‘Neural Decay’ series

‘Neural Decay’ is a series of six unique prints developed by AI-art pioneer, Mario Klingemann. Generated by custom-trained generative adversarial networks (GANs), hand-picked by the artist and meticulously printed on stainless steel panels, these images reflect Klingemann’s interest in exploring portraiture through the new aesthetics of AI art.

Reminiscent of miniatures or early studio photographs, these machine-generated portraits have an otherworldly quality. Large round eyes stare out from mask-like faces, while the image textures and metal surfaces allude to the pass of time. They appear to be headshots from a bygone age, yet the characters portrayed are perhaps not quite human.

To create this series, Klingemann used a chain of different GANs. First, his AI model was trained on portraits sourced from yearbooks and encyclopaedias printed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It generated these by transforming the predominantly male faces into more female looking ones, followed by a process that turned them into doll faces. Finally, Klingemann applied so-called “transhancement models,” trained on photographic and organic decay, in order to add skin texture, hair or other pixelated forms.

These digital textures are enhanced in this series by the use of stainless steel. ‘Neural Decay’ is the first collection of works by Mario Klingemann to be printed on metal and the artist personally oversaw the selection of materials and printing process.

Serie images with an innovative yet enticingly recognisable aesthetic, ‘Neural Decay’ is an outstanding example of what Klingemann refers to as “Neuralism,” art created using artificial neural networks. Developed in 2017, these “neurographies,” were printed and presented for the first time in February 2020 at Centre Pompidou in Paris as part of the exhibition ‘Neurones: Les intelligences simulées’.