malware, a comet, 2023
video projection on a loop (1:42min), polished metal prie-dieu, red carpet.
L220 x W150 x H180 cm
as part of where does the sun go? group exhibition
at Vent Space, Tallinn (ES)
The installation presents images generated using a leaked, early text-to-image model, accessed briefly before it was restricted.
By pairing the images with their prompts, the work probes the hidden training data of the system and the violent textures that surface from it.
malware, a comet is an altar-like installation featuring a video projection of a set of images generated with a leaked, early, unreleased text-to-image model from an unnamed Chinese company, to which I gained access around 2018 through a contact who had hacked into thee company’s servers. I was able to use the model for a few days, after which my access got restricted. The images are accompanied with the prompts I used.
Through the prompts, I tried to uncover and understand the database the model had been trained on. I’ve quickly noticed that the results feature a lot of meaty and violent-looking textures.
