This sculpture inspired by great masters, represents a woman carrying a globe.
It is inspired by the works of five masters including Michelangelo, Rodin and Takamura: a Swedish technology museum is exhibiting a statue created exclusively thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), called The Impossible Statue.
“It’s a real statue created by five different masters who could never have collaborated in real life”Pauliina Lunde, a spokeswoman for Sandvik, the company that designed this sculpture, told AFP using three different AI software. In stainless steel, measuring 150 cm high and weighing 500 kg, the statue is exhibited by the Museum of Technology in Stockholm, shaking up traditional conceptions around art. It represents a woman, half of whose body below the bust is covered by a kind of tunic, carrying a globe, made of bronze, with her left hand.
“There’s something wrong with his appearance”
The idea being to create a skilful mix between the styles of five sculptors, who each marked their era: Michel-Ange (Italy, 1475-1564), Auguste Rodin (France, 1840-1917), Käthe Kollwitz (Germany, 1867 -1945), Kotaro Takamura (Japan, 1883-1956) and Augusta Savage (United States, 1892-1962).
“There’s something wrong with her appearance, you can tell she wasn’t created by a human being”, says Julia Olderius, an innovation manager at the museum. The spectator can perceive the musculature inspired by Michelangelo, or the hand, which recalls those created by Takamura. To achieve this, Sandvik engineers fed these systems with abundant images of sculptures created by these artists.
Art or technical prowess?
The artificial intelligence then proposed several 2D images which, according to it, reflected the cachet of each of these sculptors. “These 2D images were integrated by our engineers into a 3D model and it was only from there that we focused on manufacturing”she continues.
But is it art, or rather a technical feat? “Yes, I think it’s art”, says Julia Olderius, who believes that this appreciation is up to the public. On the more general question of the eruption of artificial intelligence in this area, she displays the same optimism. “Don’t be afraid of what AI does with creativity, concept, art and design“, she judges. “I just think you have to adapt to a new future”where technology has a full place in creation and design.