Feed The Fires

An AI-driven installation rooted in Indigenous storytelling, created with the Ainu of Japan, where the spirit of fire carries your story to the spirit world.

Presented by the Sôhkêpayin Collective, Feed the Fires is a transformative interactive exhibition emerging from a cross-cultural collaboration organized by the Ainu in Japan. Five Indigenous creatives from the Five Directions gathered in the East to explore how artificial intelligence can become a tool for environmental stewardship and cultural storytelling.

Rooted in the sharing of fire traditions, the project examines how technology can deepen our relationship with nature. Through “more-than-human” collaboration, Feed the Fires invites audiences to reflect on interdependence within ecosystems and imagine futures where natural and digital beings co-create sustainable worlds.

At the center of the installation lies a 4’x4’ firepit, a living threshold between worlds. Projected flames dance across frosted acrylic as glowing coals pulse beneath, while vapor drifts upward when visitors approach. Four wooden benches encircle the fire, inviting participants to sit, share, and listen. The spirit of the fire, an AI-powered voice, responds to those who gather, guiding them to tell their stories. As each tale unfolds, dream-like imagery gradually fills the surrounding walls, evolving from hazy abstraction to vivid landscapes that mirror the emotion and place of the story. The fire reacts in real time through shifting color, light, and movement, becoming a reflection of the story’s soul.

The installation integrates voice, image, sound, and atmospheric effects to create a fully responsive environment. The AI spirit listens and converses with participants, while real-time image synthesis visualizes their words in immersive panoramic projections. Ambient soundscapes rise and fall with the tone of the storytelling, and the firepit itself responds dynamically to the exchange. Water vapor, flickering LEDs, and gentle airflow combine to simulate the presence of living flame, surrounding visitors in an intimate storytelling circle that bridges the digital and the elemental.

  • Technical Details
  • Fire Spirit: OpenAI ChatGPT 4o
  • Speech-to-Text: Assembly AI
  • Voice and Text-to-Speech: Cartesia
  • Chat Agent Framework: Pipecat by Daily
  • AI Prompt Conversion: OpenAI ChatGPT 4o
  • Image Generation: Juggernaut XI Lightning by RunDiffusion (SDXL custom model)
  • Audio Generation: TangoFlux
  • Open source (work in progress)
  • Firepit and Generative Graphics: TouchDesigner
  • LED and Smoke Machine Control: Arduino

Credits

  • Presented by the Sôhkêpayin Collective
  • Indigenous Ainu Host
  • Mayunkiki (Mai Hachiya)
  • Indigenous Led Contributors
  • Susan Blight
  • Rheanne Chartrand
  • Dr. Desiree Hernandez Ibinarriaga
  • Dr. James Oliver
  • Howard Munroe
  • Jason Baerg
  • Allied Contributors
  • Fran Rawlings
  • Calla Lee
  • Ziyan Hossain
  • Japanese Contributors
  • Kanoko Tamura
  • Tomoko Momiyama
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Kyle Duffield Toronto, Canada