Ghost #3 (Memories of A Lotus-Eater Devoured by An Alien Lotus)
The exhibition «The Seven Ghosts of Iris» marked our debut in painting, serving as an experimental canvas. Beneath its classical facade, we delved into various layers of creativity: challenging algorithmic image software, embracing painting, and crafting a fictional world around Iris, a character born in 2020. Iris was first introduced in «The Soothsayings of Iris» a short film that provided a glimpse into her eccentric life. Iris embodies a composite of problematic online personas, evolving in the realm of social media. As a wellness and technology guru, entrepreneur, religious leader, producer, and influencer, Iris turned to art as a remedy for her burnout. «The Seven Ghosts of Iris» featured seven paintings, envisioning her past and future lives.
We worked with the OpenAI software Dall-e and generated over 3,600 images. Eventually, we selected seven final visuals, printed them on canvas, and then reworked the surface by intervening with oil pastels. We then added an analog touch with oil pastels. What intrigued us was the initial challenge to stimulate the machine's imagination with our psychedelic texts. Subsequently, we reworked the digital images through traditional painting, reclaiming these creations from the collective human-machine imagination.
