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Somewhere between flatworms and computers, 2023 | Digital painting, AI | 12000 x 6750 px, 300 dpi, .png

Sara Ludy’s "Somewhere between flatworms and computers" is a reflection on the boundaries of intuition and materiality. Ludy’s practice approaches material with an instinct that dismisses categorization by medium and the hierarchies of evolving technology. In this work, the artist explores the context of generative procedures through painting, AI, and planarian worms—an invertebrate with regenerative and precognitive abilities.

Ludy’s practice is largely rooted in ideas of painting. This work started as a digital painting that was augmented to fit a 16:9 ratio using the prompt “torn edges” in Dall-E 2’s outpainting. Once a standard screen-size ratio was achieved, the painting was further developed while the AI contribution remained unchanged. In regard to the aforementioned worms, Ludy found a parallel between the intuitive capabilities of the animal to sense danger to that of ancient, terrestrial wisdom. The final work is a nod to the nature within us, the untapped and forgotten intelligence that can be more technologically advanced than any computer or AI. Somewhere between flatworms and computers situates AI as another strata of history, no more or less important.