HACKEA — Malfunctioning by Design
HACKEA is a series of AI-generated objects that adopt the visual language of consumer design. They appear complete, functional and desirable — yet each contains a precise malfunction that renders it unusable. The project examines how visual credibility increasingly replaces actual use.
Hackea - The Process
The HACKEA process begins with extracting familiar design modules and separating form, function, and material. These components are deliberately misaligned through controlled mutation, disrupting expected relationships between use and appearance. Through recombination, they are reassembled into hybrid objects that retain visual coherence while losing usability. The malfunction is subtle, intentional, and integral to the design.
Hackea is -
Hackea is -
About the Artist
Gilad Edelstein is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher working with AI-generated imagery, design language, and digital culture. His work has been presented in exhibitions in Israel and internationally, spanning video, interactive media, and generative visual systems. Edelstein’s practice focuses on the tension between functionality and appearance, exploring objects and systems that appear complete, efficient, and trustworthy while subtly failing their intended purpose. By adopting familiar visual languages drawn from consumer design, architecture, and product culture, his work exposes the fragility of utility in an image-driven world and questions the assumptions embedded in contemporary notions of progress, efficiency, and use.
For exhibitions, curatorial inquiries, and collaborations. gilad@hackea.art