Origins, 2023

Still renderings of Origins.

Origins is series of AI generated artworks by Travis LeRoy Southworth that bridge ancient human expressions and contemporary digital communication. Drawing inspiration from Argentina's Cueva de las Manos, where prehistoric handprints serve as age-old testaments of human existence, Southworth crafts a series of evolving animations that delve into the primal and symbolic nature of caves, mirroring our evolving journey into the digital realm.

Caves, often perceived as primordial shelters for early humans, represent a duality of safety and obscurity—a reflection of the contradictions inherent in our digital existence today. They stand as a major threshold, the original portals humanity has traversed as a group, a metaphor now reimagined through the screens that serve as gateways to our modern, digital world. Each work combines the elemental forms of caves with hints of cranial structures. The cave 'eyes' guide viewers between glimpses of the outside world and deeper tunnel networks, suggesting unique paths of exploration for each observer.

Southworth employs a combination of portraiture and color field images as the foundation of each work, feeding these into a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). From these ‘under-paintings’ the artist further employs an array of AI algorithms to shape each work. At first glimpse each cave appears still, but then slowly starts shift, seeming to breathe and have a life of its own.

Still rendings of installation where the public can experience Origins as life size video projections.

Work-in-progress animations

Origins will come to life as large-scale digital projections, further establishing a tangible connection between the location and the digital artwork. In a synthesis of the physical and digital realms, each artwork can only be minted as a non-fungible token (NFT) by individuals who engage with the installation in person. This mechanism not only fosters a sense of exclusivity but also affirms the intrinsic value of digital art, blurring the boundaries between physical and digital engagement.

In the same spirit that early humans used handprints in the Cueva de las Manos to contemplate their existence, Origins invites participants to reflect on their place in the ever-evolving digital age. It weaves a resonant dialogue that interlaces the ancient and the modern, the physical and the digital, the individual and the collective, echoing through the chambers of our collective consciousness. Origins prods its viewers, inquiring if they are ready to step through this newly revealed threshold. What lies beyond is uncertain—a mystery as profound and enigmatic as our first steps outside the cave.