Kevin Abosch’s 2017 project, EARLY EPOCHS, is a key contribution to the conversation between human creativity & AI. In this work, Abosch employs Progressive GAN (PGAN) technology to explore both the algorithms behind image generation & the underlying data that informs them. By training the PGAN on a personal archive of mobile phone photos, the artist encourages us to reflect on the often subtle connection between our everyday experiences and the digital data that is increasingly shaping our cultural landscape. Each of the 30 works in the series is composed of a grid of four images, captured from the nascent stages of the GAN’s learning process - its early epochs. Here, before the network has had the opportunity to refine and settle into a coherent, detailed representation, the raw, abstract outputs reveal a visual form of "surface truth." These images encapsulate an ephemeral quality: an arresting, colorful abstraction that resists the urge to become immediately figurative or literal.
