At 23-years-old, Ari Temkin is already building a name for himself as an artist. A recent graduate of Florida International University who became the analog photography lab manager at the same institution, he is building his creative portfolio this summer as he works on a new project in Israel.
Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art with a focus in photography, video installations and sculpture, Temkin began his art career as a cartoonist and “spent the majority of high school doodling on assignments instead of paying attention in class.” He utilizes his preferred artistic media to critique and observe the “absurdity of information and how it can be weaponized in either capitalist or communist societies” in addition to exploring the consequences of the real world with a grim sense of humor.
Over the course of a month, while he has been in Israel doing an internship through the Onward program with the Israel Museum, Temkin has been training an artificial intelligence model on the images of the Western Wall. His hope is to create a large-scale mobile recreation of the holy site to be viewed as a live video piece. While still in the early phases of the project, the intention is to generate a broad conversation about access to holy sites by Jews in the Diaspora and further explore the image making process used in AI.
An American citizen born to Jewish Uruguayan immigrant parents, his unique mixed cultural upbringing allows him to have an inside eye into the connection between international and national; a concept that helped inspire his idea for the mobilization of the Western Wall so those around the world can have access to it. In addition, his culturally diverse background is portrayed through his multi-faceted approach to artistic practice and medium.
His creative vision was further influenced by a project he did, led by the curator Lance Fung, in February 2021 that incorporated the use of AI and light work. The piece, titled “Illuminate Coral Gables – You are Here,” showcased an endangered species called Slash Pine in the Everglades. The AI data set used to portray it was projected on the outside wall of the Coral Gables Museum for four weeks.
Using a program called StyleGan2, Temkin trained a data set of images of the Western Wall that are all similar and with the computer program created images that are completely new.
“Essentially I bring my phone and take hundreds of images of the Wall, and I have a few of my female friends take pictures of the women’s side of the Wall so that I can get the entire perspective,” he said.
“This is the first time AI has been utilized to analyze divinity and in itself that is a very interesting conversation. Furthermore, my work will bring in the conversation of what the Diaspora means and what it means to have a holy site be made so accessible. Yes there is part of the conversation that the art will bring up, such as the fact that Jews have been in Jerusalem for thousands of years, always yearning for the Wall as Muslims have also yearned for their site on the Temple Mount.”
As Temkin puts it, the more questions his work brings up, the better.
He added that he was one of the first in his family to see the Western Wall and the emotional moment of walking up to it for the first time made a lasting impact on him.
“As Jews we always say, ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’ It would be so cool to mobilize this holy site and provide the experience to those people who don’t have the opportunity to ever get to Israel.”
HIS ARTWORK does not come without challenges, as AI is not a perfected technology. He often encounters image corruption due to saturation issues within the picture and says it’s funny to see a corrupt Western Wall when the AI messes up.
“The only real way to overcome these issues is to continue to add many pictures to the data set,” which is exactly what he plans to do for the rest of the summer until he leaves Israel.
When asked where he sees artificial intelligence and art intersecting in the future, he said, “I see the utilization of AI in the art world as a natural progression in the image-making process. We are far from the proverbial ‘Leica’ of creative AI and my intent with this new medium is to understand current limitations by expanding its artistic application.”
While a photograph can be a nice placeholder for a visual concept, it does not provide the living or active experience that Temkin believes is achievable through the process he incorporates into his art. The resulting work is constantly moving and breathing, “accepting the ephemeral similar to how we experience the motion of life. A Leica in photography is seen as essentially the highest standard in quality and utility, a technology that took a great amount of time to perfect, ultimately being recognized as perfect to suit that medium,” Temkin explained.
Artificial intelligence is already widely used for creatives in products such as Adobe Photoshop, 3D printing, and in art installations such as the Artechhouse, an immersive and innovative art exhibit located in multiple American cities.
Although AI has not fully taken over any artistic medium, it is a clear precursor of what is to come. Experimentation in deep fakes and similar technologies have already caused storms within the art world and Temkin thinks that “conversations as to the artist’s role in our computer-based collaborations will further add to the complexity of defining an artist in the age of information.” Society is not close to perfecting the systems and programs that AI is used with, and this can lead to complications in computing and sometimes disconnects between the work and the artist.
“The only way to reach this artistic ‘harmony’ is to continue exploring the medium and pushing the boundaries to create this Leica standard,” he posits.
As the end of the summer creeps closer, Temkin has big plans for his return to the United States while he continues to work on his art. He believes that the majority of the dataset is ready to run and just wants to focus on altering the size of the images for the large-level scale he hopes to create in his projection of the Kotel.
“I would also like to collaborate with galleries to house video installations. I would like to come back and add an AI audio component based on recordings of prayer at the Western Wall. Right now I’m essentially looking for a partner to house an exhibition.”
While it is still early in his artistic and professional career, it is clear Temkin is headed for big things and has an eye for creative projects that will generate conversation among viewers.
“I would be a fool to predict where the art world would be in terms of its adoption of AI, but I do know that if it is not outright rejected we are in for some very confusing times ahead of us, and I don’t want to be on the sidelines,” he concludes.