The phrase, “i can’t believe how beautiful this is,” refers to the core practice of “prompting”—the text commands used to guide AI-generated images. This popular prompt is used to create a specific aesthetic, which is based on the mathematical probabilities and metadata processed by the AI. The artists critically explore the issues surrounding this rigid definition of beauty, linking it to another limitation of AI: its inability to depict script as a functional medium of language
The AI-generated script appears readable but lacks meaning, as letters within individual words are rearranged or repeated. Based on an AI-generated image depicting an inscription carved in marble, the relief was enhanced with a third dimension using 3D software and subsequently milled into a physical object. This object was then molded and cast in plaster. The resulting plaster cast engages with historical art forms and explores the cultural significance of material and inscription. The works reveal an algorithmic approximation of art-historical templates, exposing both the aesthetic and technical limitations of artificial intelligence.
By intertwining historical references, AI aesthetics, and physical materiality, Lenz and Klug challenge not only the concept of beauty but also the symbolic power of script and image in an increasingly digital world.
