AI in the arts? Ease of use risks proliferation of poorly curated content. Lucio Arese speaks

A professional in the fields of design, music, visual art, and filmmaking, Lucius Arese (Milan, 1964) has been working in the visual arts and film industry since 2008. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with well-known artists, labels and brands and his work has been exhibited in international arenas such as onedotzero Adventures in Motion, Ars Electronica, Cyclope, ArtFutura, SIGGRAPH, Interfilm Berlin, SICAF, FICUVAQ, The Lovie Awards, MTV, Bayerischer Rundfunk, IAMAG, Fubiz, Vimeo Staff Picks, IdN Magazine, Stash, The Webby Awards, and the 23rd Saatchi New Directors Showcase. In 2021 his experimental short film Les Dieux Changeants gained wide recognition on the film festival circuit, with over 100 selections and 40 awards, including two Lovie Awards and a nomination for the 2022 Webby Awards. Arese has also given workshops and lectures at such prominent venues as Chiyoda Arts Center 3331 in Tokyo, the Liceo Artistico in Cuneo, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. In this interview, he tells us about his art and offers some insights into a topical issue: the relationship between art and artificial intelligence.

NC. How have your origins as an architect, musician and composer influenced your approach to visual art? How did you approach this artistic technique?

LA. That’s a good question. It all started during my studies in architecture, where I started using 3D as a tool for architectural design. We are talking about the early 2000s, a time when this technology was still being developed. Even then there were many possibilities in sight and I was fascinated by it. I was particularly struck by three-dimensional graphics, the design of virtual spaces and the use of digital. From there, my curiosity grew, eventually turning into a passion that I cultivated as a self-taught student. After classes, I would spend hours searching for materials on the Internet and learning independently, analyzing every possible resource. Once I finished my studies in architecture, I chose not to pursue a career in architecture. Instead, I devoted myself to creating videos and 3D graphics and turned my passion into a real job within a couple of years. On my path, I studied both music and architecture, disciplines that did not translate directly into a traditional professional career. Nevertheless, I found a kind of middle ground, combining the creative aspects of both into a single visual and sonic language. My work has always been based on the combination of images and music, a union that is the backbone of everything I have made over the past 15 years. Since 2008 I have taken this path professionally, and today I can say that I have about 15 years of experience in this field behind me.

Let’s talk about Les Dieux Changeants, a project from 2021, which has received international recognition. What influenced the making of the short film?

The short film is, to date, my best known work. It was born during the lockdowns related to the Covid pandemic, in the second half of 2020, and I remember the winter period well: a heavy time for everyone, characterized by anguish and isolation. Forced to stay indoors for months, I decided to focus on the project that was initially just a technical experiment related to 3D object destruction. I was fascinated to figure out how best to represent shattering and deconstruction in three-dimensional environments. One day, while looking for inspiration online, I came across the three-dimensional models of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark. Both had digitized their collections of casts of ancient statues, making them available for free, and the idea of using those works immediately struck me. “Why not destroy a statue?”, I thought. So I started working on the project. I chose five models of Greco-Roman statues, masterpieces of ancient sculpture, and began to modify them. I paid great attention to textures, using software such as Substance 3D Painter to achieve a visually interesting result. The work proved to be challenging, taking five months to complete. Before publishing the short film, I sent it to the museum in Copenhagen and to my surprise they were impressed. So I had the opportunity to meet Merete Sanderhoff, one of the curators, who has since presented the project at numerous international conferences and meetings, and we met in person this year when she came to Cesano Maderno for an event. The short film has received great appreciation, both from the public and from film festivals. It won numerous awards and selections and became one of the most awarded Italian short films of 2021. What moved me most was to see how my work deeply touched so many people. Everyone found a personal meaning: some revisited difficult moments in their lives, some reflected on the fragility of our cultural heritage or the importance of beauty. Knowing that I have stirred these emotions was, for me, the greatest satisfaction.

Les Dieux Changeants began initially as a technical test of fragmentation and destruction of 3D objects. What inspired you to bring to life and put into motion the static and beauty of classical statues?

