S+T+ARTS in the City | Artists-in-Residence
David Claerbout | The Wood Carver and The Forest

+ About The Wood Carver and The Forest

During a residency at Gluon, David Claerbout engaged with experts from the worlds of AI and neuroscience to understand the impact of generative AI on his artistic practice. During his residency, he explored the relationship between AI and how our brain works.

Central to Claerbout’s two new films (in progress), “The Wood Carver and The Forest” and “The Forest and The Wood”, is the question: ‘Does AI only embody the left brain with its language skills, without intuition or sensory experience? Or can AI also reach further and really create something new?’.

In The Wood Carver and The Forest, filmed material is ‘coloured in’ using AI and CGI (computer generated imagery). Here, the artist uses AI as a consultant on mood creation. For The Forest and The Wood, Claerbout starts from AI-inspired set proposals, landscapes inspired by 500 years of landscape painting.

His conclusions are diverse: although a somewhat blind adviser, AI quickly understands what the artist is looking for. At the same time, the AI-generated images are full of errors that you have to correct as a cinematographer. David Claerbout presented his findings in the AI, Humanity & The Arts symposium organised by GLUON on 19 November 2024 in Brussels. The final film will premiere in 2026 at Kasteel Van Gaasbeek in Belgium.

“David Claerbout’s proposal builds upon the latest developments in AI: the large models that suddenly catapulted the strength of AI to an unexpected level, both in working with language, images and sounds. For us, the strength of this proposal lies in the process, the journey, that the artist wants to embark on, from language prompts to images and the failures or weirdness that he seems to expect along the way.” — Hans Bart Van Impe, Proximus Art Collection

The application for the “Reclaiming Our Agency” call, in collaboration with Proximus ADA, seamlessly builds upon David’s enduring exploration of trust systems. Approximately a decade ago, he embarked on a study that culminated in the term “Dark Optics.” This conceptual framework delves into our trust relationship with images, shedding light on the potential crises stemming from a confidence breakdown. The erosion of our confidence in photographic images, and its far-reaching implications for perception, cognition, as well as the consequential political, social, and even mental challenges, has emerged as a central theme in both his reflections and artistic pursuits. Examples of this thematic exploration can be found in works such as “The Close” and “Aircraft (F.A.L.).”

+ Artist

+ Credits

Artist: Studio David Claerbout
Scientific collaborators: Beatrice De Gelder and Kasper Jordaens
Commissioned by GLUON within the framework of S+T+ARTS In the City with the support of Innoviris, National Lottery, Proximus and the Brussels-Capital Region.
A special thanks to our Local Expert Group: Hans-Bart Van Impe (Proximus Art Collection), Arjon Dunnewind (Impakt), Kasper Jordaens (LUCA School of Arts), Annelore Brantegem and Stefaan Sonck Thiebaut (Innoviris).

This project has been developed in the context of the S+T+ARTS in the City project. S+T+ARTS in the City has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No. LC-01984766.

S+T+ARTS in the City is funded by the European Union under grant agreement LC-01984766 under the STARTS – Science, Technology and Arts initiative of DG CNECT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DG CNECT. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.