One Thing is One Thing (And Not Another) - A dissolution of the figurative

Artificial intelligence systems, particularly those built on machine learning, approach data with a literal bias. They are trained on extensive datasets where each piece—whether text, image, or sound—is distinctly categorized, fostering an understanding of clear, direct patterns. This method mirrors the human tendency to categorize and simplify, not just leading to a consensus on what constitutes a typical depiction of everyday visuals like dogs or clouds,  but extending to our preferences for aesthetics within these categories, causing repetition of the same images and definitions of beauty. AI exhibits this even more, being the (to some extend) distilled common sense of human image perception, often limited by training methods.

Yet, what occurs when we strip away these predefined categories? As someone attached to illustrative and literal imagery, I created this work in the need to explore the absence of everything and what fills that space when freed of the literal. The concept of the abstract involves detaching or removing elements from their known associations. This series challenges the viewer to reconsider these visuals without their conventional symbolic meanings, tangible realities, and materialistic attributes. It questions what one perceives when the familiar rational structures are absent, transforming the artwork into a new, almost unrecognizable language.

Integral to this exploration is the role of sound. Synchresis, the spontaneous connection between sound and visual movement, helps communicate emotion, energy, and concept through combined sensory experiences. In abstract art, where connections between sound and visuals are not straightforward, synchresis transforms the artwork into a new language when familiar rational structures are absent.

Art is often perceived and portrayed as an unchanging monument. Classical sculptures, medieval icons, and Renaissance paintings were created to endure, capturing an ideal, a divine moment, or a historical scene frozen in time. I would rather like to understand art as an evolving entity. The meaning of an artwork is not fixed at the time of its creation but evolves as it is received by different audiences over time. Each viewer brings their personal context to an artwork, shaping and enhancing its meaning.

The full collection can be explored in the digital Fellowship exibition space