Norwegian artist explores AI’s strengths and weaknesses
Bård Edlund, a Norwegian artist, recently made waves with his groundbreaking project, Celebrities Kissing Themselves. This unique endeavor use AI-generated images to underscore both our celebrity obsession and the limitations of artificial intelligence (AI).
By creating AI-crafted images of celebrities, all seemingly absorbed in a self-kiss, Edlund highlights the vanity and the modern world’s constant need for approval.
This project makes the shortcomings of AI all the more glaring. Despite AI’s ability to imitate faces and personalities convincingly, it falls short of capturing the emotional complexity that defines the human experience.
Edlund’s creative journey began early on, fostering his love for sketching that expanded into comics, cartoons, logos, and finally, computer graphics. Forging his path in the US, considered the epicenter of computer graphics, he honed his skills and pursued his passion.
Post his studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Edlund utilized his expertise in digital web design for CNN’s financial news platform.
Norwegian artist’s innovative exploration of AI
However, his heart lay in illustration and animation, leading him to launch his own studio in 2012.
In his pursuit of exploring the transformative power of AI on visual culture, he attempted to sketch beauty pageant contestants from various countries using AI. The somewhat distorted, artificial results led to thought-provoking debates about beauty and perception in the digital age.
However, these AI-rendered images also raised questions concerning the impact of AI on our self-perception. Critics argue that beauty standards set by such technology could fuel unrealistic ideals and exacerbate body image issues.
One such project, Celebrities Kissing Themselves, forms the cornerstone of Edlund’s work. It features celebrities kissing their own AI-generated selves, emphasizing both celebrity vanity and AI’s limitations. Despite these imperfections, Edlund sees these inaccuracies as catalysts for innovation rather than content reproduction.
Bård Edlund’s work and perspective open up intriguing possibilities for the future of art, design, and how we view ourselves and the world around us, using the imperfect nature of AI.
