← A. Inventions, No. 58
Various Designers
Miscellaneous Adapters
1990–2020
Aluminum, stainless steel, nickel, thermoplastic polyurethane (tpu), polyethylene naphthalate (pen). 1⅞ × ¾ × 2⅝". Collection of the author.
A droll weekend project, sorting out all the adapters and accessories in the house, and trying to responsibly dispose of the e-waste. It took me forever to figure out what these even are; nearly all of them are for devices I no longer own! My best guesses:
(fig. 1) Line level and volume control for a lapel microphone
(fig. 2) Stand mixer attachment for a crepe maker
(fig. 3) Third-party battery plate for Saab 9-5 gear shift
(fig. 4) Quick-release connector to attach video tripod to ski binding
(fig. 5) Two-inch (50mm) dust extractor fitting for pasta machine
(fig. 6) Adapter, quad l/r phono to propane tank regulator
(fig. 7) Muffler cutout clamp for human patella
Published February 13, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Jonathan Hoefler.
About
The objects in the Apocryphal Inventions series are technical chimeras, intentional misdirections coaxed from the generative AI platform Midjourney. Instead of iterating on the system’s early drafts to create ever more accurate renderings of real-world objects, creator Jonathan Hoefler subverted the system to refine and intensify its most intriguing misunderstandings, pushing the software to create beguiling, aestheticized nonsense. Some images have been retouched to make them more plausible; others have been left intact, appearing exactly as generated by the software. The accompanying descriptions, written by the author, offer fictitious backstories rooted in historical fact, which suggest how each of these inventions might have come to be.
These images represent some of AI’s most intriguing answers to confounding questions, an inversion of the more pressing debate in which it is humanity that must confront the difficult and existential questions posed by artificial intelligence.
Previously:
No. 57. Firehouse Alarm Systems
Next:
No. 59. Artificial Heart
