honorable mention
Mike South united kingdom
title
MONUMENTAL
I bring this vision to life by integrating AI and XR technologies. Discussing the concept of monuments with AI, I generate newly imagined structures. I manually place the Monuments into real-world landscapes using XR, then capture the results through still and moving images. You can see the process at mikesouthmakes.com
For millennia, cultures have built monumental structures to represent themselves. These structures inspire profound, personal experiences that transcend mere aesthetics. Monuments have power. Events in our fiction are synthetic, but the emotional response is real. Resulting belief and behaviour change… the rippling cultural effects are real. AI taps into this powerful phenomenon, crafting Monuments from code instead of metal and stone.
With direct access to our senses through Extended Reality (XR), AI makes us revere synthetic structures, just as much as human-made ones. Some witness the appearance of a Monument. Pilgrimages are made. We study them, photograph them, sell them, forget them. They become part of who were are.
Moving versions of the images can be seen at mikesouthmakes.com
Always embracing emerging technology, I’m first fine art photographer to use Extended Reality (XR) as their medium. I add synthetic subjects to the real world in real time, without relying on post-production. Drawing inspiration from futurist philosophy, cinematic effects, and natural landscapes, my work explores the fusion of past, present, and future.
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entry description
MONUMENTAL merges Extended Reality (XR) with AI-generated imagery to create a new photographic medium, and questions how this technology could shape culture and the natural world. As XR becomes mainstream, digital overlays will become integral to our daily snapshots. With additional AI integration, our senses will increasingly be driven by machines. As these machines learn to alter what we see, what could they make us think, feel or do?I bring this vision to life by integrating AI and XR technologies. Discussing the concept of monuments with AI, I generate newly imagined structures. I manually place the Monuments into real-world landscapes using XR, then capture the results through still and moving images. You can see the process at mikesouthmakes.com
For millennia, cultures have built monumental structures to represent themselves. These structures inspire profound, personal experiences that transcend mere aesthetics. Monuments have power. Events in our fiction are synthetic, but the emotional response is real. Resulting belief and behaviour change… the rippling cultural effects are real. AI taps into this powerful phenomenon, crafting Monuments from code instead of metal and stone.
With direct access to our senses through Extended Reality (XR), AI makes us revere synthetic structures, just as much as human-made ones. Some witness the appearance of a Monument. Pilgrimages are made. We study them, photograph them, sell them, forget them. They become part of who were are.
Moving versions of the images can be seen at mikesouthmakes.com
about the photographer
Based between London and the island of Madeira, I create surreal, timeless images. My documentary filmmaking background created a passion for exploring the darker side of humanity, but within a minimalist style. To distill the complex into the simple. I love to incorporate the story behind the images - often creating films to accompany my images.Always embracing emerging technology, I’m first fine art photographer to use Extended Reality (XR) as their medium. I add synthetic subjects to the real world in real time, without relying on post-production. Drawing inspiration from futurist philosophy, cinematic effects, and natural landscapes, my work explores the fusion of past, present, and future.
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