Bali Moon
December 2023 ––For Munky’s first Art Basel Miami experience, he participated in the Christie’s Next Wave: Miami Edit sale, which has featured the most decorated Digital Artists in the space for the past few years. For his submission, he returned to the ‘InfraMunk is Breathing’ series, continuing the immense research into an illuminating process called ‘Breathing’ that functions as a Digital Mitosis to landscape photographs, taking pixels, the fundamental building blocks of the image, and orchestrating their sublime transformation. Through a process of meticulous subdivision, pixels give birth to new pixels, mirroring the innate cellular division seen in the natural world.
The result, entitled ‘Bali Moon’ is a hypnotic fusion of the biological and the technological, where a jungle photographed in the full-spectrum of light seems to respond to the gentle, algorithmic cadence of a machine learning to invoke a dance of psychedelic botany.
The result, entitled ‘Bali Moon’ is a hypnotic fusion of the biological and the technological, where a jungle photographed in the full-spectrum of light seems to respond to the gentle, algorithmic cadence of a machine learning to invoke a dance of psychedelic botany.
Artist: GMUNK (b. 1975)
Title: Bali Moon
Type: born-digital, single-channel digital video
00:05:24:00 seconds (2560 x 3840 pixels)
Auctioneer: Christie’s
Curator: Lydia Chen
Collector: Allan Cassis
Price Realized: 14.23 ETH | $31,212.00
Minted November 26, 2023.
Executed in 2023. This work is unique and is accompanied by a non-fungible token.
Title: Bali Moon
Type: born-digital, single-channel digital video
00:05:24:00 seconds (2560 x 3840 pixels)
Auctioneer: Christie’s
Curator: Lydia Chen
Collector: Allan Cassis
Price Realized: 14.23 ETH | $31,212.00
Minted November 26, 2023.
Executed in 2023. This work is unique and is accompanied by a non-fungible token.
Lot Essay
–– 02At its core, ‘InfraMunk is Breathing – Bali Moon’ is a five-minute photographic time-lapse, capturing the enigmatic dance of Bali's vibrant flora over time, lit only by the mystical shine of the full moon. The use of full-spectrum photography, a staple in GMUNK’s decades long artistic exploration entitled ‘InfraMunk’, unveils a hidden spectrum of colors, rendering the scene in surreal, otherworldly hues that transcend the boundaries of our perceptual reality. As the jungle breathes and evolves, the viewer is transported into a dreamscape where the familiar becomes fantastical.
What sets this artwork apart is the collaboration between the artist, nature, and a sophisticated machine learning technique known as ‘Breathing.’ This approach introduces an artificial, yet harmonious, rhythm to the time-lapse, creating a symbiotic relationship between organic growth and machine-generated pulsations, infusing something as basic as the breath of life and triggering a cellular-level excavation through the lens of mutation.
The result is a hypnotic fusion of the biological and the technological, where the jungle seems to respond to the gentle, algorithmic cadence of the machine.
“ This is transfiguration on a digital microcellular plane, as well as a soulful one, a digital valve releasing a respiratory bloom and invoking a dance of psychedelic botany. ”
Much like the organic proliferation of cells in the creation of a living organism, the machine algorithm takes pixels, the fundamental building blocks of the image, and orchestrates their sublime transformation. Through a process of meticulous subdivision, pixels give birth to new pixels, mirroring the innate cellular division seen in the natural world. This digital mitosis, guided by the breathing technique, results in a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colors and forms that echo the organic vitality of a thriving ecosystem.
The rhythm and pace of Inframunk is Breathing replicates the gradual awakening of the eye and the neural pathways, imbuing the artwork with a sense of equilibrium and continuity.
“ The machine's rhythmic pulses mimic the eons-old patterns of nature, with intention to peel back layers of diffusion and blockages and invoke a guided meditation of sorts that is crafted through the intuitive, organic invocation of the living world. ”
This technological ballet is not merely an exploration of aesthetics but serves as a reflection on the ever-evolving dialogue between creator and creation. "Bali Moon" challenges our perceptions of what is possible in the realm of art, inviting contemplation on the delicate balance between the organic and the synthetic. As the jungle breathes and the machine learns to breathe with it, the viewer is transported into a journey of microcellular evolution and transcendence, a testament to the artist's obsession over both the analog and the digital fabric of creation.
