The dynamic landscape of 2021 saw a massive surge in digital art alongside the rise of NFTs. Then, in November 2022, AI took center stage, producing an astonishing excess of digital ephemera: over 15 billion stylized images in mere months, marking a radical shift in the creative fields.
This technological leap sparked a rigorous self-inquiry as a new media artist immersed in digital image creation. Beyond my digital practice, a desire emerged to create tangible work, fostering reflections on the material foundations of digital imagery and creation.
To transform the digital image pixel by pixel, diamond by diamond,
I am making mosaics of still frames from experimental skull animations, hand-rendered with thousands of colourful acrylic diamond tiles.
◇ The glossy translucent surfaces of the acrylic diamonds emulate the radiant pixel. In contrast to their digital origins, these faceted pixels possess a hyper-tactility, offering a joyous hand-feel.
◇ The diamond-encrusted still frames are extracted from experimental skull animations. The pixelated skull imagery evokes a retro video game aesthetic, while glitches accentuate the digital underpinnings.
I aim to temporarily entomb the digital instance in acrylic diamonds, challenging the notion of digital art as inherently transient. This labour-intensive memento mori serves as a meditation on mortality and is a critical response to automated processes that overshadow artists' labour in the age of AI.
For more musings on memento mori in my body of work, click here 💀💀💀
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