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When #RogerBallen opens a photography centre, he does it with a bang.
I’m #curating the inaugural show: PSYCHOPOMP! AI Images as an Expression of the Unconscious Mind.
Why AI in a #photographymuseum?
AI appears as photography’s unsettling double, its strongest rival, inviting us to define photography more sharply by contrast. By confronting what photography is not, we see more clearly what it is: a medium rooted in physical reality, tangible objects, and the manipulation of light.
As curator, I selected AI-generated works that share @rogerballen 's #psychological intensity but differ in process. Photography engages directly with real spaces, bodies, and materials; #promptography operates entirely in the virtual. This eliminates the physical relationship between artist and subject, shifting image-making into an internal, imagined space. Where most photographers are present in the world, the AI artist works within a blackbox of algorithmic possibility.
In mythology, a psychopomp (from the Greek psychopompós, “guide of souls”) escorts the dead to the afterlife. For psychologist #CGJung, the psychopomp mediates between unconscious and conscious realms. Here, AI functions in this role. The artists use AI as a tool of “active imagination”, a Jungian technique for exploring hidden or suppressed aspects of the psyche. They reject AI’s glossy surfaces, instead producing imagery that is #uncanny, absurd, or unsettling. These works invite you, the viewer, to reflect, self-confront, and consider integrating what has been denied or unacknowledged.
👉 Public Opening Wednesday, 03 September 2025
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Images by
Arminda da Silva (South Africa)
@__Infrarouge (France)
@alsoguppyme_ (Singapore)
@boriseldagsen (Germany)
@crudguts (Brazil)
@ian_haig2.0
Roeland Heijne aka monstr within (Netherlands)
Placenta Shake (Croatia)
@rashedhaq (Bangladesh / USa)
@snadwich_yes (Italy)
Rosemberg aka the forbidden toys (Spain)
Videos by
Augustin Rebetez (Switzerland)
@BengtTibert (Poland)
@estherhunziker (Switzerland)
@mind_wank (USA)
@Synthetic_Pink (Belgium)
@tangledNnumbers (Australia)
Them Realms (Sweden)
@vince_fraser (UK)
Happy and grateful to collaborate with these artists. Together we explore AI as a tool for inner worlds - while reminding ourselves that photography’s unique power remains its authenticity.
Boris Eldagsen
#aiimages #aiimage
#synthography #joburg
#johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa 🇿🇦 English
