Algorithms, Autonomy, and Art
Hypervolition Study
Masters and Doctoral Research
2019 to Present
Research Overview
Masters
MFA
2019 - 2021
Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (OCADU)
In June 2020, Jevi coined the term hypervolition and defined the Jevinian Orders and Phases. These ideas on algorithmic influence are shared through a series of works, experiences, and texts that investigated and communicated the effects of our reliance on algorithms.
Doctorate
PhD
2021 - 2023
Continued Research
Completed two years of research within a Theory and Criticism (Philosophy) PhD program at Western University, and at a York University research lab. The works, Gaze\\corridor (2022), EVO (2023) were developed, as well as related theoretical writings. Voluntarily left the programme after two years to return to work, with the plan to later complete the study at a later date.
Doctorate
DBA
2025 - 2028
Hypervolition: Imposed Desires (ENU)
Building on the previous MFA and PhD work, my DBA research exemplifies the four Successive Phases of the Choice Environment (Jevinian Phases) and uses it as the framework for empirical studies. It aims to determine the psychological and behavioural mechanisms that underpin the Four Successive Phases of the Choice Environment Theory, and show how empirical experiments and secondary data illustrate and explain these mechanisms.
DBA & MFA
Hypervolition
Jevi coined the term, hypervolition as “the inability of consciousness to distinguish our true desires and choices, from our algorithmically-deduced and imposed desires and choices”.
Jevi proposed that the evolution of volition is determined by mutations of the subject’s desired ideal within societies. She proposed the Orders of Desire, and the four Successive Phases of the Choice Environment.
DBA
Outcomes (Doctorate)
- Exemplify the four successive phases of the choice environment by studying business field examples through secondary data
- Conduct empirical experiments, specifically think-aloud and decision-simulation field experiments to add contextual richness to the ideas, allow for iterative refinement of the theory, and enhance the reliability and validity of the theory.
- Explain the underlying psychological and behavioural science at play within the examples and studies
DBA
Supervisors (Doctorate)
- Dr. Max Chipulu (Primary)
Associate Dean Research and Innovation, AI Expert & Mechanical Engineer - Dr. Jamie Thompson (Secondary)
MFA
Outcomes (Masters)
- Coined the term hypervolition and the Jevinan Orders and Phases.
- Conducted an art-based critical study of the relationship between algorithms, autonomy, and how it affects our choices and desires.
- Used art to communicate the findings into creative forms.
MFA
Supervisors (Masters)
- Dr. Julian Haladyn (Primary)
Cultural Theorist, Artist, Art Historian. - Dr. Ashok Mathur (Secondary)
Dean Graduate Studies, VP Research & Innovation. - Dr. Alexis Morris (Internal)
Canada Research Chair (Tier II) Internet of Things.
MFA Philosophical Outputs (2021)
Jevinian Orders of Desire
Jevi proposed that the evolution of volition is determined by mutations of the subject’s desired ideal within societies. She proposed the following Jevinian Orders of Desire.
- Disciplinary desire is a socio-normalising force within societies, which encourages conformity to the social norm. It utilises a desire to comply and cooperate to become the ideal member of society;
- Neuronal desire is a self-idealising force within societies, which encourages self-actualisation to the idealised sense of self – a self that is always not already “mine.” It utilises a desire to achieve, a trait of the “achievement subject;”
- Algorithm desire is a computation-assimilating force within the societies which encourages assimilation to an algorithmically deduced and provided idealised self.
MFA Philosophical Outputs (2021)
Jevinian Phases of the Choice Environment
Jevi proposed these Four Successive Phases of the Choice Environment:
- it is a reflection of the individual’s volition, and operates according to that will;
- it masks and perverts the individual’s volition, promoting another goal;
- it masks the absence of the individual’s volition, changing the available options, or impact of the individual’s interaction;
- it bears no relation to any volition: it is its own pure, self contained cybernetic intelligent system; the demarcation between a what would have been the individual’s volition and the algorithm implodes. This is hypervolition
MFA Philosophical Outputs (2021)
Hypervolition
Jevi coined the term hypervolition and defined it as “the inability of consciousness to distinguish our true desires and choices, from our algorithmically-deduced and imposed desires and choices”.
MFA Art Outputs (2021)
Art as Research
The artwork related to the thesis, served as a form of research, and can be classified according to Owen Chapman and Kim Sawchuk’s sub-categories of research creation, as creative presentations of research, and creation-as-research.
The aim of the creations was two-fold; (a) to explore the concepts surrounding the topic and (b) to translate the theoretical research work into other forms of media (video, sound, expression) that could be easily understood i.e. creative presentations of research. The combined goal was to show the results of the research conducted in creative formats, as opposed to noting the findings as text within the thesis.
Research Disciplines (MFA)
Psychotechnology, Technophilosophy, New Media and Visual Arts
Areas of Research (MFA)
Fields of Application (MFA)
Communication and Information Technologies, Culture, Public Health, Civic Tech
Key Terms (MFA)
Governance, IoT, Machine Learning, Influence, A.I., New Media Art, Speculative Fiction, World-building, Privacy, Policy.
Fields of Application (DBA)
Public Policy, Organisational Change Management, Economics
Key Terms (DBA)
Behavioural Science, Consumer Behaviour, Value Proposition, Business Intelligence, Psychometrics, Big Data, Analytics
Art developed during the masters research
Research Outputs
Research Papers
- Positivity Forever (2019)
- Subjectively Sublime (2021)
- The Power in Power (2022)
This research critically examines the evolution of discipline and governance within society, our relationship with technology, our desires and how we influence them and how they can be influenced, our tendencies to customise experiences for ourselves, the proliferation of the use of algorithms in our everyday lives, and introduces a new term, hypervolition, which is defined as inability of consciousness to distinguish our true desires and choices, from our algorithmically deduced and imposed desires and choices.
