#4 Generative Frontiers: The Pioneers and Innovations Setting The Scene This Week
👋 Hello, we are Julian and Marcel, and welcome to our weekly edition of The Curious Collector. Each week we humbly curate what’s happening in the digital art realm. ✨
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Join us in this week's journey through generative art, where we bridge the impactful work of pioneers with today's fresh innovations.
From the detailed insights of the 'Generative Generations' exhibition to the visual delights at the Sphere in Las Vegas, we're delving into the dynamic world of digital creativity.
News Digest
Generative Generations: Gazelli Art House, in collaboration with Verisart, showcases the exhibition at their Mayfair gallery. It spans six decades, focusing on Harold Cohen's groundbreaking Computer Art from the 80s.
It bridges his work with peers Ernest Edmonds, William Latham, and Stephen Willats and features contributions from 15 contemporary generative artists.
New Exhibition: Tokyo-born artist Takashi Murakami is unveiling an exhibition at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum this month. It features approximately 75 pieces spanning his career.
This particular exhibition spotlights his recent pieces influenced by the pandemic and his foray into digital art.
Trends Digital Art: In 2023, key trends spotlight the sustained high prices of blue-chip collections, particularly within the generative art sphere.
AI art is burgeoning, and novel categories like blockchain performance art, digital sculpture, and metaverse architecture are emerging.
Digital Highlight
Refik Anadol: The Sphere in Las Vegas, a 366-foot-tall globe-shaped events venue featuring a 580,000-square-foot LED screen named the "Exosphere," premiered Anadol's "Machine Hallucinations: Sphere" on Sept. 1.
Anadol's piece comprised two distinct "chapters" of AI-driven artwork. The first chapter utilized 1.1 million space images, including those from satellites and the Hubble telescope.
The second chapter was derived from 300 million nature photos from worldwide national parks. Using the expansive screen, these dynamic, generative animations will be showcased for four months.
Notable Insight
Digital art is in a continuous state of evolution. While current prominence in this domain may lean on social media trends, the advancement of digital art forms and techniques will likely introduce new artists to the forefront. The future landscape of digital art will be shaped by substantive contributions to the medium.
Sale Spotlight
“In Roope Rainisto's REWORLD, he explores society's complexities through the lens of AI-generated images, examining individual identities and cultural interplay. Rainisto's innovative use of machine learning marks a turning point in visual communication, reflecting our technology-driven era.
His world is familiar, but the intricate details reveal how visual representations have molded our perceptions. The images evoke a sense of belonging while confronting us with the notion that a machine has unraveled how we perceive ourselves.
Roope's wit and cultural understanding create a unique perspective—a REWORLD with cleverly reimagined elements. Beyond mere fantasy, this elevated reality captivates and challenges our imagination, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in art.”
Rising Talent
“The Sakura Vista series captures vignettes imagined by an AI who will never see sakura blooms with its own “eyes” but can still transport us all to the right time and place to enjoy them.”
Tech & Texture
Inspired by Paul Klee: William Mapan is unveiling his generative series, "Distance," on September 12. Drawing inspiration from Paul Klee's abstract style, this series juxtaposes strict grids with vibrant colors.
Mapan transforms JavaScript patterns into hand-painted gouache, then turns them back into digital form, creating a unique blend of texture and flow.
Gen Art & QQL: Tyler Hobbs and Indigo celebrated the QQL community ahead of its 1-year anniversary. QQL has produced over 30 million images, with half a million being "favorited." The platform emphasizes emergence and unpredictability in digital art generation.
Closing Remarks
From the history in 'Generative Generations' to William Mapan's modern spin inspired by Paul Klee, one thing's clear: art keeps evolving.
Digital art might get a nudge from today's trending hashtags, but its core is expanding with new techniques and voices.
This week's dive showed us that the future of digital art is as much about looking back as it is about pushing forward. Let's keep discovering this journey together.