Machine mediators: rethinking intelligence and posthuman ecologies in the artist’s book

Mixed Signals (2023) is an artist’s book by kennedy+swan that merges the conventional physical book with augmented reality (AR). Through its nature-themed watercolours that transform into interactive AR scenes, this hybrid work explores the ethical tensions in using artificial intelligence (AI) as a means of researching nature. Set in a near future where AI enables interspecies communication, the artist’s book presents a fictional narrative that challenges anthropocentric assumptions and the complexities of human–nature–technology relations in the Anthropocene. Drawing from Braidotti’s posthuman theory, in this paper I examine how Mixed Signals interrogates the role of humanity in the natural world. By positioning its speculative AI technology as both a symptom of the Anthropocene and a tool for rethinking interspecies relationships, the work navigates a future that is inhabited not only by human intelligence, but also artificial, animal, and other non-human intelligence. Through a multimodal analysis, I consider how the text, watercolours, and augmented digital elements in Mixed Signals interact in its construction of meaning. Specifically, I examine how the work employs speculative storytelling surrounding AI and more-than-human perspectives to critique anthropocentric frameworks. Ultimately, I argue that Mixed Signals contributes to wider discussions on the potential and limitations of AI, posthuman ecologies, and the cultural function of art, specifically the artist’s book, in imagining post-anthropocentric futures.