I define the Jevinian Orders and Phases related to the term, which extends Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power, and Han’s ideas on the neuronal within the framework of Jean Baudrillard’s hyperreal, and creatively express the concepts through the artworks "My.o.T," "Inter Alia," "In Plain Sight," and "The Resistance".
an experimental audio portrait exploring the ideas of perception and art – how we perceive art, the importance of art, how we interact with art, and its influence. The experimental work is inspired by the written works several theorists — George Lamming, Neil deGrasse Tyson, John Berger, and Tina Campt.
EVO is a collection of code-based instruments that play as a section as part of an electronic acoustic orchestra. This experimental project explores the evolution of a composer’s sound-painting gestures and directions, as it propagates through to a section of an orchestra. The project makes references to the evolution of RNA, governance, and the way that mutations occur in nature, and is are related to the fields of memetics, philosophy of science and of the mind, and epistemology. This project was developed at the DIStributed PERformance and Sensorial immersION (DISPERSION) Lab.
a hyperfilm on our relationship with I.o.T. (Internet of Things) devices. This collaborative work is the result of a study of how we (myself included) view our present and future interactions with IoT devices in both negative and positive lights.
a short film addressing the concepts of hyperreality, digital/data over-consumption, and beauty. It explores the question of what is real, and the consumption of what isn’t. It draws on the concepts of hyperreal defined in Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulations.
an immersive audio-visual webVR experience that attempts to place you in my shoes as I explored what was happening in the world around me, when developing the ideas that led to “hypervolition.” The phrase “inter alia” is Latin for “amongst other things.” The piece places you in an audio-visual landscape, where you experience the news headlines as they fly pass you. This work is the result of a STEEP+V exercise.
a speculative fiction short story in an immersive audio format. It tells the story of a highly governed future society, and the struggle against it. This work uses speculative fiction writing, world building, and immersive SFX to bring the reader into a world set 50 years into the future, featuring the extrapolated ideas of hypervolition. It also hints at the positive advancements that have occurred as a result of the type of governance within this society.
Conference Presentations, Exhibitions and Residencies
- The Power in Power. Social and Political Thought Graduate Conference (Nova Scotia, Canada.)
- GAZE//Corridor in ‘Listening as an Ethical Framework’ -Universities Art Association of Canada. (Toronto, Canada)
- ‘Hypervolition: Imposed Desire’.
over hype, hyper, hyped: Symposium on Critical AI Studies in Canada. (Montreal, Canada) - Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice in ‘Cultures of Collectivity: Science, Technology & Networks’.
Midwest Modern Language Association Conference. (Wisconsin, USA) - Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (Theory & Art) in ‘Byung-Chul Han and Contemporary Art’.
Universities Art Association of Canada. (Toronto, Canada) - Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (Theory & Art) in ‘Precarious Technologies’.
Precarious Futures: The 7th Annual PGR Studio Conference.
(England, UK.) - Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (Theory & Art) in ‘Imagery from On The Brink’.
‘On the Brink’ Biennial Social and Political Thought Graduate Conference.
(Nova Scotia, Canada) - Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (Theory) in ‘Immersion and Simulation’.
Intersections Cross-Sections Graduate Conference.
(Toronto, Canada.) - Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (Art) in ‘Digital (Re)vision’. Radical (Re)worlding Symposium & Exhibition. (Vancouver, Canada)
- Hypervolition: Our Sacrifice of Choice (Theory) in ‘Undergraduate and Graduate Research’. College Art Association of America 109th Annual Conference. (New York, USA.)
- 1NT3R-4LIA, Long Winter Music and Arts Festival (Toronto) x La Station – Gare Des Mines (Paris). Toronto, Canada.
- In Plain Sight, World of Co September Exhibition. Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Belgrade Art Studio Residency. Belgrade, Serbia.
World of Co Artists Residency. Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Contingencies of Care Artists Residency. Toronto, Canada.
Academic Involvement
- Academic Governance
- Speaker Series
- Academic Positions
- OCAD University Senate (+9 other senate, nomination and review committees)
- Rotman Institute of Philosophy Research Advisory Committee
- Western University Parking Appeals Committee
- Western University Research Committee
- Western University Society of Graduate Students Councillor
- Western University Public Service Alliance Canada Local 610 - CSTC Steward
- Western University Graduate Peer Support Committee - Chair, Secretary
- Western University Student Experience Mental Health Counsellor Search Committee.
Jevi has created or facilitated event programming within her roles as:
- Chair of College Art Association, Services to Artists Committee (2022 – 2024)
- Coordinator of Theory Sessions (2021 – 2023)
- Panel Chair at Various Conferences (2022 – 2024)
- Team Lead for Contigencies of Care Residency (2020)
- Research Assistant at the Wapatah: Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge. (2019)
- Research Assistant Policy Researcher, Western University.
- Research Assistant Residency Development Team Lead, Graduate Studies, OCAD University.
- Research Assistant Web Developer and Graphic Designer, Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Culture, OCAD University.
- Research Assistant Application Developer, History Department, University of Toronto.
- Research Assistant DevOps, Technoscience Research Unit, University of Toronto.
- Invigilator Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University.
- Teaching Assistant 2652Y Intro to Digital Photography, Western University.
- Teaching Assistant VISM-2002 History of New Media Art, OCAD University.
- Class Assistant NCD-6012 Lab 2: Prototype Generation, OCAD University.