(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

The paper explores the outcome(s) of including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in the Fine Art printmaking process. It discusses this though an auto-ethnographic practice-based method. The artist-printmaker-researcher’s body of prints and research is documented in order to present GANs as an artistic tool within the working process of printmaking. The research is focused primarily on the generative and explorative phases of the printmaking processes. GANs are artificially intelligent computer models trained to mimic the abstract properties of given images through an intentional process of feeding the GANs selected images. The paper provides a basic understanding of GANs and GANism. GANism is art made using the medium of GANs. In order to further understand the application of GANs within art-making, works by contemporary GANism artists are discussed. The work of Mario Klingemann (b.1970), Jake Elwes (b.1993) the French collective, Obvious, Tom White (b.unknown) and Anna Ridler (b.1985) are to be included. Incorporating GANs in to the Fine Art printmaking process falls within the conceptual definition of hybrid printmaking. Their influence on the creative experience which drives the printmaking process remains largely unexplored, up until now. This paper aims to contributes towards existing hybrid printmaking and GANism scholarship by presenting an application of GANs as a digital and conceptual artistic tool within printmaking. As a minor concern the role of printmaking in Western and South African contemporary art is discussed to inform the context of this body of printmaking practice. This will include grappling with the contested nature of printmaking and its delimited definitions such as ‘non-art’. A comparison between the printmaking process and the GANs process is also presented, showcasing a coincidental similitude between the previously unrelated processes.