S O M N I V M by Ganbrood
“We ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the universe. The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the skies so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.”
Tragoidia, 2022 by Ganbrood
Kate Vass Galerie is thrilled to announce the exclusive program S O M N I V M by Bas Uterwijk, aka Ganbrood. The program is a part of the group show ‘'Dear Machine, paint for me” that takes place on 27th October. The artist will be present, giving an introductory talk with curators of the upcoming group exhibition by Georg Bak & Kate Vass. For the first time, the artist will be exhibiting his works in physical and digital form, minted on post-fork ETH and accompanied by Fine Art prints on thermo-aluminium, signed by the artist.
Nubeculae Magellani, 2022 by Ganbrood
When you see a shape in the dark, your brain tries to interpret it by mirroring the form, colour and material characteristics to your memory's frame of reference. Anything you ever saw and remembered could play a role in the pattern recognition process in your mind.
The synthetic image generation of Generative Adversarial Networks and Diffusion models works eerily similar to this human process: Input or random noise is compared to a vast trained library model of thousands of millions of fed images, and every possible image between these inputs, so-called 'Latent Space'.
Instead of using this method as a way to generate variations on existing pictures, Ganbrood uses these neural networks as a silicon muse to evoke and stimulate his expressive mind while at the same time interrogating the very essence of creativity: Could it be possible that a quality that was always considered as eminently human, is easily imitated or even reproduced by an algorithm? And when that is the case, are our fantasies and imagination may be controlled by mathematic expressions more than we would consider?
Like every artist is expanding on the work of their most revered predecessors, In 'S O M N I V M', Ganbrood uses visual themes that have always inspired him since youth: mythology and fairytales, theatre and film, painting and photography, videogames and comics. Drawing parallels in timeless variations of visual narrative by seeking their mathematical interfaces in latent space. Where a classicly trained artist like a painter or a sculptor would dig these shapes and symbols from memory, Artificial Intelligence is providing the present-day artist with the tools to draw references from synthetic storage, where the craftsmanship of brush and chisel are shifted to recognition and curation of artificial outputs.
Artificiality has always been a decisive element in Ganbrood's past work, whether using special effects and 3D animation for film or photographing actual events in a serene way that almost looked staged.
Always fascinated by illusions and trickery, Ganbroods oeuvre is a voyage of exploration into pseudo-figurative and mind-altering effects like pareidolia, apophenia and synchronicity.
This exploration takes an almost literal shape in "In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me" and "This Island's Mine", where sci-fi elements of glorious space adventures meet Renaissancistic scenes. Set in a cinematic universe, the viewer can almost define the actors and decor of these who, after close inspection, turn out to be little more than abstract shapes.
Tragoidia and Les Filles du Roy are like stages. The elements of contradictory mediums like fresco paintings and photography or 3D are battling for the spectator's conclusion of how to interpret what is perceived.
Catalogue of SOMNIVM by Ganboord
Some artworks from S O M N I V M selection are exhibited at the group show ‘'Dear Machine, paint for me” from 27th October till 14th December 2022 at The Circle, Zurich.