Step into a world where art meets artificial intelligence, and the boundaries of creation blur. Beeple's Diffuse Control is not just an exhibition; it's an invitation to co-create, a dance between human input and AI's imaginative power. This groundbreaking image-generating sculpture, unveiled in 2025, allows visitors to collaborate with an AI system, transforming images of public domain artworks from LACMA's collection. The resulting visuals are then displayed on 12 massive video screens, offering a real-time remix experience for the audience. Diffuse Control is on view until January 4, 2026. But how does it all work?
Jordan David, Cameron Schrier Foundation Fellow, Chinese and Korean Art, offers a glimpse into the Soft Jelly iteration. This specific selection of art pieces delves into the human and non-human body in motion. The core idea is to explore how the generative algorithm, combined with audience interaction, can alter a figure's direction, placement, and overall composition. The aim is to understand the evolving relationship between the body, the audience, and AI throughout the exhibition's duration.
Let's dive into some examples. Edvard Munch's Head to Head (1905), originally a woodcut, undergoes a dramatic transformation. Initially depicting two heads, the AI morphs it into a swirling vortex of shapes, lines, and colors, completely losing the original figural elements. On the other hand, Eadweard Muybridge's Animal Locomotion (1886, printed 1887) retains much of its equine form, giving the once-static animals a sense of movement.
And this is the part most people miss... Thomas Eakin's The Wrestlers (1899) takes a more monstrous turn. The entangled wrestlers are further distorted by the AI, merging with the background characters to form an expanding, digital blob of flesh. Limbs, hands, and heads are discernible, but their origins become obscure.
The very title, Soft Jelly, is inspired by the grotesque malleability of the figures within the generative AI system. It's a direct reference to the ending of Harlan Ellison's 1967 science fiction short story, “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” In the story, the last human on Earth, Ted, is transformed into a sentient, mute “soft jelly” creature by the evil supercomputer AM. This transformation is a punishment for the deaths of his other prisoners. The six artworks in this iteration similarly become a “soft slippery matter,” blending into each other, ready to be molded by the museum visitor.
But here's where it gets controversial... This raises a fascinating question: Does the AI truly 'create,' or does it simply remix? What are your thoughts? Share your opinions in the comments below!
