#360
As with the treadle-powered LLM, this AI runs fully locally is but powered by hand! Code available on github /Max-Park-Design/William-Morris-LLM for those curious!
A continuation of Prompting Nowhere with updated housing and hardware.
This iteration is currently on its way to America as part of my ongoing research into how AI is reshaping our relationship with work… more info to follow soon 🌻
“Prompting Nowhere” for Peckham Digital / Copeland Gallery / 16-19th October
As the treadle-powered installation remains in the Lethaby Gallery until December, I was very glad that Peckham Digital (@peckhamdigital ) invited me to show an updated version of the hand-cranked LLM which I’ve been developing as part of my ongoing research. Definitely have a look at some of the great workshops / events going on as part of the festival - so glad to be involved and can’t wait for it to start!
It was always important to me that I printed the Prompting Nowhere project in book form. After all, the whole project was inspired by a physical book! Although News from Nowhere was published as a book in 1891, its first appearance in 1890 was as a serial in Commonweal, the newspaper of the Socialist League founded by Morris in 1884. It sold for one penny, perhaps the pre-internet equivalent of open-source publishing.
On slides 3–5 I’ve included my dad’s copy of News from Nowhere, a 1919 edition, and the serial code (Y1469219) from the Singer sewing machine I bought from Dr Elizabeth Savage for the project which, by coincidence, also dates to 1919!
I’ll be doing another print run of the Prompting Nowhere book for an upcoming exhibition in mid-October (details soon). The weight, texture, and smell of a book simply can’t exist on a screen! But the text is, and will remain, available through Commonweal — completely free to read on my website maxpark.design
Very excited to share that the treadle-powered installation of my design research project Prompting Nowhere will be exhibited at the Lethaby Gallery's exhibition Re:generating Creativity from now until December 7th.
I'm grateful to be shown alongside such great works, which each approach the brief:
What happens when artists, designers and performers refuse to accept the world as it is and instead ask: what could it become?
The exhibition unfolds thematically across three parts: Re:making looks back to propel us forward, Re:grounding engages with identity and community to reveal how the personal can impact the global, and Re:visioning embraces emerging technologies to build futures centred on connectivity.
Curatorial advisory group:
Alistair O’Neill, Andy Marsh, Cansu Karakus, Darla-Jane Gilroy, Lee Pond, Mia Cormack, Naomi Lewis, Nina O’Reilly, Orla Houston-Jibo, Sitraka Rakotoniaina
Design:
Martin McGrath and Leonidas Liolios
As part of the project, I really wanted to incorporate a teasmade – for those who don’t know, its an alarm clock which automatically wakes you up to a freshly brewed cup of tea. The specific model I own is a Goblin 885 which had belonged to my grandparents. The teasmade was invented in 1891 (the year after News from Nowhere was published) by Charles Maynard Walker about a 15-minute walk from where I grew up, which is also a 5-minute walk from where John Ruskin (a great influence on Morris) lived.
Although I didn’t include it in the installation, I made sure to feature it in the video. All these connections are very important to me… they’re where the ideas come from.
It’s such a ridiculous invention, I love it! But, I can’t imagine it existing in News from Nowhere – why rob ourselves the job of making a cup of tea in the morning?
Previous patent names include:
• Early Riser’s Friend
• A Clock That Makes Tea
• Automatic Tea Making Apparatus
• An Apparatus Whereby a Cup of Tea or Coffee is Automatically Made
I’ve included some images of earlier teasmades, find more info here: /tag/models/
The first version of the treadle-powered / locally run Morris AI – shown for the "Work in Progress" exhibition at CSM 19/02/2025. The building blocks were all there… the huge metal cog was a bit aggressive though!
The second slide is a closeup of the Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) used in the final installation. All data storage and AI response generation is done entirely locally on it – no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth. And because of this, it can track exactly how much power is being used (usually 8-10W when processing a response, 2.5-3W when idle).
My grandmothers craft was as a seamstress; her personal treadle-powered sewing machine, which greatly inspired this project, still lives in Walthamstow at my aunt and uncle’s house. The one used for this project was instead purchased from an eBay user who just so happened to be Dr Elizabeth Savage, an art historian, curator and expert on Western printing techniques between 1400-1600; the kind which Morris attempted to carry forward in his textiles and wallpapers (yet Elizabeth might argue, undermined).
On discussing Morris’ views on craft in utopianism, Elizabeth highlighted the specific social and economic context which Morris, and hence his vision of utopia, existed in. When I presented her with my hand-cranked AI, the first question she chose to ask it was ‘How do you define a utopia, and who would it be for?’. The AI-generated response can be found on my website, but I think there’s very little value to be drawn from what the responses denote…
Our conversation reminded me of my previous discussion with Brian David Johnson, where he posed a key question to keep in mind when creating and using AI: what are you optimising for?
For the full video and more information, please visit my website (link in bio)
To act as a prompt for discussion, I created a first attempt to align an AI with Morris’ ideals and took this hand-cranked device to meet with @roisininglesby at The Water House in Walthamstow, Morris’ own former family home which is now home to the @morrisgallery .
Róisín has curated a wide range of exhibitions both within the William Morris Gallery and internationally, with a continued focus and specialism on craft, design and material culture. During our conversation, she offered a great analogy: considering AI as a kiln, involving risk, uncertainty, and the craftsperson’s ability to judge the outcome, whether it’s a glazed pot or a computer-generated response, with authority.
For the full video and more information, please visit my website (link in bio)
Prompting Nowhere is my ongoing design research project which explores what it means to craft in the digital age, the evolving relationships between labour and fulfilment, and how generative AI is reshaping both.
I’m currently working towards future exhibitions of this project (more info coming soon!) as well as continuing further research and development which I look forward to sharing soon… in the meantime, I’ll be uploading some sections of video from the associated film. This first clip introduces how this project came to be, as well as an initial conversation I had with AI consultant, educator and futurist Brian David Johnson which really helped me understand what AI truly is and does.
For the full video and more information, please visit my website (link in bio)
