wowlab

In my work as a designer and fine artist, AI is being regarded in various ways. As a useful helper, a horrible cheater, and a grabber of jobs. Should we deliver ourselves to it? Withstand it, endure the agony?

How to handle this? Indeed an old question

My own first results in using AI were mixed, a bit of all the above. It is a very useful help in Google searching, and it can write Grasshopper code for my Cad program. It also can code for Arduino, also a time saver. But a question (or better: prompt) to write a setup for an AI study group produced thirteen in a dozen results and ignored the scope and purpose of such a group. Something a human, experienced user would not miss. Or was it inexperienced prompting?

In my work for the Art Union (Kunstenbond) I notice AI being used frequently already, for better or for worse. Animations are made using AI, writers illustrate their books in a certainly not uninteresting way. That’s nice. Musicians are afraid to lose work and income because of the huge volume of songs on the playlists that are AI-generated and deprive them of their income. That’s not nice.

One thing is sure (for now) : AI does not have an intent. And it does not understand your intent either. You are the one who has to guide AI to where you want it to go. Not the other way around. Be aware of that. Always ask yourself: is this what I need, want, desire, or have to do.

Good prompting will definitely help you a lot and guide AI into interesting ways. Especially in the routine work like searching, coding. But can it compose a good song? Probably that still is your job. Expect a lot, but not everything, and stay awake.

This post will be expanded in the coming weeks. I will give some examples of AI use in a more professional design context, as that is what interests me. Think: developing packaging, coding Grasshopper. Probably also some useful links to books, sites, examples.

Personally, I don’t care so much about a flawless drawing made by AI. I’d rather go out into the field with a sketchpad myself. And I don’t feel that I have to surprise my family with a song that I made for them. They know I cannot sing or compose and nobody gives a damn.

If you are interested, feel free to email me. Direct reactions on this post, however, are blocked to avoid spamming.

Edwin Dertien is an inventor. He asked me to help him for his coming exhibition in Oyfo , Hengelo, to build the house of the inventor, filled with many of his ideas, inventions, constructions. We’re still building, it is work in progress (January 2026)

What about using boxes and stacking these? We can make an interesting ” labyrinth” with surprises, hidden corners and so on. I developed the boxes for Diets present, but they are, like some kind of Lego or Meccano, also good for this design. And we can make the walls of transparent material (” kanalenplaat” : lexan sheet as used in roofs) so it will not be a massive, closed box but inviting instead.

The rendering looks good, but will it work?

First build. Made extra boxes and an outline of the house. Now we can change easily. This will result quickly in a useful assembly. We can change it, make pictures, discuss it easily.

Architects say they “discipline” their idea. Which means with an idea in mind the possibilities, opportunities of a layout of the building (here: the set) can be explored quickly. That is exactly what we aim to do with this 1 to 10 scale model

Jan. 9th:

Dummies of the objects in the model so we can check if we have enough space. And also wheelchairs should have access which limits the width of the paths.

Material will be 18 mm plywood. It is heavier than 9 mm but we need the stability. And building, and later, disassembly, will be easier and cheaper because we can use screws instead of connectors that require more precision and use nuts and bolts

Members of Intervocaal Enschede assembled and decorated the boxes

Diet Gerrits, leaving director of Intervocaal, would get many presents . I was asked to help them to make some kind of box or construction to put the presents in. My goal was to give the choir members something they could build themselves.

A plywood box was designed with connectors, giving freedom to build. A bit like Lego

The frog is the symbol of Intervocaal

Every box contains a present. Enough to keep Diet busy for a while.

I was invited to join the Maker Advent in Chemnitz in December 2025.

I worked on the Schwibbogen, last summer I designed these in Lossnitz, but I wanted to add candles. So I did some experimenting in Enschede to make it reliable and safe. No messing around with fire!

But we don’t work (much) in the mines anymore (well, not in the Oremountains). Nor with hammer and pick. We use robots instead. So i used these forms for my new Schwibboge.

I made various designs of Schwibbogen. Dutch, robotics, circular, simple cut out…

When we ran out of precut decoration, creativity got a new chance. Make your own Red Tower.

When also the arches ran out, they blasted off….

It is a tough job not to go with the traditional flow, especially when that can be purchased so easily and comply to how schwibbogen should look: recognizable symbols and pictures, unpainted wood. Tradition on the edge of becoming a cliché mass product? Sit down and do it yourself, become a maker!

That became even more obvious later in Lossnitz. A Led schwibbogen with the traditional theme had to be assembled, this attracted much attention. But it also demanded some basic maker skills: soldering, assembling.

