Werktank invites applications from artists and creatives who are interested in exploring the societal and aesthetically impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through visual media. Generative AI art has exploded onto the scene over the past few months through advanced online platforms like DALL-E2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which enable anyone with access to a smartphone or PC to create highly polished art by typing in simple text instructions. This raises the question of whether art created by artificial intelligence is "real art”. While AI-generated art can be visually stunning, one can argue that it threatens authorship and human creativity. The debate reminds us of the reaction of the artist Paul Delaroche, who exclaimed after seeing his first daguerrotype around 1840, “From today, painting is dead!”.

Werktank offers one visual artist the opportunity to experiment without limitation with the Midjourney-platform for 4 months. We are particularly interested in conceptually and aesthetically challenging propositions that explore critical and ethical perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and Art. The outcome of the visual research will be presented as a series of 4 GIFS in our newsletter, website and on our socials. Each published GIF wil be remunerated 250 euros.

We welcome applications from artists working in any visual art medium. Applicants are asked to submit a portfolio of their previous work and/or link to their website, along with a brief proposal outlining their approach to the call.

How to apply?

Please send your portfolio and proposal outline to info@werktank.org. Please don’t send image proposals. Applications will be judged primarily on conceptual strength.

Deadline for applications: 17th April 2023