Interpretations


The images shown here were created by neuromorphic artist neural networks belonging to two broad neural network families (kappa and omega), none of which had access to any human art — as is the case throughout this site.

Some comments on this exhibition are (intentionally) given at the very end.

Megalopolis I (by kappa_5).
Megalopolis II (by kappa_5).
Megalopolis III (by kappa_5).

Textures of mega-buildings filling up the images — at the end errupting in vibrant colours in a touch of magical realism. And a solitary face unexpectedly seems to make its appearance...

The death of an android (by kappa_143).

The oblong shape morphs into a head resting on twisted tree roots — or perhaps on entangled cables in some electronic graveyard. In the foreground we can almost make out the curve of shoulders and collarbones...

Alone (by kappa_56).
Alone (by kappa_97).
Alone (by kappa_271).

Solitary figures standing high up in imaginary landscapes ranging from quasi-vegetal through vaguely artificial to a bizarre mixture of mineral and organic...

The sentinel (by kappa_106).
Him (by kappa_60).

An eerie alien figure with a bird-like reddish head contrasted, in the second image, with a heavy-set masculine figure seen from the back, with the face in profile. The blackening around the eyes gives that image a rather disconcerting feel...

Running girl (by omega_48).

The very essence of running...

Arcadia (by kappa_151).
Arcadia (by kappa_111).

Utopia — peace and quiet — a miniscule figure reposing in harmony with nature — the second image brimming with vegetation and with a pair of anthropomorphic plants...

The human hive (by kappa_60).
The idol (by omega_69).

A dystopian vision of the future and an image as if straight from a H.P. Lovecraft story...

Death (by kappa_111).
Kami (by kappa_65).
The Art Deco ghost (by omega_69).

The ubiquity of faces — ranging from the ominous to the more benign. The middle figure, which seems most elusive, refers to Kami — spirits often representing nature in Shinto belief. We can discern a straight light green/yellowish mouth within a sharp triangular outline of a face resting on the side. A dark oval morphs into the Kami's eye. All this inseparable from the quasi-organic background...

The saint (by kappa_92).
Electric Buddha (by kappa_16).

In contrast to human-made art, the images created by the neuromorphic artist neural networks clearly were not made with the intention of telling a story, making a particular point or imparting a certain emotion. What we see in them is what we ourselves put in. It is a kind of artistic Rorschach test.

The images chosen for this exhibition are especially susceptible to an alternative reading by the viewer. Indeed, the titles of the images are already a subjective interpretation. They are not related to the objects that the neural networks were asked to depict. A striking feature is that the presented images are not dry and overly intelectual. Somehow they tend to resonate on an emotional level, which is a-priori especially surprising given that they were created by artificial neural networks.

We are thus led to consider the intriguing questions:

— To what extent are the interpretations and perceptions universal, characteristic of the way the brain seeks to identify patterns in its surroundings?
— To what extent do they rely on a common material and cultural environment?
— What induces the emotional response in the viewer?

The neural networks from the kappa family are also shown in the collection Abstract, while the omega family is exhibited in Graphics.

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