The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Algorithm

Here, i teach an AI what the human insides look like by showing it several videos of surgical operations and dissections. The algorithm is then allowed to produce its own images of imagined dissections, which are
animated to mimic the flow within. By experimenting with the amount of training the algorithm gets, i try to generate vivid abstract painterly images which recall Shiraga and sometimes de Kooning. There is an ironic reference to Rembrandt’s early masterpiece in the title- that painting (The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp) was produced by Rembrandt in an era of troubled fascination with medical technology- this one is produced by AI, in an era of troubled excitement about its rise.

This work was part of the iconic ‘Gradient Descent’ AI Art show in 2018 at Nature Morte Gallery in Delhi, India. It is touted as the first AI Art show in a contemporary gallery globally. i was the only Indian artist among 7 global AI Art pioneers. The other artists were- Mario Klingemann, Anna Riddler, Tom White, Memo Akten, Jake Elwes and Nao Takui.

One of my early works made with GANs. i’ve often stated- generative AI models should feel more like pencils and not stencils and GANs feel like that.