"Neural" is a series of work utilizing neural filters in Photoshop. The neural filters transfer style and color to compositions I created by layering analog acrylic paintings. The neural filters are powered by AI and applied here to explore the function of style in producing aesthetic impact. My style is augmented by the imposition of a filter, which reproduces the likeness of handmade art forms, such as ink drawing. The symbiosis of my handiwork with AI brings into question the value of individual labor, artistic ownership, and mechanical manufacture.
Note: This series is my only formal experimentation incorporating Adobe AI tools and was produced before the rise in popularity of generative AI platforms such as Midjourney. These works were not the result of text-to-image prompts, but rather used paintings that I produced as the base upon which a filter was applied.
Although these two applications of AI differ, I am still interested in the ethical questions of utilizing AI as a tool in art creation. When the neural filter analyzes a source image and then recreates your image in the style of the source, is there a loss of artistic identity? Is it appealing to view an image whose style has been democratized and made accessible to the masses? And if we object, is it because we feel the rarity of art threatened--the singularity of the production of a work of art made common?
Neural 1, 12"X12", archival inkjet print
Neural 2, 16"x16", archival inkjet print
Neural 3, 12"x12", archival inkjet print
Neural 4, 16"x16", archival inkjet print
Neural 5, 24"x24", archival inkjet print
Neural 6, 16"x16", archival inkjet print
Neural 7, 32"x32", archival inkjet print
Neural 9, 16"x16", archival inkjet print
Neural 10, 32"x32", archival inkjet print
