Words by
INK Focus - Cursed by Charlie Engman
In his latest series and book Cursed, Charlie Engman uses AI to reimagine the physical world in strange and unexpected ways, exploring the body’s absurdity, beauty, & sometimes grotesque allure.
The compelling collection of images highlights the peculiar dissonance often found in AI’s creations—where what we expect clashes with what actually emerges—inviting us to reconsider our assumptions about reality & our perception of it.
We asked Charlie a few questions about the project & his perspective on AI tools, which he has been known for exploring in recent years; constantly pushing the limits of traditional image-making.
When did you first start experimenting with AI & what was your initial reaction?
I first started playing with it in 2022 when it started to trend on social media. My initial reaction was shock and excitement—I had never experienced any image-making tool like that. It was both engaging and repellent at the same time, which is a very special mix.
What do you like the most about the medium?
There a two interrelated aspects that I particularly like. One is the lack of control the user has in determining the output—every input goes through the blackbox of the machine, and while you can learn to make educated guesses about the output, it is still always a surprise. The intention of the artist is still very important but is also humbled in an interesting way. The other thing I like is how these black-boxed outputs will often be “wrong” in interesting ways. There is often a very revealing mistranslation happening.
As an artist at the forefront of this evolving field, what do you envision as the future of AI in photography & visual arts?
My favourite thing is that it’s so new and developing so rapidly that the future is almost impossible to envision. My optimistic prediction is that it will free visual media from the tyranny of mastery and historicity, but I doubt it.
Working with AI often means relinquishing some degree of control. How much creative control do you retain when generating these images, & where do you allow AI to “take over” the process; what does your process look like?
Yes, like I was saying, there is a beautiful give and take of control in the process. My own process is quite varied, but generally I start with a hunch about a certain input, and based on the resulting output, I will elaborate or remix, often by feeding the outputs back in as inputs until I get something that resonates with me. My creative control is expressed most clearly in my ability to achieve and identify that resonance. In that sense, using AI isn’t so different from using photography or any other representational media—every medium has its own externalities and limitations to which an artist must concede.
Susan Sontag wrote “Although there is a sense in which the camera does indeed capture reality, not just interpret it, photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings & drawings are.” Can the same be said for image-making through AI? If so, has your interpretation of image-making changed since working with AI?
I think so! The AI images I make are interesting to me in large part because they represent, or “capture,” reality in familiar but thought-provoking ways, much like photography. I have always leaned into the constructed aspect of photography and image-making in general, so working with AI has been something of a vindication.
You made the book over the course of a year; with the rapid evolution of AI, what did the editing process look like for you considering the nature of your images must have varied in their technological capabilities?
Yes, this was a really interesting problem I had to solve! A lot of the earlier images had to get thrown out or re-made because they were too aesthetically different from some of the later work. Ultimately, I edited based on how well the form of the images communicated the mood I was after in this book. If the feeling was consistent throughout the edit, then the form and aesthetics could vary to a certain degree.
Does presenting AI imagery through a book make this type of image-making more accessible to a larger audience?
Photo books only really appeal to a niche group of people who are already more-or-less interested in images as art, so, no, I don’t think this will increase accessibility. The largest audience is on the internet, where AI images already happily circulate. One of the main motivations for making a book of this work was to slow down the digestion of AI imagery and offer a new way to approach it. There is so much talk about the technical and societal aspects of AI imagery but not very much about the content and meaning of the images themselves and I thought a book would be a good way to illustrate the expressive power that I find so compelling in AI images.
'It is not the algorithm that will replace you, it is your boss'
How does AI fit into the hierarchy of image-making?
I don’t believe in static hierarchy! All forms of image-making are the best form, depending on the context.
With much talk around AI potentially replacing creative jobs, are we all just one algorithm away from being replaced?
This is a sociopolitical question. It is not the algorithm that will replace you, it is your boss. This replacement anxiety offers a great opportunity to confront collectively the capitalist system that incentivizes bosses (capitalists) to pursue profit and productivity over the protection and equity of workers. AI can be used against us in the struggle against capitalism but it can also help us if we engage it rigorously and proactively.
INK would like to thank Charlie Engman for speaking to us about his new publication & for entrusting us with the post-production process for this project.