Graduate Studies

Digital Futures (MA, MDes and MFA)

Arshia Sobhan Sarbandi

Navigating the Latent

“Navigating the Latent” explores the use of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) as an option that can fill the gap between digital tools and fundamental aspects of Islamic calligraphy, and as a new tool that can expand the creative space of artists and designers who use Islamic calligraphy in their works. This project prospects for future applications of GANs and asks “how utilizing this technology can expand the creative and practical space of Islamic calligraphy.” Through a process of dataset creation and network training, this project introduces calligraphy pieces with a new mode of expression that unleashes the latent space of possibilities between discrete data samples and demonstrates the potentials of the unexplored intersection of GANs and Islamic calligraphy.