Generative AI images are the new Dada and Surrealism

A mirror reflecting collective chaos back at us

Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 1931

Anyone who went to art school can tell you Dada and Surrealism was a response to the chaos and tragedy inflicted upon humanity during the First World War. Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray conveyed that the world was nonsense, humanity is irrational and disoriented, and art should reflect this.

While there was a semblance of reality in the work, Dada and Surrealism subverts what we see in the world, leaving us teetering on the edge of truth and falsehood.

Marcel Duchamp. Bicycle Wheel. Readymade. 1913

I can’t help but find similarities between Dada and Surrealism to the odd mutations inherent in AI-generated images. That seventh finger, a face without eyes—it’s of a world that superficially looks right, but on deeper reflection is woefully off-kilter.

Man Ray. Marquise Casati. 1922

Maybe the absurdity of AI appeals to us because subconsciously we know it suits our current zeitgeist. Maybe we’ve returned to feeling the world is unstable, irrational, and untrustworthy. We made those source images, and it may be due time our collective internet archive is now mashed up through the looking glass.