Prompts and Expressions #1: Kyoto AI Sketch

September 11, 2025 – October 7, 2025
9:00 - 16:00 (open daily)

Prompts and Expressions #1: Kyoto AI Sketch
Period: Thursday, September 11th to Tuesday, October 7th, 2025, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, open daily
Venue: OM Art × Music (8th floor, 735-3 Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture)
Organized by: OM Art × Music / Planned by: Hiroshige Fukuhara

People of Pontocho

Shrine maiden at a Kyoto shrine

People began to "draw" by carving lines into cave walls and layering colors.

During the Renaissance, Brunelleschi experimented with the first-person perspective, and Alberti theorized it as a geometric structure. The camera obscura (black box) was also utilized, making a significant contribution to painting as a tool for realistic depiction. The act of tracing a projected landscape has the advantage of allowing for the optical creation of perfect perspective. However, there was criticism at the time that this was merely a tracing, rather than the artist's own original composition. Nevertheless, many works created using this technique existed and were accepted by the public as paintings. There is some debate (though there is no definitive proof) as to whether Vermeer's famous pointe technique also involved the use of a camera obscura. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that his works are of excellent quality.

As time went on, new techniques emerged, including the creation of artworks using computer-generated images, tracing with a projector, and transferring the output of a large printer to create oil paintings. Techniques and expressions are constantly changing with the evolution of technology. While their merits are debated, they cannot be measured in terms of good or bad.

So, is there anything wrong with tracing an image generated by AI as a sketch in this day and age? Shouldn't an AI-generated image be a work of art in itself? Or is there a problem with using it as a new form of sketch for a painting?

Another perspective is that painting is not always art. Painting is merely one "means" of expression, and art is a much more diverse and complex endeavor that extends beyond that. Expressions are not limited to two-dimensional media, but also encompass three-dimensional forms, text, sound, experiences, phenomena, and more. So, can AI-generated images also be positioned within this chain of "diversity of means"?

This collaboration between technology and expression has brought us to the age of generative AI, where prompts that once required complex syntax can now describe the world in a single word. In the field of single-image visualization, even the term "prompt engineering" is already becoming obsolete. With the use of AI, we now live in an age where anyone can relatively easily create the visuals they desire. The seemingly perfect worlds created by AI will likely highlight the value of imperfection and accidental expression, which are uniquely human. *

Is AI simply a tool, or a "convivial instrument" that expands human creativity? Or, like the camera obscura of the past, could it be a stepping stone to the next generation of creativity? The evolution of technology has always posed fundamental questions to us: "What does it mean to draw?" and "What is art?"

By juxtaposing the prompts with the artworks, this exhibition showcases the relationship between the text and the images that emerge from it.

This time, the theme was "Kyoto," and prompts incorporating Kyoto scenery and locations were used, assuming different styles such as Rembrandt, anime, and CG. Some of the generated results were beautiful as expected, while others produced unexpectedly unnatural or strange expressions. Please enjoy both the high level of accuracy and the humor that arises from the discrepancies.

Even if you don't understand the complex logic, just looking at the visuals is enough. With the theme of the culture and spirituality of the city of Kyoto, you can casually enjoy the amazing accuracy of the generative AI and the fun of its failures, and suddenly think about the future of "drawing" and "creating."

I hope I can bring you such a moment.

Hiroshige Fukuhara

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