I think I was moved, at least in part, by an inner malaise. I probably felt the need, even unconsciously, to break a personal situation that was holding me back. This state of mind was reflected in the project, symbolically represented in the act of destruction and rupture. In any case, the work does not end with this gesture. From the beginning, I wanted it to be open to philosophical interpretations, leaving room for the personal vision of the viewer. After all, the destructive act can also be a creative act. To underscore the idea, I included a Nietzsche quote from Thus Spoke Zarathustra at the end of the short film. Curiously, I only discovered it after finishing the work, but it turned out to be perfect for the message I wanted to convey. The quote exhorts us to have the courage to destroy what seems untouchable in order to open up to new possibilities, take unprecedented paths and follow new paths. This openness of interpretation allowed each person to find personal meaning in the short film. Many grasped the destructive gesture as a metaphor for change or rebirth, while others focused on the fragility of artistic heritage or philosophical reflections. Interestingly, reactions were extremely varied: I did not provide...let’s call them, “instructions for use” or guidelines for interpreting the work, precisely because I wanted it to be a free and subjective experience. Of course, not everyone appreciated the work. Some people criticized it harshly. Some even went so far as to compare me to the Taliban for destroying, even virtually, works of classical art. It must be said that I have not damaged any real works: these are digital models made available precisely for creative use. However, I understand that the gesture may be provocative and that not everyone is willing to accept it. That said, most of the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. Many viewers have had a profound emotional and psychological impact, finding personal reflection or universal meaning in the work. Criticisms, while present, represent a minority, and I welcome them with serenity. For me, the value of a work also lies in its ability to generate debate and stir emotions, for better or worse.

Let’s talk about the 3D elements within the project. Les Dieux Changeants presents virtual versions of five classical sculptures, including the Laocoon and the Belvedere Apollo. The 3D scans, made by the Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK) and available on MyMiniFactory, come from the museum’s Royal Cast Collection and were created through the voluntary Scan The World project. The work is part of the SMK Open initiative, which aims to digitize the entire museum collection to make it accessible to the public and encourage the creation of new works of art. How does the project reflect the importance of sharing and repurposing digital cultural heritage for the creation of new art forms?

I find it to be an extraordinary program on the part of the museum, especially because it reverses the traditional role of the audience and transforms it from a mere passive user to an active part of the artistic process. Usually the visitor to a museum just looks at the works on display, analyzes in a personal way what he or she sees but does not have a direct involvement. The Statens Museum for Kunst project, on the other hand, grants the unique opportunity to freely access the collection and use it as a starting point for creating new art. Such an initiative is deeply civic; it stimulates the creation of contemporary culture while enhancing our artistic heritage. In my case, working on these statues prompted me to reinterpret them, study their history, discovering details and meanings that I had previously ignored. All this shows how such a project not a powerful tool for awareness and knowledge. The initiative has the merit of engaging the public in an active dialogue with Europe’s artistic heritage, promoting at the same time the rediscovery and reinterpretation of our cultural roots. It is an approach that encourages reflection, personal expression and creates a bridge between the public and museum professionals. I am aware of other projects carried out on these statues and consider them equally important. I hope that all initiatives will go forward and that many more will emerge, not necessarily similar to my work, but that will encourage the public, museums, and the creation of new art and culture.

To date, how has your artistic practice evolved from previous works (also more focused on the union of music and video)?

Yes, you are right: there is undoubtedly a path of transformation that has developed over time, on several fronts. For example, the short Les Dieux Changeants marked an important turning point in my artistic production. In the past, my works were decidedly more abstract and approached with perhaps a more rational, almost technical approach, in which I looked for multiple ways of interweaving music and images without necessarily aiming for a concrete meaning. Over time, however, I realized that I have a certain aptitude for channeling meanings that leave room for different interpretations, creating works that are open to multiple readings. This is something that has been particularly evident both in my short films and in images related to projects such as Images From The Subconscious, which I have been pursuing for over a year. The works that arise from these ideas seem to stimulate the audience to project something personal into them. It is a process that I find interesting and reflects the very nature of art...interpreting inevitably means putting a bit of oneself into what one observes. After several years of experimentation, I realized how much my work has moved toward creating works with layered and deep meaning. I am now working on new projects, including another short film that I plan to complete by the middle of next year. This too will be a work designed to be interpreted in different ways, with an important philosophical component. In recent years also, I have been actively making music again. Music has always been a fundamental part of my life: in addition to studying architecture, I have had extensive musical training and have always considered myself, first and foremost, a musician. For a long time I worked in the music field, but mostly on compositions of others. Today, however, I have returned to creating my own music, a path that excites me and that I intend to integrate more and more into my work. The goal is to be able to harmoniously combine all my passions: images, spatial design, and music. To date I am trying to find solutions that make this whole organic and coherent. I believe that the process of combining what we love and are passionate about is one of the most fulfilling experiences because it keeps us curious, motivated, and open to new discoveries.

