Exhibition: Perversion of Interfaces

An exhibition of AI devices that clash both physically and conceptually with their users.

The show’s poster: PERVERSION OF INTERFACES in red capitals over an isometric line drawing of the six works floating above a table, printed on mint green, with the dates and the MVR 1250 address beside it — Images related to this exhibition were taken by myself, lab members, and Professor Leigh.

Perversion of Interfaces was an exhibition of prototypes from Cornell’s Machine Poetics Lab, directed by Assistant Professor Sang-won Leigh and curated by Shuang Cai, shown in the Martha Van Rensselaer (MVR) Hall’s 1250 Gallery from October 16–29, 2025.

The yellow CLING LAMP poster beside a black desk lamp standing on a white plinth — Cling Lamp

Ditto in close-up on its white plinth, the small white camera turned toward the room with its blue diagram poster on the wall behind it — Ditto

Newspeak Radio on its plinth: a scorched pine box with two black knobs along its top edge, beneath its yellow poster — Newspeak Radio

ClearDose on its plinth: a white box with a red lid, a small dark screen on the front and a printed paper slip emerging from the top — ClearDose

The (Auto)nomy 2 earpiece, a white curved blade, standing upright on a small wooden block on a white plinth, with a photograph of it being worn on the wall above — (Auto)nomy 2

Inter:Lace on show: a black torso mannequin on a white plinth wearing a banded black choker at the throat, printed cards laid in front of it — Inter:Lace

Two pink cards on a white plinth: A GIFT FOR YOU, PERVERSION OF INTERFACES, and a voucher for one month of ad-free service from Newspeak Radio — Speculative coupons to promote the “marketable product” style of exhibition

A glass-topped case seen from above with a scatter of small white printed Ditto bodies inside, the gallery’s wooden floor beyond it — I created Ditto goodies that visitors could take home with them

Each of its six works is an everyday product with an AI core, deliberately twisted in concept to fail, overreact, or take control away from its user. Objects include a radio that filters news to your political tastes, a choker that tightens when you say the “wrong thing,” a lamp with separation anxiety, and my own contribution: Ditto. The exhibition uses these “perversions” to stir conversations about how AI might reshape interfaces and where its ethical lines sit.

Perversion of Interfaces was covered by Cornell Human Ecology in an article.

It later became the case study for a co-authored pictorial at ACM Creativity & Cognition 2026.

Cling Lamp

Ditto

Newspeak Radio

ClearDose

(Auto)nomy 2

Inter:Lace

Ditto’s corner of the show: the pale blue DITTO poster on the wall beside two large photographs of the camera being held up outdoors, the camera itself on a white plinth below them beside a stack of printed cards

My contribution was Ditto, a camera that retracts its shutter if its AI deems the scene unsatisfactory in its composition, contrast, color, and content. Following the exhibition’s shared commercial framing, Ditto was presented like a marketable consumer product: a camera that doesn’t let you take a bad photo. It is paired with a technical poster and a satirical “launch kit” coupon; this intentional cynicism leads visitors to question whether this camera was intended to be real or not, and whether such a thing might actually exist in society one day.

The (Auto)nomy 2 earpiece, a white curved blade, standing upright on a small wooden block on a white plinth

(Auto)nomy 2
A wearable that sends haptic signals to your body to direct you toward certain moods in certain situations

Cling Lamp
A lamp that flickers to get your attention if you walk away from it

The yellow NEWSPEAK RADIO poster and a photograph on the gallery wall, the wooden radio itself on a white plinth below

Newspeak Radio
A radio whose ideological views you can adjust to your liking

A gallery wall hung with the pale blue CLEARDOSE diagram and two photographs, the white and red machine itself on a plinth below

ClearDose
A camera that prints a receipt of “treatments” it has for you based on your appearance

A corner of the gallery: the pale blue INTER:LACE poster and two photographs on the wall, a black bust wearing the choker on a white plinth below

Inter:Lace
A choker that tightens around your neck when you say the “wrong thing”

The gallery at opening: visitors in coats standing in groups along the white walls of a long room under track lighting, posters and plinths around them