Anonymous AI-Collaborative artist CLAIRE SILVER will have two works represented in Christie’s and Gucci’s Future Frequencies: Explorations in Generative Art and Fashion collection, open for bidding July 18 – 25, 2023. Featured in the auction are “style moderne”—an homage to the Art Deco movement—and “Shinjitai”—a collaborative piece with Tokyo-based multidisciplinary artist Emi Kusano.
In each of her works, Silver creatively explores intersectional aspects of fashion, art, and technology. Interplay between autonomous systems, AI, and fashion represents a fusion of disparate ecosystems – overlaying fashion, an industry concerned with garment design and production, onto the worlds of generative art and artificial intelligence, which employ algorithms, modeling, and data to simulate human-like intelligence and artistic output. It’s an invitation to avant-garde thinking, with the motivation to propel radical new ideas and concepts around fashion’s supporting technologies towards future realities.
Claire Silver remarks, “I’m very proud to present two works: ‘Shinjitai,’ created in collaboration with Emi Kusano for Gucci, and ‘style moderne,’ a solo piece for Christie’s. ‘Shinjitai,’ which translates to “new character forms,” is wearable art that uses AI to merge the storied aesthetic of Gucci with the spirit of Harajuku fashion. Inspired by Art Deco, ‘style moderne’ uses machines to create an intimate digital home for its collector. Combining AI, 3D, film, and advanced mathematical functions with antique paintings and tapestries from China, Japan, and Eastern and Western Europe, both works are intended to celebrate the era of AI: the sophistication of experience, the innocent joy of the new, the depth of cultural heritage, and the light of the future. In the spirit of our digital + physical world, both works include physical components for their collectors–from rolls of fabric to hologram displays.”
The auction—which also showcases Emily Xie, William Mapan, Zach Lieberman, Botto, Helena Sarin, DRAUP, among others–takes places on Christie’s 3.0, a fully on-chain auction platform launched by Christie’s in 2022, and the works will also be highlighted on Gucci Art Space, Gucci’s online gallery space spotlighting and empowering artists by providing them with the freedom and latitude to harness uncharted, innovative concepts and expressions at the intersection of fashion and art, to disrupt and redefine existing norms.
This auction and exhibition is showcased alongside Christie’s seventh Art + Tech Summit happening July 19 & 20 in New York City and the works will be on display at Christie’s at 20 Rockefeller Center July 14-23.
About the pieces
Claire Silver x Emi Kusano, “Shinjitai”
AI, 3D, Film
Christie’s 3.0 Claire Silver x Emi Kusano Shinjitai
Made using a mix of AI and public domain materials, ‘style modern” reflects on the spirit of the Art Deco movement and its parallels to our age. In Art Deco, all is made beautiful, no matter how humble. Utility and aesthetic are combined, equally important, with the goal of creating a sense of luxury and awe in those who view it. The focus, therefore, is using the industrial and practical to create a divine and intimate experience for human benefit. AI is, at its best, a natural succession of this philosophy. Public domain assets are human creativity set free, and in the spirit of our creative lineage, Claire included them in this piece. Human and machine, the past, present, and future work in harmony to create form and function. AI was used to texture the 3D scene from pieces of AI-Collaborative art. The art combines advanced mathematical functions with ancient paintings from China, Japan, and Eastern and Western Europe, and the 3D textures were combined with tapestries from cultures across centuries. The film was originally public domain, reiterated several times with AI and finished with work done digitally (by hand). In the spirit of abundance, this piece has two additional components:
1) A code entitling the collector to claim the 3D scene and associated files, so they may utilize the space digitally/in metaverse (this claim will take place in March 2024).
2) A physical hologram depicting the centerpiece of the work, the blooming flower. This hologram may be displayed physically however the collector sees fit.
About Claire Silver
Claire Silver is an anonymous AI-Collaborative artist whose work explores themes of innocence, trauma, the hero’s journey, and how our view of them will change in an increasingly transhumanist future. Her art can be found in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has been sold at Sotheby’s London and has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and festivals all over the world. Featured in the New York Times, WIRED, Fortune, NPR, and countless podcasts, Claire takes every opportunity to explore her unending fascination with AI, fight for visibility for this budding art movement, and wonder at the magnitude of this moment in history. She often feels like a caveman painting fire. Claire is also co-founder of Accelerate Art, a charitable 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to uplifting emerging artists in Web3 space. Through community building, educational programs, grants, and exhibits around the world, A2 enables emerging artists to overcome some of the many challenges they face by expanding access to opportunities, navigating the complexities of new technologies and amplifying underrepresented voices. More information about A2 can be found at www.accelerateart.org. Claire is vocal in her belief that with the rise of AI, for the first time, the barrier of skill is swept away. In this evolving era, taste is the new skill.
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About Emi Kusano
Emi Kusano is a Tokyo-based multidisciplinary artist who explores retro-futurism, accelerationism, and nostalgia for Japanese youth culture and anime. Her current career began as a street photographer in Harajuku, Tokyo, and has expanded to encompass everything from installations to music. Currently, Emi is pioneering in the field of post-photography, an art form that blends reality and fiction, combining old and new media to create a new visual language beyond the traditional boundaries of photography. Her groundbreaking work was selected as the first AI cover for WWD Japan and she continues to shape the future as a member of the Japanese Government’s Cultural Council. In addition, the anime project “Shinsei Galverse”, which she co-founded, has achieved record-breaking success and is further accelerating anime creation within the community using AI.
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About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s also achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019). Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.
Following the groundbreaking 2021 sale of the first digital art NFT ever offered by a global auction house (Beeple’s Everydays), Christie’s recently launched the first fully on-chain auction platform dedicated to exceptional NFT art. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including the use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability by reducing our carbon emissions by 50% and pledging to be net zero by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change.
Browse, bid, discover, and join us for the best of art and luxury at: www.christies.com or by downloading Christie’s apps.
* Please note when quoting estimates above that other fees will apply in addition to the hammer price – see Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of the sale catalogue.
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium.
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About Gucci
Founded in Florence, Italy, in 1921, Gucci is one of the world’s leading luxury brands. Following the House’s centenary, Gucci forges ahead continuing to redefine luxury while celebrating creativity, Italian craftsmanship, and innovation. Gucci is part of the global luxury group Kering, which manages renowned Houses in fashion, leather goods, jewelry, and eyewear. Discover more about Gucci at www.gucci.com.
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