Curator Serena Tabacchi
Immaterika Gallery
AI Futuristic Narratives in Historical Artistry is a groundbreaking project by Florencia S.M. Brück that bridges the opulent tradition of Islamic Persian art with the visionary possibilities of Artificial Intelligence.
Premiered at Art Dubai 2024 with Immaterika Gallery, curated by Serena Tabacchi, this collection reimagines classical Persian aesthetics through AI-driven narratives, forging a dialogue between past and future.
Rooted in the complexities of contemporary conflicts, the project honors the enduring legacies of Persian poets, artists, and philosophers like Rumi and Hafez, emphasizing the importance of cultural preservation, respect, and open-mindedness in today’s globalized world. By leveraging AI, their wisdom is reinterpreted in a futuristic context, fostering an interplay between ancient knowledge and modern technology.
The collection features 30 AI-generated artworks, each paired with an original AI-assisted poem, printed on aluminum metal plates (29 x 50 cm)—a nod to traditional manuscript dimensions while symbolizing the fusion of organic Persian miniatures with the inorganic, machine-driven future.
Each artwork is also accompanied by a unique animated sequence, where flowers, trees, animals, and objects come to life. The animations can be viewed on OpenSea, with all pieces officially recorded on the blockchain, ensuring authenticity and digital permanence.
On the reverse side of each plate, Brück inscribes a reflective poem, inviting viewers into the deeper philosophical layers of the work. She further personalizes each piece by adding miniature decorative elements and her signature, reinforcing the connection between artist, history, and technology.
A particularly compelling aspect of Brück’s work is her decision to create 30 pieces, inspired by “The Conference of the Birds” by Farid ud-Din Attar—a seminal work of Persian literature that encapsulates a spiritual journey of enlightenment. Just as only thirty birds reach their final realization in Attar’s narrative, discovering the Simurgh within themselves, Brück’s collection mirrors this journey of discovery and introspection. “The realization that the divine resides within one’s soul, and that enlightenment is a collective yet deeply personal journey, is a theme I wished to encapsulate through my work,” explains Brück.
- Poem Creation: Initially, AI technology, guided by the artist, crafts poems drawing inspiration from the rich tradition of Persian Islamic poetry but with a futuristic technological settings, from the love between a human and a machine to a virtual poet exploring the metaverse. These poems set the narrative framework for the project
- Visual Representation: Subsequently, the AI is trained on a dataset of Islamic Persian miniature paintings to create visual representations of these narratives. This training enables the AI to adopt the intricate styles and thematic elements of the historical artworks
- Aluminium Metal Plate Prints: I selected aluminium metal to convey the concept of the machine, bridging the organic with the inorganic, and reflecting on our intertwined future with technology. On the reverse side of each plate, I’ve inscribed, using a Dremel tool, the corresponding poem, miniature decorative elements, and my signature. This act of personalization seeks to diminish the distance between the viewer and my artistic intentions, offering a tangible connection to the conceptual underpinnings of the work.
- Animations: Each artwork is also accompanied by a unique animated sequence, where flowers, trees, animals, and objects come to life. The animations can be viewed on OpenSea, with all pieces officially recorded on the blockchain, ensuring authenticity and digital permanence. See: https://opensea.io/collection/fsmb-futuristic-narratives-in-historical-artistry
The project is conceived with deep respect for Islamic aesthetics and cultural values, aiming to honor tradition while exploring technology through a poetic lens. While some compositions introduce robotic or hybrid elements, these are symbolic metaphors of inner transformation and not intended to depict or critique religious or social norms. For the Dubai and Riyadh exhibitions, the selected pieces have been carefully reviewed to ensure cultural sensitivity, with a focus on contemplative and poetic inspired imagery.