“Automation is my medium."
Art by automation
One question is at the heart of Dmitri Cherniak's practice – what are the possibilities of automated art? Using algorithms, he crafts intricate abstract artworks that vary in mood and design. He takes the technology of our age (which we associate with social media companies and targeted ads) and turns it into all kinds of beauty. The layered, hazy textures in Light Years are subtle and captivating, tender but firm. They emanate a deep existential feeling we don't expect to see from a computer. Ringers, one of Cherniak's most famous collections, is at the other end of the spectrum. Its crisp, g...
One question is at the heart of Dmitri Cherniak's practice – what are the possibilities of automated art? Using algorithms, he crafts intricate abstract artworks that vary in mood and design. He takes the technology of our age (which we associate with social media companies and targeted ads) and turns it into all kinds of beauty. The layered, hazy textures in Light Years are subtle and captivating, tender but firm. They emanate a deep existential feeling we don't expect to see from a computer. Ringers, one of Cherniak's most famous collections, is at the other end of the spectrum. Its crisp, graphic compositions were generated by a code inspired by The Graphic Design Manual, a 1960s book by Swiss designer Armin Hofmann.
Today, Cherniak is a leading figure in generative art and creative coding. But to get there, he had to face society's idea that technology isn't creative. Growing up, Cherniak excelled at STEM subjects and he also loved to draw. But school and society made it seem like you could only do one or the other – not both. Eventually, his academic talents led him to a decade-long career as an engineer. In these years, he developed and refined the coding skills and techniques he still uses in his art today. And the results speak for themselves. Moving, hypnotic, unusual. In everything Cherniak creates, he defies expectations of what an algorithm can do.
Bio
Dmitri Cherniak (he/him) was born 1988 in Canada and now lives and works in New York City.
Breaking records
On June 15 2023, Ringers #879 (nicknamed ‘the Goose’ because of its coincidental resemblance to the animal) sold for $6.2 million. Sotheby’s reported the sale as the “second most valuable work of generative art ever sold at auction.” In February 2023, Ringers #962 became one of the first pieces of art on the blockchain in the collection of LACMA, gifted by The Medici Collection.
Collaborations
gen2GAN was a collaboration that begin in 2020 with AI art innovator Helena Sarin years before generative AI hit the mainstream. During the pandemic, Cherniak’s software generated thousands of uncurated artworks which fed in an AI system finely tuned by Sarin. They released a limited edition book in 2023 and collectors queued around the block for the chance to get one.
