San Fransisco-based artist Nathan Shipley explores, with talent, the use of AI to create generative art, who works as a creative technologist with a background in visual effects and motion design. Thanks to him, we can now see what important historical characters would look like if they were alive in our modern world. Then, we can discover pictures of Queen Marie-Antoinette, of William Shakespeare, or even King Henri VIII. This series of face recreations began in October of 2020 and is ongoing. “My journey into the use of AI began with an early deepfake project for the Salvador Dali museum in 2018 (Dali Lives) and continued when I attended a conference about AI (GANs, specifically) at MIT in 2019.  From there I have explored the use of GANs to create generative imagery, music videos, and, most recently, to transform and animate portraits”, he explains.

“When viewers see my work, I want them to feel curious and be prompted to ask questions.  I specifically choose to show my work as diptychs; side-by-side with their original images because the viewer can’t avoid comparing the recreation with the original and asking questions.  How was this made?  How does this work?  Why does it work this way?  What does it mean to see a photograph of someone who lived before cameras existed?”, he explains. Shipley thinks that there are a lot of questions about the ways that AI will affect the world. To him, “art provides a space where we can explore some of these questions.  It is a very exciting time for art and I can’t wait to see what myself and other artists will continue to do with this new medium”.

More to discover on his website or his Instagram account.