THIS IS NOT ART!
During an AIsthesis (Network for Research on the Aesthetics of AI Imagery) event, internationally acclaimed artist Boris Eldagsen talks about his new work “THIS IS NOT ART!”, which is exhibited at Kjøpmannsgata Ung Kunst during Meta.Morf Biennale. Eldagsen investigates the difference between human-made and AI-generated art and the future of collaborative creativity.
AIsthesis – network for research on the aesthetics of AI imagery
The AIsthesis project is a research network that brings together Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian humanist researchers with the aim of exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) changes contemporary image culture. All network participants, individually or in smaller groups, conduct research in the new, interdisciplinary field that examines the influence of AI technology on imagery (still and moving). The network serves an important function as a research community where individual scholars benefit from engaging in workshops, seminars, and discussions with academic colleagues, also focusing on AI and images from an aesthetic perspective. Each year, the network organizes two types of activities: a workshop for network participants and an open academic seminar. An international conference will be organized ultimo 2027.
Boris Eldagsen [DE]
Boris Eldagsen (1970) studied Fine Arts and Philosophy in Cologne, Mainz, Prague, and Hyderabad. Since 2000, his photographic and media-based work has been exhibited and awarded internationally at institutions and festivals, including ACP Sydney, EMAF Osnabrück, New Media Scotland, Kochi–Muziris Biennale, Biennale Le Havre, and the Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth. He received awards at Voies Off Arles and FORMAT Festival Derby.
Since 2023, Eldagsen’s AI-generated work has been presented by international galleries such as Ravestijn Amsterdam, SETAREH Berlin, and Expanded.Art (Berlin) – as well as festivals including the AI Biennale Essen, Pingyao International Photography Festival, IPMA Kaunas, PHOTO 2024 Melbourne, and the ELEKTRA Digital Art Biennale Montréal. His work has also been shown in museums, including the California Museum of Photography, BACC Bangkok, and Jupiter Art Museum Shenzhen.
Since 2004, Eldagsen has taught the theory of ideas and creativity at international art academies, including the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne), Kunsthochschule Mainz, Filmakademie Ludwigsburg, and Pathshala Media Institute Dhaka. He has additionally held workshops and lectures at more than 40 universities and art schools worldwide, as well as at numerous Goethe-Institutes. At the end of 2022, he was among the first artists to offer professional workshops on AI-generated images and has since trained hundreds of art directors, designers, photographers, artists, editors, and professors. He currently teaches the Master program “AI for Creatives” at LABASAD – Barcelona School of Art & Design.
In April 2023, his refusal of the Sony World Photography Awards triggered a global debate on the relationship between photography and AI-generated images, which he terms “promptography.” He was described as the “poster boy of the AI debate” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), “the man who lifted the lid on Pandora’s box” (The Age), and his image PSEUDOMNESIA | The Electrician was called “the picture that stopped the world” (The Guardian). Eldagsen is a regular speaker at international conferences and events, including TEDx, re:publica, Medientage München, FAZ AI Conference, the World AI Conference Shanghai, and C2 Montréal.
In 2025, he served as a jury member for the Ars Electronica Award and the Tezos Photography Award.
He has curated exhibitions on the distinction between photography and promptography, including RIVALS (European Month of Photography Berlin) and PSYCHOPOMP! for the inauguration of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography in Johannesburg.
Boris lives and works in Berlin.
www.eldagsen.com / www.promptwhispering.ai
Photo Credits. Boris Eldagsen, “AI ART RANTS | Sunflowers Without Decay”, AI-generated video, 2025. Portrait photo by Jan Sobottka / www.catonbed.de.
