by Text-to-image AI art generators have a lot to answer for. They’ve sparked a lot of controversy over the past few months for their ability to mimic the style of famous artists based on nothing more than a brief text input, but here’s a project that puts cutting-edge creative technology to good use.
The people behind the project set out to examine how some of the world’s most famous artists might have portrayed the current climate crisis, from Monet to Rembrandt, Van Gogh and even Andy Warhol. The results once again demonstrate the power of AI image synthesizers, but also provide a practical example of how the technology can be used in an impactful campaign (if you don’t already know what text-to-image AI art generators are, see how one uses DALL-E 2).
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Noting the ability of AI art generators to mimic the style of specific artists (since they have been trained to do many artists’ work), Bromley Art Supplies (opens in new tab) and digital marketing consultant Lacuna 5 decided to use the technology to imagine how famous artists might have portrayed pressing issues threatening our environment, from deforestation to pollution and plastic waste.
They didn’t specify which AI tool, but it does a good job of restoring specific styles. A landscape devastated by deforestation is depicted in the surrealist style of Salvador Dalí, while a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo shows the artist surrounded by a sea of plastic waste. In Claude Monet’s delicate impressionist brushstrokes, a power plant belches a puff of smoke over a landscape.
Van Gogh portrays the plight of polar bears in the Arctic, Rembrandt fights forest fires and young environmental activist Greta Thunberg is portrayed in Andy Warhol’s pop art style.
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This is perhaps the first example we’ve seen of someone using AI generative image technology to create activist art, and it’s doing so in a very effective way. It also ties in with recent protests, in which climate activists have defaced famous works of art, arguing that protecting life is more important than protecting art. I suspect this approach may be more successful at winning over the public, but as effective as it is, it might also be a bit of a fad. It’s clever for once, but how long will using AI feel new in this way?
For more on this topic, check out the Best AI Art Generators Comparison. And see what’s new in the latest version of Stable Diffusion, which has cleaned up its AI generator – something that hasn’t been welcomed by everyone.
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