Whispering Sands is a series of 100 on-chain AI generated artworks. They embody an ode to machine language and to the intricate relationship between artificial intelligence, sanskrit, and binary.
The artworks are composed of two elements: a downscaled AI generated letter, created using Generative Adversarial Networks, and a pattern created using a code created with Large Language Models, based on the Chladni formula. While the generated letters are inspired from the Sanskrit alphabet, the Chladni formula depicts the behavior of sand on a plate when the plate is subjected to a certain vibration, resulting in a visual representation of the sound associated with the frequency that caused the vibration. As a result, the letter and its sound are both AI generated, and represented visually in the artwork, and the final artwork is small enough to live on-chain.
Welcome to "Kinoko Dreams," a collection of Japanese artworks inspired by my adventures in the magical world of mushroom picking in Japan.
Imagine spending weekends in the autumn, not at home, but in the forests around Tokyo with my dad's work buddies. It seemed a bit strange at first – choosing colleagues over family during free time. But in Japan, work is more than just a job; it's like a second family, a big part of social life.
Our journeys took us to places like Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park and the Okutama region, where diverse flora, including lots of mushrooms, awaited. Together, we collected these little treasures as a way to bond, relax, and shake off stress.
While picking mushrooms, my friends shared captivating stories about Japanese myths tied to these fungi. One story stood out – the Matsutake myth. It's a pine mushroom symbolizing good fortune and happiness, especially during the beautiful autumn harvest season.
We also discovered other awesome mushrooms like Shiitake, Maitake, and Enoki. Each had its own story and importance, even in Japanese cooking. Recipes were shared, making our mushroom adventures not just about picking but also about creating delicious meals together.
All these incredible memories sparked the idea to turn my experiences into art. "Kinoko Dreams" is a way to share the joy, stories, and magic of mushrooms with you. These artworks, filled with love and nostalgia, will be released during NFT Paris with Bright Moments, inviting you to join the whimsical journey of "Kinoko Dreams."
le travail des rêves
The world is large, but in us
it is deep as the sea. - Rainer Maria Rilke
Depicting dreams has long been a practice that borders on something almost absurd. They are intricate, abstract, fragmented and mostly fleeting visuals manifested only in one person, and when shared with others they seem to take a step toward a more grounded existence. Perhaps this grounding of the ephemeral emphasises the intimacy of sharing dreams and, of course, makes them somewhat more real.
In le travail des rêves, aurèce vettier does exactly this. He invites the viewer to participate in his personal dreamscape, encouraging us to submerge ourselves in his memories, from childhood until current times. Though with an indication in the prompt used for its creation and in the title of each piece, the viewer is still left with space for interpretation. Furthermore, with the low resolution of the pieces, the viewer is forced to search their own memories and dreamscape and, perhaps, also reflect upon what dreams might symbolise.
In The Poetics of Space, Bachelard suggests that “[...] works of art are the by-products of this existentialism of the imagining being.”(1) This quote seems relevant in the case of this series, as the depiction seems to allude to questions about the connection between life and dreams. Though by-products might have a negative connotation, it is in the case of le travail des rêves, meant with all well-meaning. The art created in this somewhat existentialist quest is poetic visuals that reflect on joyous as well as troubled and dark memories, and perhaps also what it means to be human.
This idea, of art as a by-product produced by ”existentialism of the imagining being”(2) is also relevant when reflecting on the use of AI in the creation process. aurèce vettier’s use of it might seem like a simple approach to translating dreams into something materialistic. Still, the process behind it is much more intimate than what might first be considered. His work is based upon full control of it, built on not being reliant on the technology, but rather being able to steer it in whatever way he might wish. The technology works for him, and by sharing intimate memories and dreams with a custom text-to-image algorithm that he has trained, the project is fully personal - from start to finish. And as a result, aurèce vettier invites the viewer into a dreamscape that only he can create.
The sheer level of intimacy in this project and aurèce vettier unselfish sharing of the private sphere of his dreams creates a poetic result that, paradoxically, echoes the viewers' dreamscape and memories, blurring the lines of what belongs to him and what belongs to the viewer.
Stina Gustafsson
February 2024
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(1) Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (Boston, Beacon Press, 2013) p. 18
(2) Ibid.
‘Flore Perdue’ is the second chapter of ‘Once Upon A Garden’, a project I started in 2022 which depicts a world where humans have to live with simulated images of plants and flowers because they have disappeared from earth. The project asks whether the preservation of nature is compatible with the goals of industrialised and industrialising societies, and in general is a reflection on what gets left behind in our pursuit of progress.
Aura is a collection of 100 high resolution AI-generated portraits, exploring the boundaries of realism versus imagination... how far a portrait image can be deconstructed so that a sense of humanity and emotion would still remain? Aura plays with our appreciation of realistic details in photography.
Seeing Voices is a new series of AI images generated by the performance Voice In My Head (https://lauren-mccarthy.com/voice-in-my-head), a collaboration with Kyle McDonald. In that performance, participants place a bud in their ear and are guided by an AI-augmented voice in their head that listens in and offers commentary. The Seeing Voices images are generated based on phrases spoken in live sessions of Voice In My Head. Each text phrase is rendered visual with a drawing, where the artist performs the role of machine interpreter.
Drawing on parallels between the 1920s avant-garde and 2020s generative art, my collection aims to create composite portraits of characters that never existed, blending Dadaism, binary code, and a grid system inspired by the Paris arrondissements, into a retro-futuristic extravaganza that transcends time and digital boundaries.
Techno-Animism will be minting until December 17th via the Bright Moments marketplace. Each marketplace purchase comes with 3 Techno-Animism mints for 0.1 ETH.