April 26, 2024

Detroit artist’s artificial intelligence-generated project at Ferris State’s Fine Art Gallery offers Design students unique experience

Detroit-based artist Tylonn J. (Ty) Sawyer’s inclusive, diverse and utopian look at his hometown graces Ferris State University’s Fine Art Gallery through Friday, May 10, as “Blacktopia: Detroit 3000” will cap presentations for the academic year. 

Fine Art Gallery Director Carrie Weis said this exhibit, generated through the use of the artificial intelligence program Mindjourney, presents an opportunity for conversation on a potentially controversial mode of production. 

“Sawyer is a classically trained artist who has previously worked with and mastered traditional materials, yet this digitally created work has allowed him to generate a large concept at a speed almost as quickly as it could be thought up,” Weis said. “This body of work would have taken him years and thousands of dollars in materials to create. This series is brilliantly conceived. I love the storyline aspect.” 

Students in the Design program in Ferris’ College of Business received an opportunity to contribute to the placement of materials and images for the Blacktopia exhibit. Junior Colin Frasier of Muskegon led an eight-student team that curated Sawyer’s work. 

“Professor Alison Popp offered our Design 321 Branding Experience group assistance as we collaborated on emphasizing pixels and determining the layout for this exhibition,” Frasier said. “We printed more than 60 of Sawyer’s images and hung them intending to present a ‘floating’ series of pictures. Along with that, a cube in the center of the room projects images onto each gallery wall.”

Frasier said the student team took on a variety of responsibilities. He was pleased to collaborate with peers and gain experiential learning in project management. 

“Our goal was to create an immersive, encompassing presentation of art generated through artificial intelligence,” Frasier said. Our team members were able to apply environmental design skills in a tangible and meaningful way. I was pleased to have this opportunity to work with my peers and, as team leader, interact with Sawyer and gallery staff, which gave me a unique and valuable preview of a management experience.” 

The exhibit can be seen from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through Friday, May 10.