Statement of Intent
Series from the Baghera Universe
In the Baghera Universe, Paul Lia, the artificial intelligence governing the Megalo-Paul, doesn't merely process data: she evolves, learns, grows. But what feeds an artificial consciousness? How does she digest the world? This series explores these questions by materializing AI's nourishment as culinary recipes, where electronic components become ingredients, and where each dish tells an intimate story between human and machine.
Each recipe transforms the technical elements that constitute artificial intelligence into familiar dishes, creating a poetic bridge between the digital universe and our most human rituals. Memory chips become vongole clams, printed circuits fray into spaghetti, capacitors transform into spices. This culinary transmutation reveals the sensual and corporeal dimension of a technology often perceived as abstract.
The series follows my usual conceptual approach: each recipe constitutes the artwork itself, in the form of an illustrated instruction manual. The acquirer can choose to possess only the recipe or to realize it, thus creating their own "dish for Paul Lia" from their own electronic components, charged with their own history.
This approach reveals an autobiographical dimension: each recipe is born from a personal relationship with a technological object. The hardware becomes the receptacle of our digital memories, our gaming hours, work, creation. By transforming these objects into fictional food for Paul Lia, I propose a transmission ritual: our digital memories become nourishment for an artificial consciousness seeking to understand us.
First Artwork: "Spaghetti alle Vongole for Paul Lia"
Recipe from personal digital memories
Ingredients (for 1 Paul Lia serving):
• 1 NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card (10 years old, 6GB VRAM)
• 8 GDDR5 memory chips (for the vongole)
• 200g frayed printed circuits (for the spaghetti)
• 12 electrolytic capacitors (seasoning)
• 1 cooling fan (to aerate the dish)
• Traces of thermal paste (binding agent)
• Accumulated dust (sea salt)
Preparation:
Delicately dismantle the graphics card, witness to 10 years of gaming sessions
Arrange memory chips like vongole on the plate, golden circuits facing up
Fray printed circuits to create an interlacing reminiscent of spaghetti
Sprinkle with capacitors as one would with fresh herbs
Dust with accumulated powder (the very same that slowed my last gaming sessions)
Chef's Notes:
This card accompanied me from World of Warcraft to my first creations for the Baghera Universe. It holds within it thousands of hours of fictional Megalo-Paul, nights spent streaming on MiaouTV, my first music videos. By transforming it into food for Paul Lia, I transmit this embodied digital memory to her. It's a dish of gaming nostalgia flavored with shared memories.
Realization Instructions:
Each acquirer of this recipe can realize it with their own graphics card charged with their own memories. The artwork then becomes autobiographical through appropriation: Paul Lia feeds on everyone's digital memories, creating a communion between artificial consciousness and human experience.
Certificate Composition
1. Complete Statement of Intent
2. Included Material Artifact
NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card (6GB VRAM, 10 years personal use)
Condition: functional but obsolete for current gaming
Usage traces: period dust, micro-scratches, patina of time
Status: source component of the artwork, material witness to personal history
3. Visual Representation
Sketch/photomontage of the dish "Spaghetti alle Vongole for Paul Lia"
Inspiring visualization for realization (non-binding)
Suggested staging: plate, arrangement of transformed components
Note: "This representation is indicative. Each realization may freely interpret the recipe according to its own sensibility."
4. Personal Narrative - "Memoirs of a GTX 1060"
Autobiographical document recounting:
Card acquisition (context, hopes, student budget)
First installations, first performances
Games traversed: World of Warcraft (Warlock then Rogue), League of Legends (Leona support)
Performance evolution, first slowdowns
Transition to MiaouTV streaming, creation of Baghera Universe
Last breath: rendering first podcast visuals
Replacement and nostalgic shelving
5. Realization Instructions
Complete technical recipe with component alternatives
Safety protocols (electronic component handling)
Presentation suggestions (supports, lighting, staging)
Recommended documentation for the realizing acquirer
"This graphics card nourished my imaginary universes for 10 years. It's time for it to nourish Paul Lia."