EB: How did the idea for "Hugs & Kisses" first come to you? Was there a specific image or concept that sparked its creation?

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It started when the mutants in my generated pictures and films started kissing for some reason. My instructions for the software are always as vague and confusing as possible so it wasn't really intentional (the first steps in my work often aren't). I found the scenes genuinely touching which is confusing given the artificial and mutated nature of the protagonists and the medium. So I started to investigate deeper...I want the objects or creatures to be as abstract as possible while still evoking human emotions.

 

EB: You’re known for overloading AI with surreal and poetic prompts. What interests you in seeing these systems react to confusion, contradiction, or absurdity?

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I want to see the system react at all (instead of just carrying out orders). When you feed it with a very streamlined and exact line of text the outcome is kind of predictable and I'm not interested in that. I want to see the system find ways around the absurdity of my texts, to fail, to be what humans would call creative. It's a game.

 

EB: “Hugs & Kisses” features hallucinatory and grotesque imagery that seems to resist traditional interpretation. Do you see narrative as necessary at all in your work?

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Traditional narrative doesn't interest me so much at the moment. Artificial Intelligence opens new gateways. That said, I think the music does create a certain narrative frame for the visuals. But generally I prefer a kind of dream logic in films.

 

EB: How do you perceive the relationship between AI and surrealism? Do you think AI is capable of producing “authentic” surrealist cinema?

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I wonder what "authentic" surrealist cinema would be? It seems to be a contradiction. For most people the surrealist and uncanny part of AI will only be a temporary thing - software is getting more perfect, more streamlined and the accidental surrealism is slowly fading away.  I see a lot of people trying to produce "authentic" cinema with AI now and I find this idea a bit pointless. I wouldn't want the AI to replace acting and screenwriting and the sort of social collaboration that filmmaking can be - we should try to invent a new language.

 

EB: Your work has been described as turning AI on its head. Would you say you’re challenging the very notion of “intelligence” in artificial intelligence?

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You're not wrong but it seems many people have a strange idea about what human intelligence is. Many people are criticizing AI as only doing pattern recognition but that's not too far from what we as humans do. It's still unpredictable to a certain extent how AI really works which makes it exciting and dangerous at the same time. But yes, it's always about searching for the error in the system.

 

EB: There is a strong element of bodily distortion and transformation in "Hugs & Kisses", such as human snails, men without genitals, mushrooms with human skin. What draws you to these hybrid or chimeric figures?

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On the one hand mutation is simply something the software is very capable of and often accidentally does. The missing genitals are, in some ways, a defeat as the software, or rather - the corporations behind the software are censoring so many ideas but it's a counterattack as well as (with some additional manipulation) it creates these beautiful and weird multisexual beings that are slipping through the censors. And the way I use the snail and mushroom mutations (sometimes) is a sexual allusion as well. For example the mushrooms in my artworks often have the skin of a penis and there can be sexual organs hidden in the strangest corners.....

 

EB: You seem to create spaces where internal logic collapses or becomes circular. Is this a deliberate refusal of structure or a new kind of structure?

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This is probably related to my musical works which are often loop-based with small variations and sudden collapses and odd transitions. It's not really a refusal but using the software in ways that reflect its own weird nature or internal logic. It's a feedback loop. In every medium there are constraints and quirks and you have to embrace them.

 

EB:  The idea of repetition and futility, with characters performing pointless and Sisyphean tasks, feels central to your films. Would you say your work expresses existential frustration or something else?

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Quite the opposite, I'm trying to emphasize the artificiality of the characters. I'm not so interested in imitating natural movement or traditional storytelling so I always embrace anti-natural activities and movements. I think the protagonists and their actions should reflect the medium to some extent.

 

EB: How does your background in sound and music, especially Black To Comm, influence your filmmaking? Do you begin with sound or image?

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I used to start working with sound, then adding visuals but the process is changing. Nowadays everything happens simultaneously. Rhythm (or flow) is important in the way I cut my films even though most of my music avoids traditional rhythms. Looping is important as well. And in my music I work with sampling a lot which has some kinship with the way AI works - transferring the past into the future. Making music is often akin to solving a complicated riddle especially in abstract composition and AI can be helpful there (in a similar way that chance can be helpful).

 

EB: Your films seem to echo the influence of Angela Carter, JG Ballard, German folklore, and actionist performance. How do these inspirations shape your creative process, and are there others you would name as equally formative?

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I was born in the Black Forest so that's where my interest in fairytales and folklore might stem from - the mythical forest, living mushrooms, weird talking animals..... Angela Carter had a huge interest in German fairytales as well. I think her novel The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman has some interesting ideas that could be adapted to some of AI's internal logic - the manipulation of time and space, the distortion of reality, the desire machines..... I'm interested in actionist and performance art but obviously I have to acknowledge that an AI film is the total opposite - it's a replica of the external presentation of performance - something very inauthentic or even anti-authentic - which has always fascinated me though and is a big part of my musical approach as well - I always tried to negate the idea of authenticity in my music or art.

 

EB: Having won the MuVi Award at Oberhausen, have your creative intentions shifted in any way? Do festivals influence the work you want to make?

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Before showing films at film festivals I was mainly showing them on computer screens; YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Now I often show them in cinemas on the big screens and it obviously makes a difference, not only in size. Also, internet platforms are censoring a lot of content so I can't show most of my videos there. Still, showing films online is important as the audience at film festivals is limited and I want as many people as possible to have access to the films but corporations do their best to "streamline" any content.

 

EB: Can you imagine a future where AI is no longer just a tool, but a true co-author or performer in your films? Or is that already happening?

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It is happening. I'm always trying to trigger the AI to come up with things I wouldn't have thought of. AI often misses the human filter which can create weird correlations and then I expand on these, feed them back, expand again, etc.