Swimming Through Synthesis
Using AI frame interpolation to inject synthetic content between the frames of authentic media, Swimming Through Synthesis is a literal expression of the process by which synthetic media manipulates trust by interweaving through an authentic context.
A short experimental film: the viewer drifts through the creation and dispersion of synthetic media, enveloped in algorithmically manipulated visuals and audio. Every visual and aural element has been synthesised and torn from the reality it once portrayed, pushing its audience to consider a pervasive interweaving of synthetic with authentic.
Using AI frame interpolation to inject synthetic content between the frames of authentic media, Swimming Through Synthesis is a literal expression of the process by which synthetic media manipulates trust by interweaving through an authentic context. Simultaneously it emphasises the converse: without a trusted context to empower it, synthetic content is ineffective at manipulating trust. It is not the synthesis itself which manipulates, but its situation.
This is demonstrated throughout the gradual bursting of the generative AI bubble, as forecasts of both economic boom and epistemological apocalypse are being revised, suggesting that earlier predictions were impulsive. This is not to say that there are no dangers or opportunities presented by these technologies, rather that the fruit borne of them seems neither exclusively rotten nor entirely ripe; its qualities derive from how we react to and interact with the technology’s affordances.
