Bård Ionson

United States of America

Bård Ionson is an artist who exposes the distortions that exist between realities. By combining technique and forces of the world he captures the temporary spaces between the physical, electronic, digital and spiritual worlds. These strange visions come from an uncommon combination of tools and techniques such as artificial intelligence, GANs, VCRs, CRTs, oscilloscopes, lasers, scanners, photography, smart contracts, blockchains and sound. Ionson’s work is an uncommon collaboration between man and machine, with an output beyond the power of either alone. Here, the machine isn’t being used just as a tool for creation. Nor is it being used as a mere processing center for Ionson’s vision. Ionson, a pioneer of both crypto and generative art, uses his GAN-algorithms to help flesh out small universes across multiple mediums. The resulting multimedia experiments, spanning image and written word, are but a strange, ultra-expressive tango capitalizing on what AIs do best —generate— and what humans do: imagine.


Bård Ionson has participated in multiple shows and exhibitions internationally, including at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022, San Francisco, NFT Show Europe 2022, Next World Forum 2022, Riyadh, a projection onto a building façade in Brussels, and more. He is included in the book 'Crypto Art Begins', published by Rizzoli, and is in major digital art collections such as Museum of Crypto Art NY MOCA, Museum Of Crypto Art Paris MoCA, Museum Of Contemporary Digital Art MoCDA, and in a multitude of influential private collections.


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Faded Reality Flag

Faded_Reality_Flag_Bard_Ionson_AI.mp4

Part of the Vanishing Of The Genuine series. The distortion of existence between what was, what is real and what reality is to come Reality shifts into hyperreal simulations, challenging our perception by asking: "How do we live in a world where reality seems to be vanishing?”

The artist procured deer, beaver, pig, blesbok, horseshoe crab, starfish & springbok bones. And Jennifer, his wife and partner found a deer skull near their home in Virginia. These bones were hung in front of the sky and flags of the United States Bård and Jennifer Ionson photographed the bones on analog film (one step from real). The encoding of the photographic capture of 700 film exposures and 1,000 more digital images with simulated grain into a model is a step into the simulation. The images produced using GAN & Diffusion models create a latent space where reality vanishes. Photos and AI art is displayed in juxtaposition to each other. Additionally the actual bones photographed can be displayed as touchable sculptures next to the photos and AI images to further grasp the change from real, symbol to pure simulation.

Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's skeletal iconography in the sky and Jean Baudrillard's philosophy of simulation.

technique

ai

format

landscape

duration

01:15

year

2024

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More from Bård Ionson

More on digital art

Generative art
Generative art refers to a way of creating artworks using an autonomous system. In digital art, these are usually generated from code and algorithms created by the artist, often with certain predefined parameters or systems. Although these parameters guide the final outcome of the work, generative art is generally a surprising way to create artworks, as the results are often unexpected and the number of possible outcomes can be infinite.
AI
AI art is a branch of generative art that uses artificial intelligence. Unlike other generative artworks, AI artworks use specific complex algorithms and models derived from machine learning. The most common methods for creating AI art today are GANs (generative adversarial networks) or proprietary prompting platforms such as ChatGPT, Sora, Midjourney, or Dall-e.
3D
3D art uses 3D software such as Blender, Cinema4D, Houdini, or video game software such as Unity to create works of art. In 3D works, artists can either arrange assets (the 'objects' in a 3D artwork or world) that they have created themselves or purchased from other creators to create elaborate environments and scenes (an approach to 3D art called 'set dressing'), or specialize in sculpting, which involves creating their own objects and assets.
Photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is a specialized 3D technique that allows 3D objects to be created from numerous photographs taken of an object or scene from multiple angles. These photos are then compiled to determine the specific positioning, shape, and dimensions of the object in space, and then converted into a 3D model. Initially developed for engineering and urban planning, photogrammetry has become a way for artists to produce extremely accurate 3D models from real-life images.
Collage
An extension of the traditional, plastic approach to collage, digital collage involves searching for and cutting out multiple images, extracting them from their original context, and recomposing them in a new arrangement to create a work of art. Artists can use their own photographs or find images on the internet.
Illustration
Digital illustrations are created using software such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or Procreate. As with drawing on paper, the artist uses a stylus to sketch a figure or object, usually on a tablet, to construct a scene or artistic universe. Unlike traditional drawing methods, digital illustration is much more forgiving, as mistakes can be easily corrected and drawn elements and objects can be easily moved around within a scene.
Video
Video artworks primarily use a recording camera, but may sometimes include additional post-processing or editing to distort, modify or add additional elements to the image. Some artists use state-of-the-art recording equipment to create macro zoom-ins or time lapses, privileging fidelity to the subject matter. Others use additional softwares to significantly modify or warp the video, creating an alternative perspective on the world that surrounds us.

Collections with the artist

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