Lot 475 D

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." (Pablo Picasso, 1968)

The team behind the artist collective OBVIOUS has gained notoriety through their AI-created artworks. Having tapped into new ways in which digital ideas can transform and influence the artistic process, the three French creatives Pierre Fautrel, Hugo Caselles-Dupre and Gauthier Vernier have developed algorithms that are programmed to 'create'. Machine learning, or rather “deep learning” is at the centre of the process. The data collection still happens manually, with the individuals getting together to select a subject and the corresponding data set. The actual creative process is, however, orchestrated by the algorithm, which jumps into action resulting in a selection of outputs. This is the reason why the signature on the final painting is the algorithm formula. These varying results are then again assessed by the trio, who chooses the final image.
In times where NFTs (non fungible tokens) have become the mainstream, the group behind OBVIOUS are testing the intersection between man and machine in a different way. Whist NFTs are solely digital, only living in collector's platforms and traded via cryptocurrenices, the works from OBVIOUS are tangible artworks, usually on canvas and on this occasion framed in a gilded wood frame. The work presented in our auction comes from the series about a fictitious French family called Famille de Belamy. The characters are invented, but there is a nod to the family portraits which were de rigeur between the 17th century and the late 19th century. A visually rather traditional format is paired with a formally completely new markmaking concept, developed from the intersection between humans and machines. It marks a foray into a completely new way of art production.