Painted Cities II-- 2022
“Painted Cities" explores the subconscious and imaginative tool of machine intelligence to create the memory and dream state of a city through the fusion of motion and ink. The digital paintings are created using multiple forms of AI, especially Neural Style Transfer, to fuse Mohler's videos with ink, texture, and photographs. Mohler takes photographs of streets around the city or finds images with abstract textures and processes them to create visceral and abstract architectural studies. Something short of machine assisted hallucinations. The series originated from the desire to immortalize memories, specifically of cities Mohler had visited “The locations in the series “Painted Cities” are all places I’ve spent time in. Views of each city often resurface in dreams and desires when trying to escape the mundane pattern of everyday life. The cities in my work are actual places, but also a figurative representation of them during something of a dream-like state, an imaginative moment. An Ode to the presence a city has on a person. A tribute to the architecture, the people, and the culture.” All are slow and highly detailed 4k films, intended for passive viewing and complementary of space rather than fast and attention grabbing. The pieces for this series cover painted memories of New York, Rome, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. Created specifically to experiment with gifting and selling video art intended to be displayed at large scale in the real world; Mohler hopes these pieces further the digital art movement and open the eyes of traditional collectors to digital mediums that are conceptual, thought provoking, and engaging even while living on a screen.
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"Skate Senses"
- 3840 x 2160 | 2m 45s.The Venice Skatepark fused with 4 photographs taken by Mohler from around Venice Beach. Part of the “Painted Cities” series which explores the subconscious and imagination of machine intelligence to create the memory and dream state of a city through the fusion of motion and ink.
The process consists of first going out and filming moments from around Venice beach, in this case specifically the famous Venice skate park. I look for moments with high levels of motion and architecture. I then go out and capture photographs from around Venice Beach with rich texture and color. I use neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photograph to the base texture of the input video, creating completely new imagery. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine.Sound by Luke Mombrea
"Dirty Griffith"
- 3840 x 2160 | 2m 45s.Video of the iconic Griffith Observatory fused with a photograph taken by Mohler of the bathroom walls inside the live music venue, 1720. Part of the “Painted Cities” series which explores the imaginative qualities of machine intelligence to create the memory and dream states of a city through the fusion of motion and ink. The digital paintings are created using multiple forms of Ai, especially Neural Style Transfer, to fuse videos with ink, texture, and photographs often from the surrounding area. “Painted Cities” explores how machine intelligence can be used as a tool to extend our imagination and when fused with human moments of familiarity can create visceral feelings of nostalgia. Part of the generative and Ai artmovement.
The process consists of first going out and filming moments from around Los Angeles, in this case specifically the famous Griffith Park. I look for moments with high levels of motion and architecture. I then go out and capture photographs from around the area with rich texture and color. I use neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photograph to the base texture of the input video, creating completely new imagery. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine.
Sound by Luke Mombrea
The process consists of first going out and filming moments from around Los Angeles, in this case specifically the famous Griffith Park. I look for moments with high levels of motion and architecture. I then go out and capture photographs from around the area with rich texture and color. I use neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photograph to the base texture of the input video, creating completely new imagery. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine.
Sound by Luke Mombrea
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"Echo the Colors"
- 3840 x 2160 | 2m 45s.Video of Echo Park Lake and echo park skate park fused with a photograph of colorful street Graffiti taken by Mohler in 2021. Part of the “Painted Cities” series which explores the imaginative qualities of machine intelligence to create the memory and dream states of a city through the fusion of motion and ink. The digital paintings are created using multiple forms of Ai, especially Neural Style Transfer, to fuse videos with ink, texture, and photographs often from the surrounding area. “Painted Cities” explores how machine intelligence can be used as a tool to extend our imagination and when fused with human moments of familiarity can create visceral feelings of nostalgia.
The process consists of first going out and filming moments from around Los Angeles, in this case specifically the famous Echo Park Lake and the hidden Skate Park. I look for moments with high levels of motion and architecture. I then go out and capture photographs from around the area with rich texture and color. I use neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photograph to the base texture of the input video, creating completely new imagery. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine. Sound by Luke Mombrea
The process consists of first going out and filming moments from around Los Angeles, in this case specifically the famous Echo Park Lake and the hidden Skate Park. I look for moments with high levels of motion and architecture. I then go out and capture photographs from around the area with rich texture and color. I use neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photograph to the base texture of the input video, creating completely new imagery. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine. Sound by Luke Mombrea
"Skate Creatures"
- 3840 x 2160 | 1m 45s.
Ai neural style transfer treatment of footage of the Venice Skate Park taken by Mohler in 2021. A continuation of the "Painted Cities" series which explores the subconscious of Ai and painted video. Part of the generative and Ai art movement. Full 1min 44sec video available for collectors upon request. The process consists of first going out and filming moments from around Venice beach, in this case specifically the famous Venice skate park. I look for moments with high levels of motion and architecture. I then go out and capture photographs from around Venice Beach with rich texture and color. I use neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photograph to the base texture of the input video, creating completely new imagery. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine.Sound by Luke Mombrea
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“V E N I C E”
— 4k (3840 x 2160) | 2m 15s.
Ai neural style transfer treatment of footage of 99 Winward taken by Mohler in 2022. Originally exhibited at "Vellum" in Los Angeles for “Elsewhere is a Negative Mirror” January 20th - February 13th, 2021. A continuation of the "Painted Cities - Los Angeles" series which explores the subconscious of a city through the lens of Ai and painted video. The process consists of first filming moments around Venice with high levels of motion and architecture. The ephemeral and grungy style of the video is derived from photographs taken by Mohler from around the neighborhood with rich texture and color. Each piece is processed with neural style transfer with a particular set of rules to apply the textures and color of the photographs from around the area to the base texture of the input video, fusing the city on the city. The streets on the streets. Harnessing the machine as a tool to imagine.Sound by Luke Mombrea.
“Venice Canals”
— 4k (3840 x 2160) | 3m.
Ai neural style transfer treatment of footage of of the Venice Canals by Mohler in 2022. Video of the Venice Canals in Los Angeles fused with a photograph of a "Rent a Surfboard" sign on the boardwalk taken by Mohler in 2021. Part of the “Painted Cities” series which explores the imaginative qualities of machine intelligence to create the memory and dream states of a city through the fusion of motion and ink. The digital paintings are created using multiple forms of Ai, especially Neural Style Transfer, to fuse videos with ink, texture, and photographs often from the surrounding area. “Painted Cities” explores how machine intelligence can be used as a tool to extend our imagination. Part of the generative and Ai art movement.Sounds by Luke Mombrea.
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"Skate Faces"
-- Mohler. Feb.5, 2021. Video 3 mins. 3840px w. 2160px h.
Ai neural style transfer treatment of footage of the Venice Skate Park taken by Mohler in 2020. Graffiti taken from the skatepark, fused with the skatepark. The city on the city. Another of the "Painted Cities" series which explores the subconscious of Ai and painted video.
