Season 2: AI-Driven Creativity — The Next Generation of Artistry — Nuclear Samurai
In this edition, we shine the spotlight on Nuclear Samurai, an exceptional artist whose work embodies the cutting-edge possibilities of AI in the realm of creativity.
Explore with us as we dive into Nuclear Samurai’s revolutionary techniques, exploring how he utilizes artificial intelligence to push the boundaries of traditional art forms and exceed their conventional limitations.
Artist Bio
I’m a crypto artist based in Melbourne Australia. I’ve always had a passion to create, it’s kind of been a bit of a coping mechanism to deal with my various neurodivergence's. I always had a little bit of trouble understanding some things, but art has always helped me to bring things into perspective and focus. After high school I went straight into the workforce, but always kept an art practice as a hobby.
Eventually getting into photography and then saving up enough to study as a mature aged student in my late twenties. My time in college really opened up my eyes to creative possibilities and really served to elevate my images and practice as an artist. I have been working as a studio photographer for the last seven years.
I found my way to crypto art as a way to reignite my interest in art. Around this same time I discovered AI art and a new passion was unlocked. I found myself completely engrossed in it and have spent the last year and a half discovering the best way to express myself with these new tools.
As one of the early stars of post-photography AI, where do you see the next wave of artistic expression happening?
AI is kind of a fascinating medium because it moves so quickly. That there are actually these really clear markers of the time a piece is produced by the way the technology is outputting it. You can tell that something is from disco diffusion, or early Midjourney or Stable Diffusion. So the works that are produced and put on the blockchain become records of that moment in time, even though these eras are so short lived between versions and upgrades and changes.
I think the next frontier for AI art is via AI video and AI animation. There is already some incredible work being done that is pushing forward expression in such an unexpected way. Seeing artists unique voices come through to tell stories in a way that is unique and innovative is such a delight and honestly makes me excited for the future of the medium.
With the advancement of AI tools does the approach of an artist change?
I think inevitably yes. There are some features the get developed that actually make new options possible that weren’t possible before. There also comes a time where certain trends become a bit too overdone, so when that happens I naturally want to go in a different direction. When I started doing post photography and photorealism it was harder to get the prompts to put out clean results, and then at a certain point it became very accessible and easy to prompt photorealism, so I took a little detour and focused on more illustrative and surreal styles.
Until I was ready to produce a body of work that utilized photorealism in an innovative way. I don’t like to fully close a door on a technique or style just because other people are doing it, but it does make me think what can I bring to this style that others can’t. The advancement of the tools has a big effect on this.
What inspired your use of animals as a recurrent element in your work?
I think I have always been drawn to animals because they are so richly used in the parables, fables and myths I grew up on. Animals are so totally charged with semiotic meaning, that you can use animals as a kind of shorthand for symbolic themes when building allegories and metaphors within images.
So for me animals have this symbolic power, but they also have an emotional resonance, they inspire a lot of empathy in me and I’m sure other people feel the same way.
How does emotion and passion play into your art?
I think for me there is no art without emotion and passion. Emotion is usually the seed of an idea for me, and the passion is usually what makes me persevere in the production of the art. Sometimes I will be page after page deep on an iteration, and working for hours at a time to find the right result that communicates the feeling I want.
I have found the art that gets the best reactions are the ones I put my feelings into. I put my hopes and fears into the art and while working i relive the emotions over and over.
What are you seeing with the current generation of AI tools for video?
The current generation of tools are starting to move towards this smoother more consistent style, if you look at Runway ML gen 2 and Fulljourney and Pika and Zeroscope, they are less choppy and stilted like Deforum and Stable Diffusion based video. I think that we are seeing this translate into a more cinematic look that is somewhat less obvious that it is AI.
But, as we head towards accessibility in photorealism it is starting to make the frantic and chaotic work of artists like Frank Manzano really stand out, there is work out there that is using the way AI puts things together to tell unique stories from unique perspectives.
Any advice to artists on how to think about this accelerating change created by AI tools?
I think it’s important to stay open and be willing to learn new things, but not to feel pressured to just jump into the new thing because everyone else is doing it, there’s no shame in perfecting your craft on one tool, and there is no shame in experimenting away from the style you are known for. It’s all art.
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 believe that there will always be a place for traditional art, I believe that AI will empower traditional artist with a new tool for visualisation and exploration. I believe that AI will transform the world even beyond the art world, I think this early art from this new genre of art is coinciding with a revolution in the way the world will work in general. So I think AI will change a lot about how we see things.
This is what excites me about being a creator at this time, imagine knowing that you were at the start of a movement. The best we can hope for is to strive to use these tools to make important work, that pushes boundaries.
Conclusion
Through his avant-garde approaches, Nuclear Samurai showcases the immense potential of AI within the realm of creativity. By harnessing artificial intelligence, he redefines conventional art forms, transcending their limitations and opening new horizons for artistic expression. Nuclear Samurai’s dedication to exploring AI-driven creativity is commendable, as it offers fresh perspectives and unveils the untapped possibilities in the world of art.
As we continue this series, we eagerly anticipate uncovering more about Nuclear Samurai’s fascinating journey and the ever-evolving landscape of AI-inspired artistry. Stay tuned for our next blog post, where we will dive deeper into the cutting-edge world of AI-driven creativity.
