twentynine Is the 2000s Inspired Teen Zine That Feels Like Your Internet Brain on Print

When a tech-inclined performance artist and a capricious fashion designer join forces to reinvent nostalgia using artificial intelligence, they bring forth twentynine. This is an unconventionally creative, witty magazine and gallery project from Maya Man (also known as @mayaontheinternet) and Isabella Lalonde (known as @BeepyBella). With the support of Lenovo and Intel, twentynine revisits the anarchy and allure of 2000s teen magazines, transforming it into a bizarre, self-conscious, and profound representation of our digitally immersed era.

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The heart of Maya and Bella’s project lies in expanding their ideas using suitable tools, and the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition proved indispensable for this process. They don’t rely on machines to create; instead, Maya fine-tuned AI models with a diffusion network utilizing her personal images and Bella’s archives, while Bella designed zine pages using Adobe InDesign. Together, they consistently challenge the divide between digital and physical art, as demonstrated by their latest collaboration, twentynine, which seamlessly integrates AI, fashion, and social commentary into a unique immersive experience.

Maya Man is a digital artist based in New York who delves into online identity, self-performance, and femininity in the internet era. Her most renowned works include Glance Back and FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT, which have been displayed at the Whitney Museum and various international digital art platforms. Her work amalgamates generative systems, performance, and critique of our online self-construction process. Isabella Lalonde is a multidisciplinary designer and the founder of the whimsical jewelry label Beepy Bella. Drawing upon her background in fine art and fashion, she crafts fanciful, surreal accessories inspired by nature, childhood nostalgia, and spiritual motifs. Her brand has garnered a devoted fanbase and has been sported by celebrities like Bella Hadid and Olivia Rodrigo.

The project is a key component of Make Space, an ongoing creative initiative by Lenovo aimed at empowering future artists by providing them with advanced technology, collaborative partners, and real-world experiences to experiment, innovate, and create fearlessly. This can be seen through events like gallery takeovers, workshops, or digital-first projects, all designed to support artists and help shape the future of creativity.

twentynine, however, isn’t simply a magazine; it serves as a blueprint for what Make Space could become – interactive, collaborative, and not afraid to challenge the conventional creative norms. For Lenovo and Intel, it demonstrates that when artists guide the process, technology can open up new possibilities.

Designed as both a physical exhibition and mini magazine, twentynine stands out from typical zine distributions. It mirrors publications such as Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and retail catalogs like Delia’s, by combining AI-assisted spreads with fashion, performance art, and humorously questioning the beauty standards, identity politics, and influencer stereotypes that have influenced a generation. As Maya humorously puts it, “We’re using technology, our human brains, and the assistance of a beautiful energy called AI.” This includes quizzes like “Are you a good influencer?” or “Are you a good friend?”, alongside surreal, AI-enhanced Beepy Bella jewelry ads and plush dolls sourced from imagined editorials. The pages are filled with dreamy kaleidoscopic colors, imaginative collages, whimsical cartoon characters, and fashion-forward moments to add more playfulness and charm.

The Yoga transformed into their creative hub, from swiftly transferring reference photos with Smart Share to utilizing modes like “Attention Mode” for undisturbed editing. Maya was captivated by Smart Share, describing it as a leap between dimensions, almost magical. In her words, “It’s like being a sorcerer with your tablets, and your devices serve as the wands.” Bella echoed this sentiment, praising the rapid and smooth workflow made possible by the Intel Core Ultra processor, which allowed for an unanticipated speed that made the creative process feel effortless.

“We’re using technology, our human brains, and the assistance of a beautiful energy called AI.”

The upcoming exhibition aims to transform every page of the magazine “twentynine” into tangible inspiration. It will showcase custom wall works with AI-assisted images and text directly from the magazine, as well as a series of handcrafted plush dolls made from recycled and AI-printed fabrics, which serve as sculptural representations of the zine’s illustrations.

During the opening, Maya and Bella will host a silent, performative magazine signing that combines elements of influencer satire and commentary on girlhood. A printed guide will lead guests through each layer of the exhibit, inviting them to contemplate themes of identity, technology, and nostalgia. Overall, the show brings the essence of “twentynine” to life by merging publication, performance, and interactive art, thereby blending the boundaries between these mediums.

The core theme shared by the zine and exhibition is that AI doesn’t aim to supplant creativity; instead, it serves to reveal its boundaries and magnify its possibilities. As Maya puts it, “It’s your mind where ideas originate; technology can aid in the implementation but not conceive the concepts.” The artists, Maya and Bella, embraced the glitches and flaws-the instances where the machine struggled to emulate human thought-during their project twentynine. For them, these shortcomings became conceptually profound: a reflection of antiquated notions of femininity and perfection that many have internalized. In essence, AI’s unsuccessful pursuit of perfection echoes the long-standing cultural imposition of unattainable ideals-particularly on women. By combining their distinct perspectives with the cutting-edge capabilities of the Lenovo Yoga and Intel, Maya and Bella’s zine not only presents criticism but also reclaims and envisions a creative landscape where artists dictate the narrative.

If you’re a budding artist contemplating the role of technology in your creative endeavors, consider this as your encouragement! The example of twentynine demonstrates that when artists take charge and AI assists, the outcomes can be astonishingly innovative, strange, and remarkably human-like. Maya and Bella have revolutionized what collaborative art can achieve – not just for themselves but for anyone ready to explore, appreciate the glitch, and construct something daring.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, co-designed with Intel, is now accessible on both the official Lenovo website and Best Buy.

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