Through the Looking Glass:
Exploring Surrealism and Creativity
in the Age of A.I.
BFA Communication Design Thesis
Through the Looking Glass: Exploring Surrealism and Creativity in the Age of A.I. is an exhibition that examines the intersection of surrealism and contemporary art made with artificial intelligence (AI). The exhibition, held on April 18, 2025, at Parsons School of Design in New York, featured a wall filled with thought-provoking quotes collected from various sources during my research into the topic.
The accompanying exhibition book serves as a research index and contains the quotes featured in the exhibit along with a comprehensive collection of sources, including books, videos, articles, experiments with AI tools, and an image archive of artworks.
Surrealism, a movement that focuses on creativity through the subconscious, uses methods like automatism and dream analysis to produce unconventional and often uncanny artworks. Today, many contemporary artists are exploring the ability of machines to generate paintings, images, and videos that evoke surrealist qualities. This exhibition highlights how the capabilities within AI systems can serve as a modern tool for surrealist expression, creating art that pushes the boundaries of both technology and creativity.