus heureux des hommes. Le soir même, il partit avec Impéria
pour sa villa.
V
VILLÉGIATURE
Il se trouva, au bout de quinze jours, que la belle Impéria
trouva la campagne monotone.
Après quelques tours de promenade sous les grands
marronniers, elle se trouvait tout de suite fatiguée.
Si Stenio lui proposait de s’asseoir sur un banc de gazon, elle
prétendait que le gazon était humide, et qu’un bon fauteuil était
préférable.
Le soir, lorsque la lune jetait ses reflets mélancoliques sur la
terrasse du vieux château, elle répondait à Stenio, qui l’engageait à
venir entendre avec lui les harmonies de la nuit, qu’elle était fort
sujette aux rhumes.
Un jour, elle se plaignit des rossignols dont le chant l’empêchait
de dormir.
Décidément, la campagne n’allait pas bien à Impéria. Son mari
résolut de retourner à la ville.

VI
LA SCÈNE SE PASSE A VENISE
Après tout, se dit Stenio, on peut être aussi bien seul dans un
palais que dans une chaumière. J’ai fait remettre à neuf l’antique
demeure de mes pères. C’est un nid de soie, de velours et d’or
dans lequel ma colombe se trouvera bien. Nous vivrons l’un pour
l’autre, loin du bruit, loin du monde, loin des fêtes; elle découvrira
à moi seul les trésors de son cœur.
Le jour de son arrivée, Impéria visita le palais, parcourut les uns
après les autres tous les appartements, et parut contente du goût
et de la magnificence qui avaient présidé à l’arrangement. Elle en
témoigna en termes non équivoques sa satisfaction à son mari.
—Enfin, s’écria-t-il au comble de la joie, elle me comprend!
Stenio, ainsi que le lecteur a dû s’en apercevoir, était de ceux qui
rêvent une existence de sylphe ou de génie, une vie dont tous les
instants s’écoulent au milieu de la musique, de la poésie et de
l’échange le plus éthéré des sentiments les plus beaux. Selon lui, sa
femme devait avoir les mêmes idées.
Malheureusement il se trompait.
Lorsque, assis aux genoux de la belle Impéria, il voulait prendre
la guitare pour lui chanter une mélodie d’amour, elle portait sa main
à son front en s’écriant:—Affreuse migraine!
Lorsqu’il essayait de lui lire quelques pages d’un de ses poètes
favoris, elle se jetait en bâillant sur son canapé, en maudissant la
chaleur et en se plaignant du siroco.
Toutes les fois qu’il tentait de faire du sentiment avec elle,
Impéria lui coupait la parole.
—N’est-ce pas, lui disait-il, ô mon unique amour! qu’il est doux
de...

Jamais il n’avait pu aller plus loin; Impéria, dès le début de la
phrase, se lamentait sur ses maux d’estomac, ou sur le danger qu’il
y a à prendre des granits à la fraise après son dîner.
Stenio prenait son mal en patience et comptait sur des temps
meilleurs: ses illusions lui restaient.
Un jour, Impéria l’aborda avec un doux sourire et en l’appelant:
Cher seigneur!
Pour le coup, pensa Stenio, nous y voici; nous allons enfin
échanger nos deux âmes.
—N’est-ce pas, ô mon unique amour! se hâta-t-il de répondre,
qu’il est doux de...
—De donner des fêtes, de recevoir ses amis, reprit Impéria, de
vivre dans le monde. Est-ce que vous ne songez pas à réunir
prochainement, dans un grand bal, toute la société de Venise? Il
me semble que, puisque nous voilà mariés, nous devons tenir notre
rang.
Ce fut un coup de tonnerre pour Stenio. Quelques jours après, il
écrivit à son ami.
VII
DEUXIÈME LETTRE A PAOLO
«Je suis le plus malheureux des hommes! Impéria ne me
comprend pas.
«Il fallait voir comme sa figure rayonnait lorsqu’elle s’est
présentée à moi parée pour le bal. Elle n’aime que l’éclat, les
triomphes du monde, le luxe et la toilette. C’est une femme
sans cœur.

«En la voyant si belle, si heureuse, j’ai voulu me venger.
«Madame, lui ai-je dit, vous ressemblez à cette fleur
qu’on nomme le camélia, et qu’un jésuite nous a récemment
apportée de Chine; elle est charmante à l’œil, mais elle ne
dit rien à l’odorat. Vous êtes belle, madame; mais vous
n’avez pas ce parfum de la beauté qui s’appelle l’amour!
«Après lui avoir lancé ces paroles foudroyantes, je l’ai
regardée; elle souriait.
«Vous ne vous trompez pas, m’a-t-elle répondu ensuite,
je suis le Camélia, et elle est entrée fièrement dans la salle
du bal.
«Il me semble cependant qu’avant d’entrer, elle m’a
regardé d’un air triste. Que signifie ce regard?
«Ah! mon ami, plains-moi, et laisse-moi te répéter que je
suis le plus malheureux des hommes.»
VIII
DEUXIÈME RÉPONSE DE PAOLO
«Je te l’avais bien dit.»
IX
LE CAMÉLIA
Un jour, une gondole noire s’arrêta devant le palais de la belle
Impéria. Des rameurs frappèrent à la porte et, déposèrent un
cadavre sur le seuil.
C’était celui de Stenio.

On l’avait trouvé étendu sur la grève du Lido, frappé d’un coup
de poignard au cœur; auprès de lui, un billet écrit de sa main
contenait ces simples mots: «Que Dieu fasse miséricorde à mon
âme, elle ne m’aimait pas!»
A la vue de ce cadavre, Impéria sentit des larmes baigner sa
paupière; elle regarda longtemps les cheveux souillés, les yeux
éteints, la poitrine ensanglantée de son jeune époux, et déposant
un baiser sur son front pâle:
—Maudit soit le jour, dit-elle, où j’ai voulu vivre sur la terre! Si la
fée m’avait dit: Tu auras un cœur insensible, une âme froide; tu
assisteras, impassible, au spectacle des maux que tu feras naître,
tu brilleras d’une beauté fatale qui ne reflétera aucun sentiment de
tendresse, je n’aurais pas demandé à changer de sort. Fleur, on
peut vivre sans parfum; femme, on ne saurait exister sans amour!
O Fée! ajouta-t-elle, rends-moi à ma première forme, fais que je
redevienne Camélia: il y a bien assez de femmes sans cœur sur la
terre!
La Fée aux Fleurs ne tarda pas à réaliser ce souhait. Redevenue
fleur, Impéria se ressouvint de Stenio: on vit fleurir comme par
enchantement un magnifique camélia sur la tombe du jeune
homme.
On parla longtemps du suicide de Stenio et de la disparition de
sa veuve, qui eut lieu quelque temps après.
Personne ne comprit rien à cette mort, et lorsqu’on en parlait à
Paolo, il répondait:
«Je le lui avais bien dit, c’était un poète!»

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The Rise Of Metacreativity Ai Aesthetics After Remix Eduardo Navas

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The Rise Of Metacreativity Ai Aesthetics After Remix Eduardo Navas

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