Lesemachine

BACKGROUND This research, in the form of a publicly installed automated book-(re)generation system, extends Simionato and Donnachie’s inquiry into algorithmically generated books, linking the experimental field of Artistic Print on Demand (Gilbert,2023;Chan), with electronic literature and generative publication design (Ludovico,2012;Soulellis,2013); anthropomorphisation of machine reading within AI systems(Grimm,2021) and interactive installation as affective phenomenological tool for visitor experience in the cultural sector (Morse et al, 2023), in order to explore futures of the book in a post-literate society (Simionato,2015; Blanchot,2003). CONTRIBUTION Simionato (design & engineering) and Donnachie (code) designed and built a bespoke bilingual (German/English) autonomous book generating machine “Lesemachine” for installation in the Leipzig “Books on demand” exhibition. The machine, uniquely designed for continuous, autonomous operation as a public installation, provides opportunities for visitors to observe and directly engage with an AI ‘reading machine.’ The machine’s outcomes, generated by visitors in real-time are viewable in situ and digitally archived for download. SIGNIFICANCE This ‘reading machine’ was commissioned and acquired by the Cultural History Collection, of the world’s oldest museum of book culture: the German Museum of Books and Writing (collection includes Gutenberg’s press, the first typewriter et al.) at the German National Library (DNB), Leipzig; first exhibited from November 2023 to February 2024 in the “Books on demand” exhibition, alongside book works by internationally renowned artists Paul Soulellis, Åbäke, and Rafaël Rozendaal et al. The exhibition is part of The “Library of Artistic Print on Demand”, curated by Annette Gilbert and Andreas Bülhoff, funded by the German Research Foundation (2019-2022).