Abstract
The Unmined – Generative Sculpture in the Age of the Capitalocene is a research-based art project that examines how human emotions are extracted, quantified, and commodified as data within contemporary capitalism. Through the reverse-engineering of data-mining technologies, the project reimagines affective labour as a form of digital extraction, situating emotional computation within the Capitalocene—an era where capital and data operate as intertwined forces shaping both material and immaterial life. By transforming “useless” or commercially unexploitable emotional data into generative sculptural forms, the work proposes an artistic intervention that critiques the algorithmic valuation of human emotion and reveals the exploitative systems underlying data capitalism.
Combining affective computing, web scraping, machine learning, and procedural 3D modelling, the research mined and classified emotional texts from social media. The emotion scores extracted from these datasets were translated into parametric variables within procedural 3D software to generate sculptural forms based on the crystalline structures of coltan—a conflict mineral essential to digital infrastructures. The 3D-printed resin sculptures, presented with a video installation and a wall work visualising mined emotions, expose how human affect is treated and circulated as an immaterial commodity through processes of hidden digital labour.
The project’s key contribution lies in the development of an original algorithmic pipeline for data-driven generative sculpture—an emerging field bridging computational design and contemporary art. This integration of NLP-based emotional analysis with procedural modelling provides a transferable framework for future research in generative art, computational aesthetics, and creative AI systems, while maintaining a critical stance toward the technologies it employs.
Supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and presented as a solo exhibition at Current Plans, Hong Kong (13 September–12 October 2025), The Unmined exemplifies a reflective practice that advances discourse on data colonialism, postdigital aesthetics, and the ethics of technological creation.
Combining affective computing, web scraping, machine learning, and procedural 3D modelling, the research mined and classified emotional texts from social media. The emotion scores extracted from these datasets were translated into parametric variables within procedural 3D software to generate sculptural forms based on the crystalline structures of coltan—a conflict mineral essential to digital infrastructures. The 3D-printed resin sculptures, presented with a video installation and a wall work visualising mined emotions, expose how human affect is treated and circulated as an immaterial commodity through processes of hidden digital labour.
The project’s key contribution lies in the development of an original algorithmic pipeline for data-driven generative sculpture—an emerging field bridging computational design and contemporary art. This integration of NLP-based emotional analysis with procedural modelling provides a transferable framework for future research in generative art, computational aesthetics, and creative AI systems, while maintaining a critical stance toward the technologies it employs.
Supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and presented as a solo exhibition at Current Plans, Hong Kong (13 September–12 October 2025), The Unmined exemplifies a reflective practice that advances discourse on data colonialism, postdigital aesthetics, and the ethics of technological creation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Media of output | Other |
| Size | mixed media artwork |
| Publication status | Published - 13 Sept 2025 |
User-Defined Keywords
- generative sculpture
- affective computing
- digital labour
- capitalocene
- emotional computation
- algorithmic art
- data colonialism
- computational creativity
- video art
