THE ELECTRICIAN (PSEUDOMNESIA)

The artwork THE ELECTRICIAN by Boris Eldagsen is part of the series PSEUDOMNESIA. It is a promptography created using AI generators. 

Boris Eldagsen is the artist who made headlines by turning down the prestigious Sony Photography World Award in 2023. In a world where AI sparks debates between haters and worshippers, Eldagsen offers a unique perspective that transcends the binary narrative. Rejecting the notion that AI is solely a threat to creativity, Eldagsen emphasizes the importance of human agency and expertise in harnessing AI as a tool for artistic expression.

The series explores the concept of pseudomnesia, which refers to the creation of false memories or fake recollections of events that never actually occurred, as opposed to simply having inaccurate memories. Eldagsen employs deep-learning AI generators to generate the images. Drawing inspiration from the imagery of the 1940s, the artist produces these images as fabricated memories of a nonexistent past that were never captured by any photographer. 

The creation process involves utilizing language and revising the generated images by AI algorithms approximately 20 to 40 times. Various techniques such as "inpainting," "outpainting," and "prompt whispering" are employed to refine and shape the final result.

"My rejection of the prize has indeed sparked the necessary discussion about the nature and future of photography, art, and human creativity, as well as the issue of disinformation. In the first few weeks following the rejection, I was the one still pointing out the new problems to many journalists, but soon new podcasts and journalist teams specializing in AI were emerging everywhere.

Many people have asked me about the meaning and message of THE ELECTRICIAN I have always answered that the question "What is the artist trying to tell us?" is mundane. I do not aim to promote a political message through art, as many other contemporary artists do. I am not interested in addressing a specific political issue but rather in exploring the timeless human condition that underlies these contemporary problems. If I wanted to do that, I would write an editorial for a newspaper or attend a demonstration."

– Boris Eldagsen