xhairymutantx (2025) Single-channel video, 5:36 min
xhairymutantx is an image and a system, a technological experiment and a commentary on how digital identities are scrutinised and used by others. Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst test the limits of what it means to own your image and identity in a world where everything can be reproduced but not easily controlled.
For the 2024 Whitney Biennial, the artists developed xhairymutantx, an AI model examining the training data behind artificial intelligence. The model generates images of Herndon from text prompts, exaggerating and distorting her distinguishing features, especially her ginger hair. The resulting AI-generated images are archived in an online gallery. Regardless of the prompt, the result is always a strange new iteration of “Holly.” As the images exist in the online ecosystem, they may be included in datasets used to train new AI.
