How artificial intelligence can reimagine art from our past and influence our future.
Like many of you, I've been keeping an eye on the wave of A.I.-created art rolling across the internet with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. So much of it feels hollow and generic, or has a tellingly artificial sheen. Many amusing A.I. tricks — like seeing a traditional Japanese woodblock print of a commuter staring at a cellphone or a French impressionist painting of a space shuttle lifting off — quickly begin to feel a little flat. |
So when I stumbled across a set of A.I.-generated images posted to a Facebook group, ostensibly showing frames from a 1976 version of the movie "Tron" filmed by the Chilean auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky, I was shocked. There was so much cinematic drama and visual imagination evident in the stills. Whole sets were imagined with incredible character lighting and shot framing. The actors wore mesmerizing costumes. There were hulking spaceships, mysterious light-disc weapons, explosions, impossible motorcycles and a horse armored with a neon skeleton. And the hats! I'd never seen such a gorgeous collection of retro-futuristic hats and helmets. |
 | | Midjourney, with Johnny Darrell |
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Was there something special about the word "Jodorowsky" that gave these A.I. images such verve? After all, he is the director of perhaps the most famous science fiction film never to be made — his 1970s attempt at "Dune," raw material from which went on to influence many of the tentpole sci-fi films of the '70s and '80s, "Blade Runner," "Star Wars" and "The Terminator" among them. |
I emailed a link to the "Jodorowsky's Tron" images to Frank Pavich, who, as the director of the 2013 documentary "Jodorowsky's Dune," may know more about the director's efforts to realize his '70s sci-fi epic than anyone else still living. He came back to us with this rollicking meditation on inspiration, influence, artistic theft and legacy in the age of the intelligent machine. |
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