Yueran Li (Dorly)

MECHANIC: THE DISAPPEARANCE OR NEWBORN? invites audiences to contemplate the boundaries, gaps, and connections between past, present, and emerging art forms. The project delves into the realm of digital photography and AI photography, exploring the dynamic interplay between human craftsmanship and computer algorithms. It also raises the crucial question: Does the value and meaning of an artwork reside in its conceptual essence or its physical and material properties?

One-third of the content in the project using a specific AI generator called Mid Journey. These AI- generated works exhibit similarities to my studio works due to the textual prompts I have provided to the software. The project also delves into the meaning of mechanical reproduction and its relationship with originality and addresses the emergence of AI photography within our technologically driven world, as Walter Benjamin (1969) eloquently noted, “during long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence”.

instagram: @withdorly