Wade Marynowsky: Superb Lyrebird Sequences, 2023.

Artist(s):

• Wade Marynowsky

Title:

Superb Lyrebird Sequences, 2023.

Exhibition:

• SIGGRAPH Asia 2023: Art Gallery: In Unruly Times

Creation Year:

2023

Category:

• Animation and Video
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artist Statement:

In Unruly Times, like many of us, I have experienced two significant stand-out events, the devastating bushfires of 2019- 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, my focus has been on reconnecting with the natural world by closely observing local Superb Lyrebirds, documenting their unique behaviours, vocalizations, and dance.
As the field of deep fake algorithms continues to evolve, their ability to convincingly simulate the visual appearance and acoustic characteristics of real individuals becomes increasingly advanced. Interestingly, the Australian Lyrebird has been a master of mimicry since ancient times, mimicking birds within its environment and more recently, chainsaws and cameras. Inspired by this natural and artificial phenomenon of mimicry, this project explores the intricate dynamics of representation, perception, and deception.
The first sequence documents the Lyrebird’s mimicry in real-time, disrupting the interplay between real, reversed, and negative time to distort traditional conventions of cinematic time. In the second sequence slowly animated hybrid creatures, are morphed together. Created using genetic algorithms trained on millions of images, new images were created by cross-breeding multiple image genes. These morphing entities exist in a synthesised latent space, created by the artist, the community, and algorithms, challenging notions of abstraction, representation, and authorship. Thirdly, a text-to-image-generated image of a person converses using the lyrical language of the Lyrebird. This convergence hints at a future where interconnectedness between humanity, technology, and nature becomes further intertwined.
By blurring the boundaries between these seemingly separate domains, I invite viewers to contemplate the interplay between the enigmatic aspects of nature, our conceptual understanding of representation and perception, the potential dangers of hyper-realistic fakes, and the potential futures of virtual characters embodied with animal behaviours.