What sets this artwork apart is the collaboration between the artist, nature, and a sophisticated machine learning technique known as ‘Breathing.’ This approach introduces an artificial, yet harmonious, rhythm to the time-lapse, creating a symbiotic relationship between organic growth and machine-generated pulsations, infusing something as basic as the breath of life and triggering a cellular-level excavation through the lens of mutation.
The result is a hypnotic fusion of the biological and the technological, where the jungle seems to respond to the gentle, algorithmic cadence of the machine.
“ This is transfiguration on a digital microcellular plane, as well as a soulful one, a digital valve releasing a respiratory bloom and invoking a dance of psychedelic botany. ”
Much like the organic proliferation of cells in the creation of a living organism, the machine algorithm takes pixels, the fundamental building blocks of the image, and orchestrates their sublime transformation. Through a process of meticulous subdivision, pixels give birth to new pixels, mirroring the innate cellular division seen in the natural world. This digital mitosis, guided by the breathing technique, results in a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colors and forms that echo the organic vitality of a thriving ecosystem.
The rhythm and pace of Inframunk is Breathing replicates the gradual awakening of the eye and the neural pathways, imbuing the artwork with a sense of equilibrium and continuity.
“ The machine's rhythmic pulses mimic the eons-old patterns of nature, with intention to peel back layers of diffusion and blockages and invoke a guided meditation of sorts that is crafted through the intuitive, organic invocation of the living world. ”
This technological ballet is not merely an exploration of aesthetics but serves as a reflection on the ever-evolving dialogue between creator and creation. "Bali Moon" challenges our perceptions of what is possible in the realm of art, inviting contemplation on the delicate balance between the organic and the synthetic. As the jungle breathes and the machine learns to breathe with it, the viewer is transported into a journey of microcellular evolution and transcendence, a testament to the artist's obsession over both the analog and the digital fabric of creation.
The Process
–– 03The process for ‘Bali Moon’ featured two different techniques explored previously in Munky’s work, essentially taking the time-lapse techniques from InfraMunk tempus and combining them with the ‘Breathing’ techniques that are continuously in development within a variety of Machine Learning applications.
On the photography side, the piece was captured as time-lapse during a Full Moon in Bali, candidly while on vacation with the wife in Ubud. The rapid moving clouds were affecting the Moonlight to create kinetic lighting conditions and had Munky running for his camera and filming into the early morning in complete darkness.
What was so challenging about the process was getting the breathing animation to be smooth enough where you couldn’t tell there was a metamorphosis at hand, and the goal was if you look away or soften your eyes and return to focus, the image was completely different.
To do this was difficult, where about 90% of the prompts created didn’t breathe smoothly, so it was a tedious process of trial and error to get it right. Unfortunately, countless mutations couldn’t be used because the breathing states weren’t smooth and there was a lot of heartbreak having to throw away so many amazing images. As we know, AI has its way, and to get it to fit into a specific taste, pacing and mood is definitely a challenge.
Munky is very inspired by the palettes of psychedelia, and there’s poetry in the process photographing a subject in an invisible light spectrum, unearthing a grouping of signature color states, and then unleashing a system of highly iterative cellular mutations through a meticulous subdivision. Pixels give birth to new pixels, mirroring the innate cellular division seen in the natural world. This digital mitosis, guided by the breathing technique, results in a kaleidoscope of forms that echo the organic vitality of a thriving ecosystem.
As the jungle breathes and the machine learns to breathe with it, the viewer is transported into a journey of microcellular evolution and transcendence.
On the photography side, the piece was captured as time-lapse during a Full Moon in Bali, candidly while on vacation with the wife in Ubud. The rapid moving clouds were affecting the Moonlight to create kinetic lighting conditions and had Munky running for his camera and filming into the early morning in complete darkness.
What was so challenging about the process was getting the breathing animation to be smooth enough where you couldn’t tell there was a metamorphosis at hand, and the goal was if you look away or soften your eyes and return to focus, the image was completely different.
To do this was difficult, where about 90% of the prompts created didn’t breathe smoothly, so it was a tedious process of trial and error to get it right. Unfortunately, countless mutations couldn’t be used because the breathing states weren’t smooth and there was a lot of heartbreak having to throw away so many amazing images. As we know, AI has its way, and to get it to fit into a specific taste, pacing and mood is definitely a challenge.
