Season 2: AI-Driven Creativity — The Next Generation of Artistry — Infiniteyay
In this installment of our ongoing series, we direct our focus onto Infiniteyay, an artist who has harnessed the power of AI to illuminate new horizons within the realm of creativity.
Join us as we plunge into the depths of Infiniteyay’s innovative methodologies, uncovering the ways in which artificial intelligence is wielded to challenge the constraints of conventional art forms and surpass their established boundaries.
Artist Bio
Infiniteyay is an artist, creative director, and curator that is exploring AI and building new realities. As a life long traditional artist that found a career in design he was thrilled to discover AI tools and immediately set out to experiment with how they could be woven into his processes.
Very soon he discovered a deep connection to the tools and became enthralled with their ability to translate his imagination into visuals. In his first year in the NFT space he has exhibited in Tokyo, Miami for Art Basel, NFT Paris, NFT NYC, and NFT Korea.
After several sold out collections he is continuing to push the boundaries of how AI tools can bring his wildest dreams into reality.
With the advancement of AI tools does the approach of an artist change?
It doesn’t have to but as they advance so many new doors for exploration and creation open. I personally apply many of the same approaches to creating as I always have. AI tools are indeed simply tools so you still need to have an idea or inspiration to start with. AI tools however do allow you to explore and iterate faster than ever before. You can also think of the AI as a collaborator and use it not only to execute specific ideas but to take your ideas and run with them to places you may never have thought of on your own. Then give it your own spin and let the AI once again take it to another level as many times as you want. With a workflow like that you can end up in some extremely interesting places with your creations.
How do emotion and passion play into your art?
One of the really special things about AI tools is how you can in a single session deeply explore an idea or feeling. Traditionally if you have an idea you may have to iterate for hours or days until your piece starts to convey the emotion or idea you were aiming for. With AI tools you can very quickly get to a place where the idea and emotion can be felt.
I think AI allows for a more immediate relationship with your imagination and emotions. Immediacy has long been desired by artists and has been written about at length in regards to movements like Impressionism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism. Having a more direct path from idea to creation, lessening the friction created by medium, allows for a more pure expression of emotion and ideas.
All that said, emotion and passion are integral to my creation process. I’ll start with an emotion I’m trying to express or sometimes I’ll explore ideas and create until a piece makes me feel something. There are many angles to approach it from but ultimately I aim for a piece to make me strongly feel something in hopes that it makes someone else feel it too.
What are you seeing with the current generation of AI tools for video?
I’m in awe of how quickly we’re seeing AI tools for video evolve. Currently the quality and control of the tools has a ways to go but I think within the year or so we’ll get there. I don’t think enough can be said about how AI video tools are going to change things. I’m just doing my best to keep up! When I was younger I made home movies with my friends and have gotten into directing and animation in my career as a creative. So I’m very excited about being able to explore new ways of telling stories. It’s so interesting seeing what people are creating with these tools. It’s like getting a direct glimpse into their imagination or dreams.
Any advice to artists on how to think about this accelerating change created by AI tools?
I think it’s best to be open minded about it all and to look for the door’s it’s opening. You see many artists upset about the jobs AI is going to take or about what the models are trained on. They’re spending this pivotal moment in time filled with worry and anger, fighting against it all, and are missing out on all the opportunities AI is opening up. Things are changing in a big way and it’s natural to feel some anxiety and to be unsure about where things are going. No one knows the extent in which things are going to change but if you pay attention, stay curious, and explore these incredible new tools, you’ll be better positioned for wherever we’re going.
In my opinion it’s all very exciting! I’ve absolutely had moments of worry in the past year thinking about AI will impact my career as a designer. However, when I look at all the new ways we can create and see the rising levels of quality and expression that are happening I’m truly filled with joy.
How do you incorporate artificial intelligence into your artistic process? What inspired you to explore this intersection between art and technology?
