TABOO - TRANSGRESSION - TRANSCENDENCE

For the proposed artist’s talk, Beverley Hood will delve into the creation of her experimental photofilm, MOTHER, which showcases a novel approach to digital storytelling around the subject of motherhood. This work utilises Adobe Firefly AI to rethink and challenge conventional portrayals of motherhood within AI platforms.

The artist talk will illuminate how personal prose crafted from Hood’s own experiences as a mother and carer was transformed into complex AI-generated imagery, pushing beyond the typical sanitized visuals associated with motherhood in digital platforms.

Hood’s process involves intricately designed text prompts that navigate and exploit the linguistic limitations of modesty and conventional categorization in AI systems. This strategic manipulation steers the AI to produce imagery that creates a rich and evocative poetic visual narrative of experience, expressing personal challenges and visceral realities of motherhood. The talk will explore the technical nuances and creative challenges faced in nudging AI from its conventional, generic aesthetics, into richer, more evocative and visceral image-making.

The work brings insight into the intersection of advanced technology and personal narrative, examining how generative AI can be directed to express deeper, more nuanced social themes. MOTHER attempts to prompt a broader contemplation on the ethics of AI in art, particularly in how technology impacts representation and identity within digital media.