Theseus/Ariadne

2025–present · Hermeneutic Digital Curation Framework

A digital curation framework grounded in psychoanalysis and Heideggerian phenomenology. The system implements a self-documenting, palimpsest-like architecture for digital preservation and meaning-making.

Concept

The framework is named for the myth of Theseus and Ariadne — the thread that guides the navigator through the labyrinth and back. Theseus faces outward, navigating the digital environment. Ariadne holds the thread — the background processes, the archival structures, the unconscious patterns that give shape to the work.

Together they form a hermeneutic loop: every action produces documentation, every documentation deepens understanding, every understanding shapes future action.

Architecture

The framework implements a tripartite archival structure that captures both the factual record and the affective texture of what is being preserved:

• Chronicle — narrative account of what happened and what was decided
• Ledger — structured record of events, data, and system states
• Pillow Book — reflective record of emotional state, mood, and subjective texture

Technical Implementation

The framework is built as a multi-agent AI system with automated curation pipelines, session-based memory architecture, and self-documenting workflows. It operates across home automation, digital archiving, file management, and creative production.

Context

This project extends research begun during the MA thesis on documenting ephemeral and performance art — asking how we preserve not just the data of an experience, but its meaning. It is also in active dialogue with the daily practice of The Last Sunsets.