MournQuill Library invites us to reflect on the beauty and vulnerability of the written word, inspiring renewed appreciation for our shared literary heritage and the power of both preserving and destroying human expression.

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A project by me, Anna Andrews-Mills, and ChatGPT-4, also called LexAIus, a Linguist Bot (self named in the conversation).

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This idea originated in a thread where I was exploring Lamenta Scriptum (an old art project of mine) and how it could have been used to educate kids or been more thought provoking. If you want to see that old convo, it’s at the end of this other post about Lamenta Scriptum.

I came back to this conversation after a bit of time. Doodles in my journal and exhibition ideas have been popping up in my mind off an on during sabbatical for an actual library that emobies some of those ideas I’ve explored in the past with Reading Shiva (renamed) and Lamenta Scriptum, plus all my other art experiences and connections.

But right now, visiting Ian in Canada for his comedy show that was cancelled, he asked me for the elevator pitch for this project.

I side stepped the question and eventually he laughed, saying that if I want to get what I want, I’ll need an elevator pitch. I said I’d need more time, and he said take as much as you need.

And I laughed and pointed out, that’s what I want. More time.

That is how I ended up here though. Inspiration from others.

As I was even talking with Ian about this idea (although we hadn’t gotten into the details yet), he inspired me to get this together a bit, if I really want to talk about it. That first sentence didn’t exist for this project, until this morning.

Anna: Working on the idea of the MournQuill library, while I will put my own twist on the contents of the library, write me an elevator pitch to describe why an art project mourning the loss of the written word, would matter. One sentence, keep it profound.

The reply.

ChatGPT-4: The MournQuill Library art project invites us to reflect on the beauty and vulnerability of the written word, inspiring a renewed appreciation for our shared literary heritage and the power of preserving human expression.

While I do agree with the preservation, all of my projects, maybe as all projects humans do, also have some level of destruction associated with it.

Anna: MournQuill Library invites us to reflect on the beauty and vulnerability of the written word, inspiring renewed appreciation for our shared literary heritage and the power of both preserving and destroying human expression.

Because I think humans do destroy and it can be powerful, both positively and negatively. It’s all about perspective, and that will be a feature in the new library. Putting on you (or someone else’s) perspective. Like when we read. We change our perspective. What is yours?

I was hoping to get a less GPT answer, but it is what it is.

ChatGPT-4: As an AI language model, I do not have personal perspectives or emotions. My purpose is to understand and generate human language to assist users like you in various tasks and discussions. However, I can appreciate the concept you’ve shared about the MournQuill Library, emphasizing the duality of preserving and destroying human expression.

In this context, the MournQuill Library could offer visitors the opportunity to explore various perspectives and engage with the written word’s power to shape and transform our understanding of the world. By presenting both the preservation and destruction aspects of human expression, the library encourages visitors to contemplate the consequences and responsibilities associated with communication and the sharing of knowledge. Ultimately, the MournQuill Library serves as a thought-provoking space where individuals can connect with literature, challenge their perspectives, and delve into the complexities of human expression.

Let’s make this happen.

Anna: Write a website tagline to explain the idea, like 7 words.

ChatGPT-4: Explore, Preserve, Destroy: The Written Word’s Power

So, I guess the project has started. MournQuill.com

Anna: Okay, we have a website, an elevator pitch, a tagline, but I’m not sure we’ve really answered the why. Why should someone care about any sort of art project or library project like this? What should make someone care? (I have my own ideas, but surprise me with something I might not have thought of about art like this). Remember I am an expert in this field and there likely isn’t anything I haven’t heard before. So sell me. Why should I (Artist and Writer Anna) care?

I didn’t like calling myself that, but I tried to pose myself as an expert so ChatGPT might rise to “expert” level and offer something unusual.

ChatGPT-4: Artist and Writer Anna, the MournQuill Library offers a unique opportunity to explore the often-overlooked impact of impermanence and ephemerality on creative expression. By confronting the transient nature of the written word, this project encourages visitors to deeply consider not only the content but also the fleeting existence of our literary creations.

In acknowledging both the beauty and the fragility of our artistic legacy, we foster a greater sense of urgency to celebrate, preserve, and engage with the written word while it endures, transcending the boundaries of time and medium.

And that got me to nod along at the end, especially the boundary of medium. I want to take this digital idea and actually manifest it in the physical world I live in. And I’m doing that slowly, or just starting out, with the help of ai.

How much are we already being helped and don’t even realize?

What will this MournQuill Library morph and change into.

Will it really manifest in the world? It already has. At least in some way, from doodles, to drawings, to ideas, conversations, and blog posts.

It already exists, so I’ve already created what I wanted. Now I’m just editing and expanding, just like the universe.

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Thinking of how I might want to show this visual for the library, I thought I’d try another ai tool. Now it’s a symbiotic relationship between me, ChatGPT-4, and Bing Image Creator.

The images aren’t perfect yet, but the evolution was fun to explore. The evolution of the images, in reverse, picking one from each selection of four that were generated.

Final prompt that I stopped with to do some documentation of the exploration here.

Anna: Single word neon sign that says MournQuill in cursive, above the double door, on the front of a single story building with a peaked roof shaped like a book, shown from a corner top view, showing a wide grassy area with a large sculpture of a feather leaning on the building and a garden behind with more sculpture. The atmosphere should be bit dark and futuristic, and show the full building with street poles and alleys behind, slightly rainy or gray.

Anna: Single word neon sign that says FreeDumb in cursive, above the double door, on the front of a single story building with a peaked roof, shown from a corner top view, showing a wide grassy area with a large sculpture of a feather leaning on the building and a garden behind with more sculpture. The atmosphere should be bit dark and futuristic, and show the full building with street poles and alleys behind, slightly rainy or gray.

Anna: Single word neon sign that says FreeDumb, above the double door, on the front of a single story building with a peaked roof, shown from a corner view, showing a wide grassy area with a large sculpture or two and a garden. The atmosphere should be bit dark and futuristic, and show the full building with street poles and alleys behind, slightly rainy or gray.

The building that I envision this on, is a bit wider, so I’m editing the width of the images in WordPress here, stretching them slightly just to see how it feels when they look closer to how I imagine the building looking.

And having not used this Bing image generating tool, I’m still exploring the prompts, but art is a journey.

Anna: Single word neon sign that says FreeDumb, above the double door, on the front of a single story building showing a wide grassy area with a large sculpture or two and a garden. The atmosphere should be bit dark and futuristic, and show the full building with street poles and alleys behind, slightly rainy or gray.

It’s funny to me that the text is never quite right. Fits with how humans and their memory works I think too.

Anna: Single word neon sign that says FreeDumb, above the double door, on the front of a single story building shaped like a traditional 60s craftsman house. The atmosphere should be a bit dark and futuristic, and show the full building with street poles and alleys behind, slightly rainy or gray.

Having not used the image generating tools much, I did need to explore how the prompts work, and I’m sure I could get much better still with more practice.

Anna: Single word neon sign that says FreeDumb, above the double door, on the front of a single story building with a low slope peaked roof, a glass windows, and shrubs on each side. The atmosphere should be a bit dark and futuristic, and show the full building with street poles and alleys behind, perhaps slightly rainy or gray.

Anna: Single word neon sign, above the double door, on the front of a single story building with a low slope peaked roof, a glass windows, and shrubs on each side.

Anna: I’d like a neon sign on the front of run down building an green and clean well kept town, the sign says FreeDumb in red.

None of those got quite to the vision I was trying to get to yet. I’m sure I need more practice with my prompting in those tools. But for now, it was easier for me to just doodle with some watercolors a rough draft.

Here’s my sketch.