object permanence
single channel video with audio
06:04 min
2024
object permanence is composed of 32 hand-drawn frames created through a layered transfer system. wuttke developed a custom drawing pad of three sheets of paper and two transfer papers held within a frame. pencil pressure imprints marks from the top sheet onto the layers below. each drawing begins from the faint traces of the previous one, forming a continuous sequence where every image both remembers and alters what came before.
the title refers to the cognitive understanding that an object continues to exist even when it is no longer visible. in video-generating ai, this capacity is often unstable: objects vanish when they leave the frame, or reappear changed, as if memory itself has dissolved. the work mimics the diffusion process of ai imagemaking through entirely analog means as the image's gradual transformations evoke this same instability, as figures merge, fade, and regenerate across layers.
credits: music - "you come in late" by flim
artist: louis wuttke
louis wuttke (b. 1998, dresden, germany) is a visual artist who works with concepts of non-digital image generation. in his work he imitates functionalities of conventional image reproduction to create imaginary drawings which have a photographic appearance. his works have been showcased internationally, including at kv verein für zeitgenössische kunst (leipzig, germany), rozptyl (bratislava, slovakia), the german centre for venetian studies (venice, italy), the angewandte festival (vienna, austria).
currently based in leipzig, germany, louis is pursuing his postgraduate studies at the academy of fine arts leipzig.
object permanence
single channel video with audio
06:04 min
2024
object permanence is composed of 32 hand-drawn frames created through a layered transfer system. wuttke developed a custom drawing pad of three sheets of paper and two transfer papers held within a frame. pencil pressure imprints marks from the top sheet onto the layers below. each drawing begins from the faint traces of the previous one, forming a continuous sequence where every image both remembers and alters what came before.
the title refers to the cognitive understanding that an object continues to exist even when it is no longer visible. in video-generating ai, this capacity is often unstable: objects vanish when they leave the frame, or reappear changed, as if memory itself has dissolved. the work mimics the diffusion process of ai imagemaking through entirely analog means as the image's gradual transformations evoke this same instability, as figures merge, fade, and regenerate across layers.
credits: music - "you come in late" by flim
artist: louis wuttke
louis wuttke (b. 1998, dresden, germany) is a visual artist who works with concepts of non-digital image generation. in his work he imitates functionalities of conventional image reproduction to create imaginary drawings which have a photographic appearance. his works have been showcased internationally, including at kv verein für zeitgenössische kunst (leipzig, germany), rozptyl (bratislava, slovakia), the german centre for venetian studies (venice, italy), the angewandte festival (vienna, austria).
currently based in leipzig, germany, louis is pursuing his postgraduate studies at the academy of fine arts leipzig.