Cached Dreams
stream of prompts (2022)


Cached Dreams III, 0:40 min
AI generated video work, VQ GAN
Cached Dreams VI, 1:42 min
AI generated video work, VQ GAN
Cached Dreams IX, 2:01 min
AI generated video work, VQ GAN

Cached Dreams IX, still from the video is part of the Bundeskunstsammlung, the Federal Collection of Contemporary Art, Germany, purchased in 2023. 
It is the first AI artwork acquired for this outstanding collection amonst artsts like Isa Genzken, Johanna Diehl, Thomas Struth, Ólafur Elíasson, Markus Oehlen, Martin Kippenberger, Jonathan Monk und Barbara Heinisch, Georg Baselitz and Gerhard Richter.


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19–MAY–2023 - 16-JULY-2023
Art Encounters Biennial,
My Rhino Is Not a Myth, Timisoara, RU
Curated by Adrian Notz

with 
Nora Al-Badri, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Zheng BO, Floriama Cândea*, Anetta CROSSLUCID, Albrecht Dürer, Libby Heaney, Eugen Ionesco, Alicja Kwade, Kazimir Malevic, Tabita Rezaire, Pipilotti Rist amongst others 

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MAY-2023 
The Osaka Museum of Fine Arts, JP 
with Hyperfuturism, collectors night

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NOV-2022
Virtually Real, VAN HAM Auction House, Cologne, DE (2023)

with Banz & Bowinkel, CROSSLUCID, Damjanski, Gretta Louw, Jonas Lund, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Martina Menegon, Sabrina Ratté, Nicole Ruggiero and UBERMORGEN

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08–23-OCT-2022
The individual artworks of the triptych have been exhibited alongside the Czech female surrealist painter Toyen during Non Fungible Castle exhibition at The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague, CZ
curated by Jake Al-Haffar

with Connie Bakshi, CROSSLUCID. Harm van den Dorpel, Mieke Marple, Jonathan Monaghan, Matthew Stone and Zhang Huan amiongst others.







 
A tribute to female surrealists, Cached Dreams (2022) sets in motion delicate flows and wanderings through subconscious fluidities, summoning latent imaginaries and rich cosmologies.

Despite current AI models' explicit allusions to the Surrealist movement, the work and sensibility of its vast network of female practitioners remains gravely ignored. This blatant exclusion does not only reassert a traditionally male-dominated art historical canon, but fails to acknowledge its fundamentally political dimension.

Weaving upon the alchemical writings of Ithell Colquhoun, these AI generated video works unearth a lesser known language through semantic invocations of current text-to-image models and the fairly opaque datasets at the core of their celebrated magic. 

The work aims to make visible and engage with the legacy and tender visions of these outstanding artists, whose abundant worlds and thinking proves to be ever so relevant to the countless struggles of the present.



“Cached Dreams is a video triptych created with text-to-image models that delves into rarely explored realms of female surrealism, creating interwoven visual stories that reflect unique sensibilities of the artists and addresses their often overlooked online presence and precise artwork documentation.

While mainstream AI platforms and models still continue to perpetuate art historical canons with biases towards male-dominated narratives, Cached Dreams confronts this exclusion by performing an archaeological discourse by creating synthetic data and utilizing well crafted and complex poetic prompts directly referencing and thus amplifying female surrealists’ underrepresented oeuvres and sensibilities. 

Alchemical visions of Ithell Colquhoun, rich in symbolic and mystic imaginaries, challenges the conventional perceptions of reality. Her exclusion from British Surrealist movement by her male counterparts, underscores a broader narrative of resistance against traditional artistic and societal structures and invites a reconsideration of the boundaries between art, spirituality, and gender, suggesting that the integration of occult practices into art can serve as a powerful tool for transcending established norms and fostering a deeper, more inclusive exploration of human experience and creativity.  

The work, embracing the materiality and phenomenology discussed in Bachelard’s conception of “wakeful dreaming”, transcends simple Freudian daydream interpretations to construct a multilayered tapestry of latent realities and potentialities. It is a gesture that strives not only to visualize but also to actualize the underappreciated cosmologies of female surrealists, forwarding their relevance and voice.”


From Interview for Nero, Feb 2024
‘Hybridise or Dissapear’ 
by Simona Squadrito

Cached Dreams IX, video excerpt


Cached Dreams VI, video still, (2022)

        
Cached Dreams IX, video still, 40x71cm, Bundeskunstsammlung Germany


Cached Dreams III, video still, (2022)
Cached Dreams, Virtual Presentation (2022), Soundscape: Sayaka Botanic
Cached Dreams III/VI/IX, Art Encounters Biennale, Timosara

Art Encounters, My Rhino Is Not A Myth, Art Encounters, Exhibition Catalogue 2023 
Art Encounters, My Rhino Is Not A Myth, Art Encounters, Exhibition Catalogue 2023 
Cached Dreams III/VI/IX, Art Encounters Biennale, Timosara
Cached Dreams IX, Print, 40x71cm,
Cached Dreams IX,video work paired together with sketches of Toyen, Non Fungibe Castle, Lobkowicz Castle, Prague, 2022
Cached Dreams IX, Print, 40x71cm,
Cached Dreams IX,video work paired together with sketches of Toyen, Non Fungibe Castle, Lobkowicz Castle, Prague, 2022
Cached Dreams III, Video still VAN HAM, Virtually Real, 2023

An artist reference box, 1/1 containing publications, clippings,annotations compiled by the artists during the artwork’s creation. A gift to the collector to elucidate potent journeyings and explorations in the worlds behind the
artwork. Sold at VAN HAM auction, 2023
Cached Dreams, a selection of prompts (2022)