Munky is very inspired by the palettes of psychedelia, and there’s poetry in the process photographing a subject in an invisible light spectrum, unearthing a grouping of signature color states, and then unleashing a system of highly iterative cellular mutations through a meticulous subdivision. Pixels give birth to new pixels, mirroring the innate cellular division seen in the natural world. This digital mitosis, guided by the breathing technique, results in a kaleidoscope of forms that echo the organic vitality of a thriving ecosystem.
As the jungle breathes and the machine learns to breathe with it, the viewer is transported into a journey of microcellular evolution and transcendence.
–– 03
The Research
–– 04The ‘Breathing’ states were done in a couple flavors of Stable Diffusion and Runway, and the node-based reactions were built within the Comfy UI and then post-production in the usual suspects After Effects and Topaz Video AI. The pacing for the piece was key to elicit a meditative, psychedelic experience for the viewer, so an arduous process of stretching out the breathing states, cleaning up where there were ‘bubbles’ of motion and then retiming and compositing them back together to create a seamless flow from the photograph and motion.
The process of using Stable Diffusion to mutate a static photograph was rich with iteration and infinite potential. What was so illuminating in the process was watching the machine learn how to iterate and how varying the prompts, embeddings and samplers would change the trajectory of the transfigurations.
This is only the beginning of this workflow and feel incredibly inspired to continue to push this further. Machine Learning is a powerful tool that is just a tool. With a clear vision and intention it can be transformative, but it’s just a means to an end like most other tools in an artist’s repertoire.
Below is the most gnarly scroll of botanical mutation research ever, as Munky firmly believes that ‘Sharing is Caring’ so please do enjoy︎
The process of using Stable Diffusion to mutate a static photograph was rich with iteration and infinite potential. What was so illuminating in the process was watching the machine learn how to iterate and how varying the prompts, embeddings and samplers would change the trajectory of the transfigurations.
This is only the beginning of this workflow and feel incredibly inspired to continue to push this further. Machine Learning is a powerful tool that is just a tool. With a clear vision and intention it can be transformative, but it’s just a means to an end like most other tools in an artist’s repertoire.
Below is the most gnarly scroll of botanical mutation research ever, as Munky firmly believes that ‘Sharing is Caring’ so please do enjoy︎
–– 04
Bali Moon tempus
–– 05The full-spectrum time-lapse on its own, entitled ‘Bali Moon tempus’ is a meditative study of dynamic light and shadow, the clouds and moon in a competitive dance for control over nature’s nascent state. It seemed fitting to include just this time-lapse layer isolated from the Breathing techniques, with some interesting movements, colorways and pacing that don’t exist in the full Breathing piece. In addition, the score is much more ambient and bright, crafted by the always amazing and forever collaborator Sounds Red, and perhaps draws the viewer into a less cerebral and more meditative viewing experience.
–– 05
The Exhibition
–– 06The piece was exhibited at the Gateway Miami Exhibition at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach as a part of the Christie’s Next Wave: Miami Edit sale, showcasing a curated group of artists at the forefront of digital art today.
NFTnow, a pillar in the Digital Art space, produced the exhibition and created a very compelling, immersive experience that ultimately led to an arc of screens displaying all the works from the participating artists. It was a beautiful exhibition that had a unique flavor and a very interesting flow, and will surely become a benchmark for future exhibitions to come.
NFTnow, a pillar in the Digital Art space, produced the exhibition and created a very compelling, immersive experience that ultimately led to an arc of screens displaying all the works from the participating artists. It was a beautiful exhibition that had a unique flavor and a very interesting flow, and will surely become a benchmark for future exhibitions to come.
–– 06
Credit List
Digital Artist: GMUNK
Photographer: GMUNK
Stable Diffusion Artist: Ronny Khalil
Composer: Keith Ruggiero
Concept Writer: Jay Zaretsky
Compositor: Bradley G Munkowitz
Graphic Design: Michael Cina
Digital Artist: GMUNK
Photographer: GMUNK
Stable Diffusion Artist: Ronny Khalil
Composer: Keith Ruggiero
Concept Writer: Jay Zaretsky
Compositor: Bradley G Munkowitz
Graphic Design: Michael Cina