Michèle Lamy is a designer and executive manager of art and furniture at Owenscorp, the company she cofounded with fashion designer Rick Owens. Below, she discusses artificial intelligence (AI) and her hopes for the future.
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Bennett Miller’s AI Photographs
Image Credit: Courtesy Gagosian American film director Bennett Miller’s recent exhibition of AI photographs at Gagosian Paris had me mesmerized. The works appear unassuming at first glance, like one of a woman smoking two cigarettes at the same time. But on closer inspection one can see smoke coming out of her hair, and bodily deformities, like her hands. AI can have a hard time reading certain details. All of Miller’s photos are close to reality but have something missing or twisted that makes viewers question which world we are in.
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Midjourney
Image Credit: Courtesy Midjourney When I started working on the program Midjourney, it completely immersed me in this AI world. I like that I can give the system very specific word-prompts, run around, smoke a cigarette, and then it produces an image from seemingly out of nowhere. I’m fascinated by the effect of this surprise, as if the machine has read my mind. AI is some kind of utopia—an opportunity to create something that is in the making because it’s all new.
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Fashion Neurosis
Image Credit: Courtesy Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud Fashion designer Bella Freud is the daughter of artist Lucian Freud and the great-granddaughter of psychoanalysis inventor Sigmund Freud. In her podcast Fashion Neurosis, Bella invites celebrity guests to discuss the connection between fashion and identity. Inviting them to lie down on the couch, tapping into the Freudian, Bella starts by asking people what they are wearing and ends by reminding us of our relationships to one another. Australian musician and actor Nick Cave, for example, was on the podcast with his wife, Susie. They really opened their hearts and showed the tenderness of their relationship in a way that made me proud to be human.
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Utopia
Image Credit: ©Cactus Jack Records/Epic Records I met American rapper Travis Scott behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live. When I heard his latest album, Utopia [2023], it felt like a revolution. He is part of this new generation of music, and the kind of music he’s bringing to the world is not only timely—it’s bringing a lot of hope to an otherwise bleak world. I’m from a generation who thought we already had all our fights. The idea of a utopia that we want to be real, and energy in younger thinkers are so important for continuing forward.
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Christie’s Selling AI
Image Credit: Courtesy Christie’s, New York There is a feeling now that we have this tool that we can [use to] create any art we want, but I take issue with Christie’s auction house selling AI works before we can imagine another world. This tool is supposed to change our system, but they are trying to keep it embedded in the capitalist system for their own benefit. Christie’s, please wait a little bit.