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Carnal hallucinations
AI-Tools
Midjourney, Mignific
Date of creation
July 2024
Growing up in a home where the walls were never bare, I was constantly surrounded by the watchful eyes of art. Licentious women who later became saints, proud and beautiful princes, a famous actress in a dazzling white dress, and portraits of children and animals filled our rooms.
Most of these artworks were perfect or carried minor imperfections attributable to the artist’s skill level. However, one painting preserved by my mother, an art conservator, stood out — a depiction of an old man being breastfed by a young woman. This image evoked a sense of ugliness or repulsive imperfection in me as a child.
This raises an intriguing question: Was the old man truly repulsive, or did his old age alone trigger this reaction? Do we inherently perceive old age as unaesthetic? If so, why? Is this an instinct rooted deep in our reptilian brain for existential purposes, or a modern response shaped by mass media’s obsession with perfection, beauty, and youth? How ancient is our aversion to old age, illness, and imperfection?
Even as a child, amidst this pervasive beauty, I understood that art is not merely for aesthetic pleasure. Unlike a vase of roses or a sweet baby on soft white fur, art has meaning and purpose when it stirs emotions, poses questions, and challenges entrenched truths. Art must provoke, disrupt, and disturb. Otherwise, what purpose does it serve?
We tend to avoid sights that discomfort us, influenced perhaps by deep-seated instincts meant to protect us from danger. These instincts, designed for our survival, cannot be easily switched off or controlled. But should they be? Is it necessary or desirable?
I have long been intrigued by the concepts of ugliness, disgust, and fear. Where do we draw the line between the beautiful and the ugly? What images do we instinctively avoid, yet feel compelled to look at because of their ambivalent nature? Why do we sometimes turn away? Do our mirror neurons play a role in these decisions? How does our cultural context influence these perceptions?
Censorship on social media often aims to shield us from the impact of tabooed subjects related to ugliness and immorality. Discussions about why female nipples are deemed inappropriate while male nipples are not, or why certain prompts are considered sensitive, reflect this visual political correctness. But is this a beneficial strategy?
My series of AI-generated artworks explores the elusive boundary between beauty and ugliness, the acceptable and the forbidden, the normal and the shocking, the pleasant and the repulsive, the interesting and the terrifying. This line is neither rigid nor clear-cut. For instance, the perception of vitiligo has evolved, now often viewed as beautiful. Could the sight of menstrual blood also shift from being considered illegal to acceptable? Can we change our instinctive responses to blood, or are these reactions too deeply ingrained?
In my work, I am fascinated by the intersection of beauty, ugliness, morality, ethics, taboo and cognitive distortions, particularly in contemporary culture. My experiments probe the reasons behind what we consider acceptable or unacceptable.
Using the style of easel painting from previous centuries, I manipulate images to highlight sensitive aesthetic aspects and test these boundaries more effectively. I explore the beauty of ugliness, the perfection of imperfection, disease, pain, suffering, carnality, and spirituality.
My series presents people with noticeable imperfections. These imperfections are analogous to the unique, non-normative hallucinations of artificial intelligence text models. Just as AI hallucinations deliver unexpected and original results through their imperfections, these skin imperfections — with their beautiful colors, unusual shapes, textures, and surfaces — offer surprising and inspiring perspectives.
This series is a visual exploration of the line between beauty and ugliness, questioning our need for ideal beauty and examining how these issues impact our society. It reflects on the media’s influence on our perceptions and the resulting societal dynamics. This work can serve as an experimental touchstone, revealing whether our reactions are globally uniform or culturally specific.