We live in a future-oriented time. Although we sometimes think that every moment is present, we cannot help but admire those who live the future differently than us. There is no escaping the future, whether we want to admit it or not. Everybody imagines a painter holding a brush and a potter holding clay. Imagine a completely clean environment, without clutter and ink, and an artist sitting behind a normal computer? Impossible, we’ll say. There is no art without oil tempera or watercolors.
However, can a computer algorithm replace brushes and paints? Esko Waldemar Trofast, an AI artist from Croatia, says he can.
„The reason I started doing AI art was that I wanted something pure. Classical painting was not possible because I did not have the space. This way, just an ordinary computer was enough for me to create something wonderful. People often compare AI art to riding an electric bike versus a classic ride. Yes, riding an electric bike is easier, but that doesn’t diminish our joy of riding a bike.“
Being a painter is hard. Painting requires years of mastery and a gift from God. AI art allows everyone to create a work of art. It seems a lot easier, you don’t need skill, just inspiration, and creativity. “With AI art, it’s wonderful to be able to create anywhere. On the beach, on the train, in the park, wherever the road takes me.” Esko draws inspiration from his own experiences and photographs. In his everyday life and in everything around him, he finds inspiration. He is inspired by everything, whether it is the peaceful blue ocean or a snowy mountain, a portrait of a random tourist expressing the emotion of the moment, or just a cloud in the sky.
Through the algorithm, he captures the moment in his works. Still, the question arises, can an algorithm produce a true work of art? If we look at art from an aesthetic point of view, then it can. If we look at art as a transmitter of messages, as an expression of emotion, sensibility, and anxiety, then human thought is still needed. “When I process a photo on an AI generator, it’s still something of mine. AI is just a technique I use, but real art comes from me, seeing a world as it is, beautiful and magical. ”
Despite the possibility of selling his art as NFT, he does not want to do so. He is only interested in printing on canvas. The art he creates becomes real and tangible as a result. For a long time now, spears have been broken over the copyright of AI art. In the USA and UK, the rights belong to the algorithm that made the artwork, but Esko assures us that things are not black and white. “If the artist is the one that creates the image, then that would be the machine. If the artist is the one that holds the vision and wants to share the message, then that would be me.”
After all, you can buy the copyright for each of your works. For now, it’s expensive, but that’s how you become the owner of your work and you can sell it for yourself. The blockchain lock code is your copyright. You can choose whether your image will be public or you will own the copyright to it. ” Esko received an invitation to participate in an exhibition in Bangladesh in 2023. It will be an opportunity to present his works on the art scene.
” AI art will soon become mainstream and accessible to everyone, not something out of the ordinary. There is no doubt that artificial intelligence cannot create a new Picasso or Matisse, but it can be used to create real art.
There will always be questions in the future, no matter what.
„There is a human in the loop, asking questions, and the machine is giving answers. That whole thing is the art, not just the picture that comes out at the end. You could say that at this point it is a collaboration between two artists – one human, one a machine. And that leads to thinking about the future in which AI will become a new medium for art.“
And Esko is one of the pioneers.
Written by Dubravka Lisak
