In its latest campaign to attract new visitors, the Vienna Tourist Board used artificial intelligence to transform some of the most iconic artworks placed in Austrian museums. They have created humourous AI-generated spin-offs of some of Austria’s most iconic artworks using the internet’s favourite animal, the cat. And once they get the viewer’s attention, they offer a different proposition: visit Vienna and “see the art behind A.I. art.”
Statement
There are more than 100 museums for you to discover in Vienna. While cats are (regrettably) not allowed in, you can still see the original works behind the AI in their unique real-world settings. Cast your eye over every last detail of Gustav Klimt’s Kiss at the Belvedere Palace, step back and take in Egon Schiele’s Chinese lanterns at the Leopold Museum, and schedule a pitstop at a Viennese coffeehouse in between.
“With so much artificial intelligence invading lives—particularly with programs like DALL-E or Midjourney that allow anyone to create ‘works of art’—Vienna wants to remind visitors of who made that all possible in the first place,” explained the tourist board’s CEO, Norbert Kettner, stated.
“The Viennese Modernism movement that revolutionized the art world over a century ago continues to live on and affect today’s art through the algorithms that guide A.I. creations,” Kettner added.
The Approach
The campaign addressed each modernist artist by their first name and issued a slightly offhand apology for mutating their work. “Sorry, Egon, but your art made A.I. art possible,” reads one Schiele-style image of a decidedly despondent-looking feline. Another offers heartfelt condolences to Gustav (Klimt) for ripping off The Kiss (1907–08). The Vienna Tourist Board also released a video in which art historian Markus Hübl introduces us to Vienna’s world-famous masterpieces by Schiele, Klimt, and Bruegel before offering a comically far-fetched scholarly analysis of their AI-generated creations.
In the Video
Hübl explains the meaning behind the intricate detailing in Klimt’s “The Kiss.”
“A man and a woman at the top of a little part of a rock. These very strict hard forms symbolise the male system, and the very soft circles symbolise the female system,” he says, explaining the synapse of the square and circular patterns in the iconic painting.
Then he focuses towards the AI version on a tablet. Like the original work, the cat rendition features two figures exuding opposite energies yet entangled in a passionate embrace. Instead of a human couple, here, the picture consists of two kittens.
“Cats are an ambiguous symbol. On the one hand, for wildness. On the other hand, most of them are castrated and live in our flats. We are searching for both phenomena: softness and sweetness and untamed wildness. Aren’t those both not driving forces for creativity and art? What a metaphor,” he jokes.
Images Courtesy: Vienna Tourist Board
