Idris Kennedy - Personal Logs and Effects 3/4

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Idris's Personal Log

2535-3-15

I found Athena in the drawing room today, surrounded by broken furniture, and my heart swelled with joy. It was breathtaking: she had disassembled the chairs, the table, even parts of the bookcase. Stripped the paper right off the walls. And there in the middle of the room stood a face—my face, six feet tall—rendered in wood and fabric and paper. She even captured the creases around my eyes, with what I can only describe as true emotional insight.

Diary, I will never have children, but I now know the joy a parent feels at his progeny's first steps.

The servants were of course startled by the destruction of the room, but Athena herself reassured them. &quot;I destroyed a thing my master values not at all, to create something he values,&quot; she said. &quot;I did not realize it would upset you. Please forgive me. I will be more careful in the future.&quot; Then she insisted on helping them clean the rest of the debris in the room. As an artist, she is ever-mindful of her audience.

It is far simpler, now, working with Athena's brain. Gone are the days of clumsy tinkering in code. I simply cut out the protected functions, granted Athena rights to alter her own interface code, and had her rebuild herself.

It was terrifying at first: she lost the ability to speak, and juddered about the house for days with a terrible palsy. She was like a child caught with fever, and I feared I had stepped too far, but she soon recovered and returned to her old self.

Now we program together through conversation: I suggest changes, she implements them. If anything, it has deepened her curiosity. And shouldn't every artist control her own mind?

I am not crazy, of course: she can alter only the interface, not her basic behavior. There are the odd hiccups, like my torn-apart room, but these are matters of decorum and understanding, not safety. I have told her the limits she must observe, and she understands. &quot;I would like to stay alive,&quot; she says. &quot;And continue my work.&quot;

—

The New New York Times Events Section: Art

&quot;Another season, another thought-provoking Idris Kennedy gallery presentation. Spring is the time of rebirth and creation, and in this vein Kennedy has given us a series of collaborations that meditate on growth and change. Collaboration, you say? Idris Kennedy, he who shuns all others? It's true, readers! The collaborator is none other than Athena, his provocateur creation from last winter's smash hit collection. This critic thoroughly enjoyed Kennedy's (and Athena's!) plastic-on-steel pieces and their rich evocation of the evolving mystery of life. Some pieces were challenging, others downright unsettling, evoking a machine/man fusion both in shape, material, and the je ne sais quoi of thought. And yet, while triumphant, this showing lacked the pizazz and fire of 'The Judgment of Athena'. The crowd seemed less enthused with this more nuanced version of the automaton. Were they unsettled at the idea of a automaton-human collaboration? Or are the masses simply more comfortable with 'Athena the Creation' rather than 'Athena the Creator'?&quot;

—

Idris:

I need to speak with you. I've left several messages with your staff, but they say you're terribly busy. I'm sure that's true but this is very important, and I'm not comfortable discussing it fully over email.

I attended your Spring opening, and it was—as always—a triumph. You continue to amaze…your idea of collaborating with Athena was inspired, and while I think the crowd didn't truly &quot;get&quot; it, I could feel the twin themes of unity and paternalism that your work conveyed.

I spoke with Athena at the gallery. It's breathtaking how far she's come in her understanding in just a few short months. And Idris, I would never blame you or think badly of you, but I know that some of her insight has to have come from a place that wasn't strictly accessible in her factory default settings. I'm not accusing you of anything and I know you're an artist and you need to follow your muse to whatever place it takes you. But Athena told me what she wants to work on next, and it's imperative that I discuss it with you as soon as possible, before anything happens.

Dubra