ICH, PROSA. Casper, Algorithmen und Ich.

During the semester we talked about smart gadgets, smart clothes, smart homes and what smart really means. And we discussed about the opposites and alternatives for the future.

The idea behind this project was inspired by MIT PhD student J. Nathan Matias. He used the intelligent learning app SwiftKey to generate new sonnets that are based on some of Shakespeares famous words.

So I wanted to do the same, but I wanted to do it in german language. I started with Johann Wolfgang Goethe. During my researches I found an article from „puls“ about the vocabulary of german rappers. So I ended up with the number 12 of the vocabulary ranking, one of my favorite german artists, Casper.

WIR MALEN UNS DIE WELT IN KUNTERGRAU UND DUNKELBUNT

I started the project with typing in almost all lyrics from Casper into my phone – every song except his first record „Rap Art War“. This one was published in 2004, and in the next four years he changed his style and language distinctly, so I decided to work just with the Casper most of us know.

When I was typing in the lyrics, i switched on the App SwiftKey. When I was texting with my friends, I turned it off so it was only learning from Casper's lyrics.

SCHWALBEN AN DIE FRONT.

So I used every letter of the alphabet to start a new text. While reading you will notice a lot of words that are characteristic for Casper like city, heart, day, love, life, end, world and perfect.

As a result, I created a small book that looks like a conversation via iMessage between two persons.