On February 15, Dazed celebrated the launch of the Dazed Archive – a custom AI-powered search engine built off 30 years of Dazed content in partnership with Lenovo and Intel – by putting on a one-day festival at 99 Scott Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. The buzzy warehouse venue at the intersection of East Williamsburg and Bushwick typically occupies raves and club nights, but it was momentarily transformed into an immersive artistic experience, bridging the gap between established industry creatives and young artistic minds. Members of the Dazed community, emerging from a wide range of fields and creative disciplines, gathered for a jam-packed day full of workshops, talks and tutorials as part of Lenovo’s larger “Make Space” platform.
In order to further explore the crossroads of art and technology, Dazed hosted several panels and talks featuring prominent figures in the Dazed world – from fashion director Nicola Formichetti to designer and technologist Mindy Seu. Throughout the day, attendees had countless opportunities to learn about the role technology plays in different artistic fields, as well as how our creative landscape is seemingly ever-changing.
Rather than be fearful of AI and its capabilities, Dazed Archive Live strived to inspire and expand the limits of what’s possible with AI for young people in the creative field by opening the floor for open-ended questions and creating hands-on workshops that allowed for experimentation across several mediums. As technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, the need to make space for the creative community and amplify their voices through new means was emphasised at Dazed Archive Live.
The festival started off with an introduction from Jefferson Hack, CEO and co-founder of Dazed Media, which set the tone for the rest of the day by acknowledging technology and social media as a tool for cultural innovation across all creative industries. The four different spaces at 99 Scott Ave boasted similar events throughout the day – ranging from a workshop with Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada that demonstrated how to use generative AI in fashion design while also debating the ethical implications of machine-made couture to a lively discussion about early internet circles and building a niche audience online with Charlie Engman, Patia Borja and Paul Hill. “I’m fine with putting in that extra effort to figure out how to write a sentence,” Patia Borja said in regards to AI. The dense crowd erupted with laughter.
Guests got hands-on with the Dazed Archive between panels, clicking through three decades of subversive culture on Lenovo Yoga AI PCs, Imagined with Intel. The stations allowed users to better familiarise themselves with the new platform, as well as conceptualise how it can be implemented into their respective disciplines. Whether guests used the archive to conceptualise their collection at Maya Man’s “Cataloging Your Online Obsessions” workshop or to answer burning questions about breaking into their respective industries, the Dazed Archive actualised a solution for finding real answers in our oversaturated media landscape. At the conclusion of the program, guests travelled across the street to 154 Scott for a happy hour and DJ sets featuring Rebecca Black, Doss and Haus Kat.
The Make Space launch event was the final affair of the evening. In addition to the DJ sets, guests were invited to partake in an immersive digital experience featuring works by Yehwan Song, Osean, Erik Rasmussen and more. Harping on both the release of the Dazed Archive and Lenovo Yoga’s new platform, which strives to bring creatives together with tools like the Lenovo Aura Edition AI PC, the Dazed community revelled in the festivities, knowing the future looks a little brighter for young creatives.