Satisfaction

And this may look very traditional, but the printing is done using Tetrapack cartons for printing, and there is a laser engraving on slate. Don’t be afraid of the old symbols and tradition, but look for openings and possible connections they offer. It was nice to work in the crowded maker place, one working with textile, another with the laser.

Traditional themes are useful to reach out, and from there you can proceed and combine. And also appreciate the old tradition itself deeper.

By the way: the elderly textile-ladies were very, very capable of working with the soldering iron. So precise and with rock steady hands.

All together now: slate tradition (background), robotics, Gluck Auf, modern Led candles (with remote control), and the Xmas angel and Bergman. And lasercutting, I’d almost forget to mention that.

The miners’ parade in Lossnitz

Samen met een aantal mensen uit de wijk Pathmos een bouwplaat gemaakt. Het was bedoeld om in Pathmos achter de ramen te zetten en een lint van vredesstalletjes door de wijk te maken. De bewoners konden in een aantal workshops hun eigen model bouwen. Het oorspronkelijke ontwerp kwam van Tom van de Linden. Ik heb er een paar aanpassingen aan gedaan zodat het in een workshop gebouwd kon worden en heb daarna de productie uitgevoerd. In totaal zijn er zo’n 170 gemaakt welke door kinderen en volwassenen zijn gebruikt

setjes in de laser

led-theelichtjes kunnen er van achter in worden gestoken

workshop

Voor Anke, Tom en Ismael een kleinigheidje als bedankje gemaakt voor hun inzet.

workshop in de Boei, wijkcentrum Pathmos

Figuurtjes om de vredesstal mee in te richten

de Pathmosprinses met haar vriendjes om haar heen

this weekend in Eindhoven , Maker Days 2025. I prepared a new Schwibboge. For Eindhoven and Brabat in general music as the theme seemed appropriate to me.

for me, as a stage designer, a schwibboge is a small theater, and what happens inside can be perceived as a small-scale play. Once you look it this way, it is more than a Christmas decoration.

Weefraampjes maken, gerelateerd aan de weefrozet. Nu voor kinderen in groep 3, ongeveer 6-7 jaar oud. Het is voor Diskoever, de handenarbeidklas van KOE, katholiek onderwijs Enschede.

Het moet eenvoudig te gebruiken zijn. Er lag een ontwerp wat al in grote lijnen goed werkte, maar voor het laseren kon er nog wat aan verbeterd worden zoals hoeken afronden. Dat snijdt echt veel sneller.

Hoe de ketting er op zetten? De bovenste kan losgemaakt worden. De onderste is veel eenvoudiger op te zetten. De leeftijd van de kinderen gaf de doorslag.

Nog wat handigheidjes eraan toegevoegd zoals een taps toelopend gleufje waarin het touw makkelijk vast gezet kan worden. Scheelt weer een knoopje. Restmateriaal kan worden gebruikt als een kam.

Voor het WEEF project 2025 bordjes gelaserd. Hierin worden 7 draden gevlochten tot strengen. Een soort weven. Het is een project wat tijdens Enschede 700 wordt gebruikt op scholen in Enschede.

Het werkt. Er zijn er ruim 4000 nodig, zorg dus dat het echt goed werkt en dan aan de slag, productie draaien.

Lumi will be at an exhibition at the Vrijhof but the door is not wide enough. So Lumi, or it’s trailer, had to be tipped on the side. How to do so? Well, safely and carefully. But how?

This is how you tip your trailer:

And after the test: a few adjustments to make:

1: Better attachment to the crane. The book now stands out a bit, the lifting chain has now more space and will not bene the sides of the steel profile. (you can still see the dent in the side)

2: Paint job. Looks better, and it is more comfortabele to handle, especially after a while when everything gets rusty. Not nice for your hands.

3: rubber plugs to protect your hands. One size (50×50) was not available for the thickness (3mm ) so i printed them . PLA was to brittle, TPA does the job fine.

The same trick, now at the Vrijhof

Building the set (Lumi) again

To low for the complete roof. Well, the triangular shape already suggests a roof

And a red cloth finishes the illusion. Is it a house? Is it a face?

Kaartje voor Nicole ontworpen. Inmiddels gedrukt. Ze is er reuze blij mee.

www.nicolewegter.nl

De oorspronkelijke tegel. Iets scheef gelegd om licht (van boven rechts) goed over het relief te laten vallen. Voor het kaartje de kleur warmer gemaakt.