ARTISTS
Sam Leach: Fully Automatic
In his latest body of work, Melbourne-based Sam Leach follows in the footsteps of painters throughout history who have absorbed and utilised new technologies. Yet in acknowledging and reinforcing the profound impact of centuries of innovation upon art, he also fortifies paintings鈥� unique ability to be both shaped by new technologies, and at the same time to interpret and reflect on them.
Inspired by recent research undertaken with the Queensland Brain Institute, Leach embarked on a new project. His aim: to train a machine to automate the cognitive labour of deciding what he should paint, thus freeing himself to focus on the manual process of painting.
Working with a coder he developed an Artificial Intelligence armed with an algorithm capable of inventing images. Originally the AI was trained exclusively on his own paintings. Then the dataset was expanded to include a range of historical imagery from art, architecture and the sciences.
Over hundreds of thousands of repeated passes the algorithm, working in two opposing parts, generated and discriminated until 鈥渁n electro-pixel fog of strange, uncertain visions鈥� were realised, sufficient to inform and inspire Leach鈥檚 bold series of paintings.
The resulting body of work, Fully Automatic, due to make its debut on Thursday August 20 at Sullivan+Strumf Sydney, thus represents a unique collaboration between AI and artist, with the latter bringing the refinement, certainty and solidity required for each final image.
The somewhat tongue in cheek title of the show Leach says, comes from British author Aaron Bastani鈥檚 2019 manifesto, Fully Automatic Luxury Communism, in which he proposes society let robots do all the work, thus facilitating a more egalitarian, post-scarcity, AI-run world.
In the artist鈥檚 case, the experiment has thus far led to the discovery of 鈥渦nexpected parallels in aesthetics and composition suggesting connections that I would be unlikely to find without computer assistance鈥�. In time he adds, the technique may lead to the identification of some new approaches to iconography.
In the here and now, in the hands of one of Australia鈥檚 most highly awarded artists, these carefully rendered digitally conceptualised images, painstakingly painted on linen or wood, in Leach鈥檚 unique style, offer a glimpse into the broader timeline of humanity鈥檚 ideation and development.
Replicating Leach鈥檚 established manner of merging realist imagery with modern abstraction, the paintings draw on more than five centuries of references, reminding us of the influence of ongoing iterations of progressive thinkers, and providing a glimpse into the potential of a technology-driven future.
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In his latest body of work, Melbourne-based Sam Leach follows in the footsteps of painters throughout history who have absorbed and utilised new technologies. Yet in acknowledging and reinforcing the profound impact of centuries of innovation upon art, he also fortifies paintings鈥� unique ability to be both shaped by new technologies, and at the same time to interpret and reflect on them.
Inspired by recent research undertaken with the Queensland Brain Institute, Leach embarked on a new project. His aim: to train a machine to automate the cognitive labour of deciding what he should paint, thus freeing himself to focus on the manual process of painting.
Working with a coder he developed an Artificial Intelligence armed with an algorithm capable of inventing images. Originally the AI was trained exclusively on his own paintings. Then the dataset was expanded to include a range of historical imagery from art, architecture and the sciences.
Over hundreds of thousands of repeated passes the algorithm, working in two opposing parts, generated and discriminated until 鈥渁n electro-pixel fog of strange, uncertain visions鈥� were realised, sufficient to inform and inspire Leach鈥檚 bold series of paintings.
The resulting body of work, Fully Automatic, due to make its debut on Thursday August 20 at Sullivan+Strumf Sydney, thus represents a unique collaboration between AI and artist, with the latter bringing the refinement, certainty and solidity required for each final image.
The somewhat tongue in cheek title of the show Leach says, comes from British author Aaron Bastani鈥檚 2019 manifesto, Fully Automatic Luxury Communism, in which he proposes society let robots do all the work, thus facilitating a more egalitarian, post-scarcity, AI-run world.
In the artist鈥檚 case, the experiment has thus far led to the discovery of 鈥渦nexpected parallels in aesthetics and composition suggesting connections that I would be unlikely to find without computer assistance鈥�. In time he adds, the technique may lead to the identification of some new approaches to iconography.
In the here and now, in the hands of one of Australia鈥檚 most highly awarded artists, these carefully rendered digitally conceptualised images, painstakingly painted on linen or wood, in Leach鈥檚 unique style, offer a glimpse into the broader timeline of humanity鈥檚 ideation and development.
Replicating Leach鈥檚 established manner of merging realist imagery with modern abstraction, the paintings draw on more than five centuries of references, reminding us of the influence of ongoing iterations of progressive thinkers, and providing a glimpse into the potential of a technology-driven future.
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Sam Leach鈥檚 painting half cat draws the mind back through the centuries, from the cinematic villain鈥檚 pet of choice to Ancient Egyptian deities.
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