For the finest monochrome psychedelic antiquity that technology can muster, take a gander at the AI visionary phantasmagoria L’esprit Surrealiste by T.S. Hall. In the black-and-white world that existed 100 years ago, a dog sleeps the day away while a young woman sleeps in her bed. Her dreams reach out far from her to the ends of the cosmos, and beyond. Somewhere, behind a series of portals, an Elder God listens to the radio while watching a series of floating women wearing headphones, submerged in jars. Someone presses a button, and the dog explodes. From behind the eye in someone’s forehead sprouts a disembodied brain. It goes hovering down inter-dimensional corridors while a headless man inside a lighthouse watches it on TV.
Deep inside a crack in the wall, eyes peer out from the darkness, some quite large. Behind another portal, a film projector in a crowded movie palace shows flickering images of dark castles in the mist with close-ups of ravens. On the silver screen appears a giant hand, with an eye in the middle of the palm. Rays of light start shooting out from the eyes, showering the audience in sparkles. The crowd gasps as a huge electric skull zooms out at them, then suddenly turns into a cow. And out in the darkest parts of space, behind the sky, the sleeping maiden dreams on…
L’esprit Surrealiste is easily one of the most advanced achievements in AI-crafted cinematic art. You will not believe the spectrum of unthinkable oddities waiting to stimulate your pineal gland. Hall has a very specific black and white aesthetic that goes back a century, when modern surrealism was born. Using the aura of a silent movie, Hall crafts an imaginary old world that is more twisted than the future. It’s a signature great-grandmother-on-acid kick that will never get old. While the dreamworld imagery is unpredictable and incoherent, there is a linear logic to how the visuals unfold, uncurl, and take flight on dinosaur wings.
“Her dreams reach out far from her to the ends of the cosmos…”
The big challenge is how to get the masses to appreciate art like this. I remember in the 80s that there were these amazing-looking paintings done in airbrush that never got any respect. The reason was that it was so easy to make great-looking art with airbrush that the results were attributed more to the tool than the artist. AI is the airbrush of the new century. The AI tools used to make L’esprit Surrealiste are immediately apparent, as you spot the pseudo-Russian-looking gibberish words on store signs. However, this may be the first time the creativity put in outshines the AI tools that were wielded.
L’esprit Surrealiste looks like what would have happened if David Lynch had been hired to do the Terry Gilliam animation on Monty Python’s Flying Circus. This would be Eraserhead-era Lynch, with the weirdness turned up all the way to floating brain level. Even with all the cult movies in my rearview mirror, Hall easily finds ways to weird me out. I love his retro-futuristic Lovecraftian vibe, with the ventilation shafts and smooth-cornered metal skulls. The second half goes metallic, apocalyptic, and prehistoric, sometimes all at once. In terms of how fun it is to watch high, this movie is the AI-made equivalent to Pink Floyd: The Wall. So there is also a question as to whether its instant status as a stoner classic overshadows its qualities as an art picture.
It also is a lot to take in at once, as this highly experimental feature runs two hours and twenty-two minutes. Due to the intensity level of psychedelic panoramas, trying to absorb the film in one go can take you from exhilaration to exhaustion. This is a pity, as there is an insane goldmine of visual wonders in the second half that shouldn’t be overlooked. That is why I would like to suggest Hall split L’esprit Surrealiste into two features. There is a fade to black right at the 70-minute mark that would be a great ending for the first part. The second part has spectacle progression to make it stand up on its own, with splitting the film in two being the second half’s best chance to not just shine but be seen at all. L’esprit Surrealiste reaches for the moon and the stars, and feasts upon them with fangs made from your eyeballs.
"…easily one of the most advanced achievements in AI crafted cinematic art."
