Pt.3 Believe it or not, 2 weeks prior to collection drop I received a green light from the largest R&D in humanoid Robots company in China. With a caveat. The whole crew should fly to Dalian city (a place in nowhere near border with North Korea) and perform a shoot inside their museum, meaning we had to take 5 hour flight & bring a whole crew from one province to another. I am sure after so many bottlenecks, someone would totally give up. What’s funny about me is that when I see challenge, I like taking it on. The more challenging the puzzle, the more interesting it is for me to solve. When I hit yet another obstacle I literally started laughing hard: “There is no force that would stop me at this point”. So we did it. We took a risk at going in the middle of nowhere, spending a lot of money, with the end result we were not sure about. But hey, I feel that something unique & one of a kind is worth taking risk for. Inside Posthuman, we cultivate a culture of pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Whether it’s design, manufacture, logistics, customer service, website development, creative organisation and so on. We see a limit, we push through it. The photoshoot turned out to be a fantastic experience. Programming robots, dressing them, posing, adorning them with jewelry, the staff at museum started gossiping: ”They really look more like humans now”. “Aha!” - I thought. Simple, statement pieces that define your inner character & individuality, make you stand out from the crowd, screaming your identity, your vision, your views - is what each human carry within themselves. With art, creativity & self-expression we’re silently talking to each other, sending signals of who we truly are. Inside. Does a robot have these feelings inside? —— I decided to write this story, upload pictures with videos without any AI, filters or upscalers. Perhaps it’s flawed, has some grammar & punctuality mistakes. I choose to be this way. I consciously choose to be imperfect. I choose to be human.
Pt.2 The core philosophy behind Posthuman Lab is that we bring complicated, mind-bending 3D designs in the form of jewelry and accessories that, even 5 years ago, would have been impossible to produce. With 3D printing technology, we managed to achieve literally impossible. We bring future art into the present, and thereby bring current humans closer to Posthumans. When I saw those humanoid robots, inventors of which, are trying super hard to make them like real humans, with skin, hair & eyelashes, soft movements & trained to talk like humans, they still look like robots. I couldn’t help myself but wonder: “What makes a human human? A Robot robot?” This existential thought led to creation of “I AM HUMAN” concept. Now, the organisational part. Where do I find Humanoid Robots company? There’s just a few in the entire world and handful in China. Sadly, I don’t speak Chinese, so as you can imagine, organising photo & video shoot campaign in China was hella a process. Digging in Chinese web and hunting companies, photographers, studios all around this massive country was challenging to say the least. I received ridiculous quotes, endless no-goes, inability to transport robots from factory to the studio, from one province to another, if you want them to pose, they gotta be coded back and forth, so without an adequate robots engineer support it’s practically impossible. Yet to mention, some robots are still in primitive stage of development, so there was a huge risk to make a shoot look like an “effect of uncanny valley”. After 2 months of unsuccessful research, my team insisted to abandon this idea as it’s just too costly and complicated. We had little time to drop a collection and I was under pressure to make a choice: to leave this photoshoot idea & just release a 3D content( since we’re running of time to create even a simple shoot in Shenzhen). Honestly, the thought of not doing my all, when I still had some ideas how to reach out to different companies & arrange the shoot, would probably eat my brain for next few years. I want to ensure I’ve done my 200% best with 0 regrets in the future. I told my team, I will not stop. Pt.3 in the next post.
I’ve received an overwhelming amount of dms and personals question about how we created “I AM HUMAN” campaign.
It’s, honestly, a long story…the one I’d probably would love to tell my grandkids over the fireplace with a nice cup of tea in our hands in a country house far away in nature…But will try my level best to explain it in two parts in IG short catchy straight-to-the point “popcorn style” content…
Pt.1 In August, I visited one of the biggest 3D printing conferences in the world in Shenzhen, China. The purpose of this trip was to level up my 3D printing knowledge, absorb the latest innovations in the 3D printing space, network with manufacturers, and meet like-minded entrepreneurs.
Although I was pretty disappointed by the fact that there was nothing I didn’t already know, I came across this AGI & Robotics exhibition that was in the warehouse next door and decided to give it a shot.
Y’all, the level of my shock was hard to describe…A moving robot, with perfect human-like skin, smooth gestures & facial expressions, talking to crowd with AI like it was their day-to-day casual conversation, was the first thing that met me.
“Whhhhaaaaat the…” - is the same thought I repeat to myself everyday whilst living in China. That day was no exception. I felt like I was an Alice in Cyberland. Robots firefighters on the right, robots elderly carers on the left, robots coffee makers in front, robots bartenders at the back, robots waitresses, robots masseuses, robots artists, AI life-saving cameras, AI databases to power up the city, AI police, AI art, AI everything you can imagine.
Talking to a lot of passionate AI & Robotics entrepreneurs, I left the exhibition with one thought: “The future is now”.
You know, that feeling when you’re mesmerised but also terrified at the same time couldn’t leave me for the next couple of days.
I felt it was my mission to tell to the world about these amazing technologies through art at Posthuman Lab.
Pt.2 in the next post.
Millions of tears, lost nervous cells, damaged eyes, tight hips, neck hernia, hormonal imbalance, new wrinkles.
Unlimited failed prototypes. Daily frustrations. Betrayals. Endless delays. Scams. Hypocrisy.
What an inadequate journey...
But what a fulfilling one. As part of alchemy laws, in exchange, the world has blessed me with an incredible team, solid business partners & loyal friendship. But the biggest gift life has given me…my vocation. Leading. Strategising. Creatively Directing. Something one’s finding the whole life, I was truly lucky to obtain in my 20s. I don’t take things for granted and it's my time to contribute.
To every soul that was helping me along the way: Art Direction: @outside.inc
Jewelry Maestros: @outside.inc , @arjintai ,@posthuman_001 Brand Identity: @franklynstevenss Web Design: @franklynstevenss
Photographer: @Long Photo Retouch: @by.dantalian
Videographer: @hoangviet.ho_
Stylist: @xiinciao , @typnzzzz , @tta_trann
Hair: @ori___voo Marketing lead: @lucassis_96
Right Hand: nam.wly Makeup: @phanrv Models: @bonnie.ngn@brandon.huyh @ @augurd_@loucussgora@sheddingdeadskincells Web Developer: @the_alan_pham
Manufacture Consulting: @solarlight.dark
Business Partnership: @plasticfantastic_
Business Consulting: @izbarelle
3D Graphics: Minh 3D partners: @datoo_0711@0culuslab.space
Brand Creative Strategy: @posthuman_001
I’m grateful.
An ivory tower is a metaphorical place where people are happily cut off from the rest of the world in favor of their own pursuits. From the 19th century, it has been used to designate an environment of intellectual pursuit disconnected from the practical concerns of everyday life.
Risk taken. No come back.
Failure. Possible. Rat race.
Am I lucky? I certainly am.
What are the odds?
Nobody knows.
Odds will not be in my favour
if at least I don’t try.
My best.
Bending myself. Day by day.
Hard work? Harassing my mind.
Rest? Say goodbye to that.
What’s easy - not rewarding. What’s difficult - burn me out.
Why am I doing this?
To test myself.
To know my limits. Of what’s possible.
Hone my mind like a diamond.
Escape from matrix.
Matrix of my systems of beliefs…
