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“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is exploding in the art world,” said local artist Howard Goldberg. “And it is
here to stay.”

Goldberg has 20 AI-generated pieces at a solo exhibit at Melt Gallery. Much of how AI works is misunderstood, he said.

“The computer isn’t doing the thinking,” he said. “The artist is still the creator. The computer is a tool like a set of brushes or paints.”

The exhibit, entitled “The Rocking Horse Winner,” portrays works generated from text descriptions of scenes from the artist and filmmaker’s memories of his childhood as a suburban cowboy.

“I think of these images as a mindscape, a place where meaning can be drawn from the shadow of memory,” said Mr. Goldberg. “At the age of five I spent a good deal of time on a plastic rocking horse.”

One of the pieces, “Home on the Range,” depicts an AI version of five-year-old Goldberg in front of a suburban house with a large flowerbed. “I chose a rendering of a mid-century modern house similar to
what I grew up in,” he said. “I used AI, Photoshop and photography to create the base image for the boy.” The flowerbed is filled with tulips – a flower Goldberg remembers being on the property of his childhood home. “It’s a combination of feeding scans of photos and typing text into the program,” he said.

The artist described actions, objects, photographic style, character position, mood, texture, facial expressions, camera position, atmosphere, lens focal length, aperture, graininess, colour palette and more to the computer. If the results didn’t come together, he worked on each element until it was right.

As his library grew from dozens to hundreds to thousands of images, Mr. Goldberg wondered if a memory world that had meaning to him might have meaning for others. He hopes the show might bring viewers closer to their own childhood memories.

In his work as a filmmaker over the last forty years, Mr. Goldberg has edited, written, or directed over thirty documentary feature films, and received numerous Gemini and Canadian Screen Awards. His documentary film, Being Dorothy, was nominated as Best Feature Documentary by the International Documentary Association and featured at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He moved to Prince Edward County seven years ago, and now focuses on photography.

On exhibition at the same time as Mr. Goldberg’s show is “Little Red,” by Melt artist/curator Susan Wallis and Leisa Rich. It takes the viewer through a beloved fairy tale important to both artists. Wallis sees the image of Little Red as “The reminder that when you live a full life, you’re certain to also encounter wolves (and challenges) as you go”.

Ms. Rich’s Little Red is a feminist take on a renowned classic. Her Little Red as “a reflection of strength, power and independence, unwilling to acquiesce for anyone, and when her back is to the wall, she is an avenger who will defend herself.”

“The Rocking Horse Winner” and “Little Red” are on a Melt Studio Gallery, Base31, Picton, from September 22 to October 22. Howard Goldberg will host an artist’s talk on AI on September 30 at 2 pm at the gallery. This event will be free and open to the public. Melt Studio Gallery is open to the public every Thursday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.