Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. The plants appear weird because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

Six months ago, I resumed my Incultures project to broaden it.
Here are three news plants I painted recently

#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants

The result: pseudo-photographic plants that are biologically plausible yet visually far from the originals. I then turned these distortions into painted synthetic portraits.

Six months ago I expanded my Incultures project.
I asked several AIs to generate images of urban weeds based on their names and botanical descriptions...[See alt]

#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #visualart #artcontemporain #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #sidewalkplants

Blood Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) shot last June 27th in the East Oregon neighborhood.
#UrbanBotany #BloodAmaranth #SidewalkPlants

Pennsylvania Cudweed (Gamochaeta pensylvanica) shot yesterday.
#SidewalkPlants #Pavementplants #UrbanBotany

Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) shot last Tuesday.
#UrbanWildflowers #SidewalkPlants

Blood Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) shot Saturday in Lower Moyamensing.
#UrbanBotany #BloodAmaranth #SidewalkPlants

Buffalo Bur (Solanum rostratum) spotted the day before yesterday in Pennsport, growing out of the sidewalk of Moyamensing. This is my second spotting of the species this season.
#Wildflowers #BuffaloBur #SidewalkPlants

Portulacas grandiflora & oleracea shot today.
#SidewalkPlants

Common #Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) in all its blooming (lack of) glory.
#UrbanWildflowers #SidewalkPlants

Bracted Verbena and Spotted Spurge spilling from a Whitman sidewalk crack, shot a week ago.
#Wildflowers #UrbanWildflowers #SidewalkPlants

Indeed, in the foreground of Bosch’s painting, there’s a curious, fantastical, overgrown—and surely diabolical—plant. In the composition, it occupies a space as prominent as the saint himself. As is often the case with Bosch, the plant is an aggregation of elements drawn from multiple species. To my knowledge, this is the only instance in classical painting where such use of a plant figure occurs—and one of the rare examples of “base” vegetation (meaning: plants deemed unproductive for food or ornamental purposes) being depicted. If you know of any other examples, feel free to share them in the comments!

Saint John the Baptist, painting by Hieronymus Bosh

The starting point of my mural project : a reference to “Saint John the Baptist” by Hieronymus Bosch.

[see alt for more]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants

Overview of the mural project “Incultures.” The plants are painted in acrylic using a technique reminiscent of watercolor. Their scale matches that of real street plants growing in the space between the sidewalk and the wall. As a result, the painting process takes place sitting directly on the ground, kneeling, or sometimes even lying down… a rather athletic painting experience!

Overview of my mural project

The plants scale matches that of real street plants...
[more in alt]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #contemporarytuesday

Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures (7)"

A story of AI and plants

[See alt for more]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants

Eclipta (Eclipta prostrata) shot in Pennsport last Tuesday.
#UrbanWildflowers #UrbanFlora #SidewalkPlants

Most of the European Black #Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) plants I find are quite small, but some do get somewhat sizable.
#SidewalkPlants #UrbanWildflowers

Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures (6)"

A story of AI and plants

[See alt for more]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #ai

Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures (5)"

A story of AI and plants

[See alt for more]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #ai

Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures (4)"

A story of AI and plants

[See alt for more]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #ai #contemporarytuesday

Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures (3)"

A story of AI and plants

[See alt for more]


#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #ai #contemporarytuesday

"Incultures" is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures #2"

A story of AI and plants

[See alt for more]

#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #AI

Blood Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) and Rose petals, shot two days ago in East Oregon.
#SidewalkPlants #BloodAmaranth

Eastern Black #Nightshade (Solanum ptychanthum) shot yesterday in East Oregon. S. nigrum is more common along the east edge of South Philly, but further away from the river, S. ptychanthum is the more popular of the two.
#SidewalkPlants #UrbanBotany

Hairy Rupturewort (Herniaria hirsuta) shot yesterday in East Oregon.
#SidewalkPlants #HairyRupturewort

Sulphur #Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) shot last Monday in Whitman.
#SidewalkPlants #PavementPlants

Pineapple Weed (Matricaria discoidea) shot Monday west of Mifflin Square Park.
#PineappleWeed #SidewalkPlants #UrbanBotany

Incultures is a mural project depicting invasive plants generated by artificial intelligence. These plants appear "bugged" because AI struggles to accurately generate them, revealing the limitations of the technology. This failure mirrors our own selective and incomplete perception of the living world. Painted at the base of the walls—like the weeds that thrive in urban spaces—these plants challenge both our ways of seeing and the growing influence of AI in visual culture.

"Incultures #1"

A story of AI and invasive plants

[See alt for more]

#contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #painting #bskyart #artsky #visualart #figurativeart #artcontemporain #art #malerei #peinturecontemporaine #wildplants #weeds #sidewalkplants #AI

Blood Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) shot 2 days ago in East Oregon. They may look pretty and delicate, but don't be fooled. They are bad-ass Pigweeds.
#SidewalkWeeds #SidewalkPlants #Pavementplants

Blood Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) shot yesterday in East Orgeon.
#UrbanBotany #BloodAmaranth #SidewalkPlants

Goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.) shot earlier today.
#SidewalkPlants

Carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata) shot 2 days ago in Pennsport.
#Weeds #SidewalkWeeds #SidewalkPlants