Painted Heads explores painting as a mediated collaborative act. The heads were generated using AI, informed by their ultimate manifestation as fabricated painted (physical) objects, in collaboration with Tender and Artmatr.
Trained and degreed 100% in painting (MFA, BFA), and still maintaining a material based practice, this project resonated with me in a multitude of ways. Earlier in my career, I would have found the proposition of a synthetically fabricated painting anathema, as I held (near evangelical) beliefs that computation possessed its own inherent materiality and thus any attempts at material mimesis were at best kitsch and at worst plain evil.
A textured paint stroke is a natural by-product of an instrument being dragged across a canvas, and the expressive tendencies of the mark are the result of inner, psychological factors of the painter. Over the years I spoke (preached) often about computation having its own inherent materiality including a natural digital artifacting, comparable metaphorically to paint dripping, smearing, etc.
Based on my beliefs in the sanctity of an innate computing materiality, it seemed disingenuous to have computation attempt to mimic natural media/processes, or worse, reflect a romantic physical bias. So, as an obvious material maximalist, what attracted me to this project?
When Adam Berninger of Tender approached me about participating in the exhibition, he explained that Artmatr was not simply reproducing digital images with paint, but pursuing an innovative approach utilizing AI at a fundamental level. Their process involved a multistep, iterative application that also enabled a fair amount of customization; this intrigued me. I had already been thinking of ways of creating physical objects based on my AI NFT work, but hadn’t really gotten very far.
Now, the Painted Heads collection includes 31 AI generated heads, each released as an NFT, redeemable for a physically fabricated painting. The heads are intentionally expressive with extreme textural detail and simulated painterliness. Confronting my own bias against virtual texture/materiality, I wanted to also provide a visual prompt for collaborator Artmatr, as provocation. My hope was that a near impossible problem – recreating the thickness and dimensional textural detail in the images – could elicit new innovative solutions, from both the AI and their artisans.
