Jennifer Pritchard in collaboration with Patrick Corrigan and DALL-E
PROJECT STATEMENT
An Ambiguous Place
Patrick and I placed An Ambiguous Place at the intersection of philosophy and metaphysics. Over a condensed timeframe, we set daily probing prompts for Dallé – anthropomorphized into a character in our story, exploring liminal topics in a collaboration of prompts and pictures, unearthing the In-between. At every juncture of this diaristic exploration, we were sliding between worlds -between human form and technology, pursuing individualized truths of our future selves and worlds in an innocent, unprejudiced childlike play state.
As Artists, we examined how it might further our understanding of the world and our influence within it by asking if AI is programmed by humans and modeled on the sum of human imagery, isn’t any work product a broader understanding of ourselves and a provocation for our shared future? At least in the onset, before the archives are populated with images not connected to reality or a narrative not based on human fact. There is legitimate concern and controversy over the acceleration of disinformation emerging from Artificial Intelligence and its capabilities. Perhaps, in the plethora of generated images, artistic endeavors can move beyond the photographic domain and explore other possibilities. AI can be the catalyst for new ways of seeing each other and the world.
We were encouraged by the knowledge that truth in photography has been debated since the 1800s, raising philosophical questions about the grammar of photography, memory, and reality. The presentation at Brand Library interprets a ‘singularity’ defined by Machine Learning expert Ray Kurzweil in 2005 – nearly twenty years ago – where humans and AI are merged to achieve one. Presented this way, the work evolves into something “other” – not human, not AI, altogether something else, a convergence of human and machine.
We have elected to hold the middle place, ambiguous by definition, parenthetically polarized by fear and the thrilling exploration of the unknown.
BIOGRAPHY
Aurora Wilder
Aurora: literary definition, the Dawn
Wilder: Archaic definition, perplexed or bewildered
Aurora Wilder is a collaboration founded in Southern California between Patrick Corrigan and Jennifer Pritchard, exploring the intersection of philosophy and metaphysics. Theirs is a keyhole through which they seek connection to complex themes of truth, reality, and existence using the photographic arts, digital media, sound, painting, and printmaking.
Corrigan’s work focuses on basic human communal needs such as belonging, connection, and purpose and how these needs manifest within individuals and the wider landscape of a divisive culture. His work has been exhibited in numerous group shows at the deYoung Museum, received honorable mentions at several CPA Members’ Juried Exhibitions, and is a 2023 Santa Fe Juried Invitation Attendee. His work is also held in numerous public and private collections.
Pritchard’s work probes explorations of life and loss, memory, and dreams across a diverse photographic and literary toolbox. She is a member of the national traveling show Memory is a Verb, Time and Transience, opening in 2023, was recognized in the top 200 of PhotoLucida’s Critical Mass in 2022, and honored in 2017 by the American Photographic Artists National Org as an emerging artist. Her work is an ongoing part of the collections at On Center Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
CONTACT
Photo by Melanie Chapman