Where You Lived, And What You Lived For is a short film based on historical, scientific forest images from the archives of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
The images were originally created to study and research various aspects of forests and forestry. In this video work, the images are brought to life again through AI. The voiceover, also AI-generated, is based on several sections of the book "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. The work explores aspects of what "back to nature" might actually mean in an artificial world.
This work is based on an old ID photo of my father that I found in the pocket of an old jacket. I scanned the image, appreciating both his Mona Lisa-esque smile and the lines of the card, which created a subtle 3D effect.
I used an AI generator to transform it into a moving image, and after each generation, I continued to extend the process. The result evolved into a sort of breakdown of the image into pure lines and light—a feedback loop or an apparent inability to create anything further. The final piece presented here is a combination of the original photo and the reversal of the AI process.
The work is part of several other works exploring the anti-photographic aspects of artificial intelligence. Doing the opposite to the medium of photography when making images move through its algorithmic dreaming.
Archival material from The Prelinger Archives Home Movies. Sourced from the Internet Archive. As well as private family films from the directors personal albums.
This a selection of some of the prints.
The artist has worked with the information gap in the work to see what the result becomes through an AI-generated enhancement. The focus of the eyes in the work takes leaps in perhaps the most profound communication we humans are accustomed to: eye contact.
What happens when still images are presented as moving material? The recurring gazes become a meeting with an archive, artificial memories with relatives, but also an examination of how real the generated eyes are perceived. A recurring death algorithm or a mirror to the soul.