Your latest project, which has since become a volume, Images From The Subconscious addresses the potential of artificial intelligence in generating artistic images. What does the project consist of?

The project consists of a series of images developed over the past few months, an evolving construction site. On the one hand, it makes use of new and incredibly powerful tools that make it possible to translate ideas into images immediately and easily, overcoming the technical difficulties of the past. On the other, the peculiarity of these tools, particularly those based on artificial intelligence, emerges, opening up many possibilities but also raising questions. Their use generates debates, especially about the risk that they may, in the future, replace human labor. Personally, I see the relationship between humans and machines as one of integration rather than replacement, and I believe that our present is already pointing toward increasingly hybrid solutions. Working with neural networks gives a singular experience: it feels like sailing in an ocean of pre-packaged visual concepts. Any imaginable image can be realized, changing the way we approach artistic creation. These tools, however, are not really smart. They rely on machine learning, a technology that enables them to recognize and reproduce patterns from huge amounts of data. In the case of image generators, these are immense collections of visual material reprocessed to produce new solutions. As much as the results may appear to be the result of reasoning, they are actually automated processes refined by the quantity and quality of information. This type of approach has also had an impact on my creative process, teaching me not to be too emotionally attached to an initial idea. When working with such tools, one finds that each variation can open up new possibilities and can sometimes lead to unexpected results that are more effective than the original idea. Experience with such tools has taught me that everything is improvable. In the past, for example, I tended to get attached to my intuitions, even if they did not work as I imagined. Now, on the other hand, by experimenting with the endless variations that machines can generate, I have learned to let go and look for simpler or more suitable solutions, even when they do not match my initial idea. Here, all of this has caused me to reflect on the flexibility needed in the creative process and the importance of exploring possibilities that I would have otherwise ignored.

What prompted you to undertake the project and how do you think artificial intelligence (AI) can enrich artists’ creative process?

I am not sure how this will evolve. I think a lot depends on personal sensibility and how each person chooses to use these tools. At the moment for what I see observing the landscape around me, artificial intelligence from image generators to video generators seems to make it easier to create poor quality works rather than good works. Most of the works I see made with these tools do not convince me: they lack real depth. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are few and often come from artists who possess a clear vision and use AI as a tool to achieve it without getting carried away by the technology itself. In contrast, many seem to passively follow what the machines propose, with unappreciative results. I cannot say for sure how the relationship between creativity and AI will develop in the future. It is clear that these tools will continue to be perfected given the enormous economic capital invested in them, and their spread is not limited to the arts. They find use in fields such as medicine or business, where they improve productivity and open up new possibilities. In the field of art, however, I fear that growth in the quantity of works produced will not necessarily coincide with an increase in quality. The risk is that ease of use will lead to a proliferation of poorly curated content. Perhaps, the real problem does not lie in the fear that machines will replace artists, but rather in the possibility that they will be used to create worthless works.

In your opinion, can we therefore say that it could be a tool for co-creation between artist and machine?

Absolutely.

Are you exploring new directions in visual art? Can you give us some hints about your upcoming projects?

Right now I am in a phase of exploration and learning. I am experimenting a lot with real-time interactive technologies, as you can also see from the content I share on Instagram. One of the areas I am focusing on is TouchDesigner. I have known about it for years but only recently started working with it in earnest, immersing myself in its potential. It is a platform that allows for endless creative possibilities, and I am discovering amazing tools, such as machine learning-based modules that greatly simplify motion tracking. Now with a simple webcam, it is possible to achieve results comparable to those that required technologies like the Kinect camera in the past, but without the need for complex equipment. This allows me to develop interactive experiences that respond to body movements and pave the way for new forms of expression. I am already thinking about how to integrate these technologies into future projects, such as interactive installations. In parallel, I have started working with the MIDI guitar, another field that I find extremely stimulating. My idea is to create a performance-concert where music generated by the guitar is synchronized with real-time visuals, again developed through TouchDesigner. The project, which combines audio and visuals in a dynamic way, is moving in a direction that I definitely want to explore because it has the potential to turn into an innovative show to offer to the public.

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.