I’ve been a Designer and Creative Director for the past 15 years. About a year ago I became aware of AI image generation tools and realized the extent to which AI was going to change things. I knew I had to start paying attention and dive into this world I didn’t know very much about. I’ve always been curious about new creative tools and have done my best over the years to stay on the pulse of new innovations. One, it’s literally my job to do so but also I’m just genuinely a curious person and love the intersection of art and technology.
Currently I primarily use AI to create art however I’ve been exploring ways to incorporate it into my design workflows as well. When creating art I start with an idea and then jump straight into an image generator and start exploring. I love to draw, paint, and film as well and intend to explore mixing AI with those mediums in the future. Right now though, I’m mainly focused on using purely AI to create as an exercise to better learn the tools.
Could you provide some insight into the specific AI techniques or algorithms you employ in your artwork? How do you choose which ones to use for different projects?
I’ve mainly used Midjourney and Stable Diffusion paired with various upscalers for the bulk of my work thus far. I used DALL·E 2 a lot in the beginning too. I’ve also recently started using Runway’s AI tools for video creation. I bounce between the tools but really I’ll just go with what I’m feeling at the moment.
For a typical piece, I’ll explore and create with an image generator, then bring the piece into photoshop to clean up and refine with their AI tools, then I’ll upscale the piece, and bring it back into photoshop for final refinements. Really it’s all about using whatever tools I need to to get the piece feeling just right.
In what ways does AI enhance your creative expression and push the boundaries of traditional artistic techniques? Are there any unique outcomes or artistic possibilities that AI enables for you?
Honestly, for the past several years prior to getting into AI I had struggled to make time for art. Between work, family life and pursuing a multitude of other goals I had a hard time finding space to get into the zone needed to create the art I want to. The speed and methods in which I can create and explore ideas with AI tools has allowed me to get back into the mindset needed to create again. I think one of the more beautiful things about AI is how it allows many who have struggled to create for various reasons the ability to express in so many new ways. I know artists who struggled to create due to a handicap or illness of some kind but now can again. That’s a wildly wonderful thing! For me, this aspect alone has been life changing.
AI also has allowed me to take my ideas further than I could have with traditional approaches. The speed in which you can twist and evolve an idea is remarkable. It allows you to take your art to new places. Be it higher quality, more evolved concepts, new styles, deeper stories, with AI the friction between idea and execution is lessened.
How do you balance the role of AI as a tool in your creative process with your own artistic vision and decision-making? Do you feel like you have full control over the final outcome, or is there an element of unpredictability in working with AI?
I like to embrace the unpredictability. I think of AI not only as a tool but as a collaborator. Sure, if I have a specific idea I can likely execute it pretty accurately using AI. More often though, I like to employ various techniques that allow the AI to take my idea and run with it. It’s fun to see how AI will evolve or interpret your ideas. In many of the AI tools you can prompt something specific but then generate variations. You could then change elements in a variation and then remix it again with different parameters bringing it to a totally new place.
What impact do you believe AI will have on the future of art? Do you see it as a complementary tool to traditional artistic practices, or do you envision a more transformative role for AI in the creative realm?
I personally think we’re witnessing the beginning of an artistic renaissance. A period where I think we’ll see art and creativity taken to entirely new realms. These AI tools are allowing for a more direct connection to our imagination and subconsciousness. Additionally they enable more time to evolve ideas which will allow us to take our ideas much further than ever before. I think we’ll see new types of interactive art, new ways of experiencing art and stories, new artistic movements. More people will be enabled to create, which will give voice to new perspectives and stories. AI will surely continue to be a complementary tool to traditional art practices but it will also be a driving medium and method for creation. I think things are going to change so drastically that we can’t even begin to predict the wild places it’s going to take us. I’m more excited than ever to be an artist and art lover.
Conclusion
This concludes our blog for this week. A big thanks to Infiniteyay for letting us dive into his dreams!
Stay tuned for our upcoming chapters, where we will continue to unravel the captivating narrative of AI-driven artistic innovation.
Questions or want to discuss doing a blog post together? Feel free to shoot us a note at build@easy.me.
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