NOT YET KNOWN

NOT YET KNOWN (NYK) — an independent digital media and visual archive of the young art scene. It tells the stories of artists before they become widely known—through their work, their studios, their processes, and their first encounter with the audience. Tagline: Artists worth knowing now.

• Artist selection is open. Sources include artists' applications, recommendations from curators and instructors, and editorial scouting from exhibitions and open calls. Criteria: the artist has an established body of work or a series; they do not have permanent representation in a commercial gallery; and they have a public showing within the next two to three months. NYK selects not the best, but those who are on the cusp of something. • Ten categories—from «Portrait» and «Single Work» to «Opportunities» and «Archive.» • Platforms. Short videos (TikTok, VK Clips, YouTube Shorts) are the entry point. Telegram is the primary editorial platform. The website serves as the long-term archive. • Real artists. Kira Shilina, Angelina Prokopyeva, Lena Gordeeva, Lena Skripkina. Facts about them are sourced exclusively from public records; quotes are only from interviews. • Visual language. Documentary black-and-white photography; color is used only in the artists' works, with one accent of red. The «nyk» logo features letters that are soft, as if still unformed.

NYK maintains an archive, so every piece of content is not just text, but a collection of records: artist, work, event, opportunity, and publication. Kira Shilina’s profile on Telegram and her page on the website are assembled from a single artist card. Six months later, the «Half a Year Later» piece adds new records to this card instead of starting from scratch.

This is the core principle of how we handle data: the machine collects and organizes, while the human curates and writes. Automation handles monitoring event listings and open calls, transcribing interviews, tagging archives, scheduling publications, and analytics. Everything pertaining to trust remains with the editorial team: selecting the subject, conducting interviews, fact-checking, coordinating with the artist, and finalizing the text. Why this approach? NYK’s value lies in presenting an accurate and honest portrait of a real person. A factual error or a fabricated quote damages the reputation of an artist who is promised their first public exposure by the media.

NYK works with eight groups of sources. The primary one is the artist themselves; everything else is necessary to find them, understand the context, and guide the reader to them.

Every NYK material undergoes seven stages. Both machine and human work at each stage, but the final decision is always made by a person. After the analysis, the cycle closes: the findings are incorporated into the thematic plan and into the list of characters that need to be revisited.

Character selection, interviews and filming, final portrait text, fact-checking, approval with the artist, and publication decision. These steps cannot be outsourced to a machine, even partially: it is precisely for these steps that the reader and the artist trust NYK.

1. Nothing is published automatically. Every piece requires human approval, even if the text has not been changed.
2. The machine does not invent. Every fact prepared by the service includes a link to its source. Facts without a link are deleted.
3. The voice and image of the artist are inviolable. No generated quotes, portraits, studios, or works «in the style of» an author. In media featuring real people, this constitutes forgery.
4. Artists' data is minimal and only collected with consent. Contacts and personal information are processed in accordance with the «Personal Data» Law (152-FZ). Data from rejected applications is not stored longer than the period specified in the consent form. Contacts are not transferred to language models.
5. NYK Tone. The tone is observant and clear—without pomposity, without emoji markers, and without «new star» rhetoric or calls to «save the post.» Any text generated by the service is brought into this tone.
6. Editorial transparency. The material card indicates what the machine generated: transcription, summary, adaptation. This allows the editor to know what requires extra scrutiny.

The editorial team uses the same template to ensure compliance isn’t just theoretical, but embedded in every request.

You are assisting the editorial team of the media outlet NOT YET KNOWN, which focuses on young artists. Task: Compile a factual profile on the artist [NAME]. Use ONLY the texts provided below. Do not add anything of your own. Format: one fact per line, followed by the source number at the end of the line [1], [2]… If sources contradict each other, list both options and mark them as «DISCREPANCY.» Do not write quotes that are not transcribed exactly from the sources. Do not give evaluations (e.g., «talented,» «rising star»). At the end, list what is missing from the sources to complete the portrait—these are questions for an interview. Sources: [1]… [2]…

The final line of the template converts the blanks in the data into interview questions. The machine prepares the groundwork, and a person talks with the artist.