Hilde Mertens
Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy
from Chinese Brushstrokes to AI Art
exhibition and Art panel
Jebsen - The Belgian Days
November 2024
"wei" imitation, artificial, borrowed
Sending a letter home, reflections from years of living and working in Beijing. Sharing the stories that reveal moments when the familiar shifted, and all that I once knew or expected took on a different form. What appears may not be what you expect to find.
Writing from memory and playing with Chinese writing styles.
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AI orchids & ink
when centuries of Chinese calligraphy find a new form through gen-AI
“Ceci n’est pas une orchidée”
In my experience, the most exciting art or business projects are often those you unexpectedly stumble upon. Three weeks ago, I walked into an orchid project that does not need watering or any form of gardening.
No, my collaborator in this project is a computer. Or better, an artificial intelligence. And while I am not too sure about what is technically happening on the AI side, I find myself creating Chinese calligraphy with an orchid-generating genAI system.
The brains behind this project Dr. Michael Whittle and Atticus Sims are equally uncertain about the outcomes of our collaborative efforts. I secretly suspect that “not knowing” is precisely what excites them about this journey. They speak of “a lot of system noise, but not totally random”, “latent space” or “the space of all possible images”.
That comment hit a chord! When I first saw the genAI orchids, I was mesmerized. The beauty, detail, and colors, based on the genome data base of Kew Gardens, are magical. The thought of orchid species that could have existed, but never came to life sparked deeper philosophical questions. It touches upon the Buddhist concept of the possibility of all “the ten thousand things”, while everything is possible, not everything comes into existence.
We are now combining these AI generated orchids with my calligraphy work which is routed in 3000 years of Chinese calligraphy, to create new forms through AI.
During our last conversation, Michael’s remarked “it must feel strange, playing aesthetic tennis with an AI”. I am not yet sure how I feel about that! But we will keep you posted on our orchid collection very soon!