Collection: JOAN FONTCUBERTA - What Darwin Missed

AI Edition Berlin is happy to present the works of Catalan photographer, curator and essayist Joan Fontcuberta (*1955). With the new series What Darwin Missed, Fontcuberta once again explores the boundaries between reality and fiction and critically questions the role of photography as a medium of truth.

In this series of works, Fontcuberta uses artificial intelligence as a creative tool to create illusions that challenge the audience to question the veracity of what they see. The starting point of the project is an unfinished research project by Alfred Ehrhardt from 1938, which Fontcuberta transfers to the present in collaboration with the Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation.

The works feature fascinating coral images that combine real elements with a newly imagined species, the Cryptocnidaria . These fictional corals, characterized by radical adaptations, challenge Darwin's theory of slow evolution. They address the possibility of rapid genetic changes due to environmental stressors such as chemicals or radioactivity and raise new questions about the evolution of life.

Using a mixture of New Objectivity and scientific photography, Fontcuberta creates surreal forms that explore the boundaries between art and science. The series illustrates how even the most realistic images are often constructs and encourages reflection on the illusory power of photography.

An accompanying publication with texts by Joan Fontcuberta, Rosa Russo and Christiane Stahl was published in 2024 in Kominek-Verlag, Berlin.
ISBN: 978-3-9824542-7

Discover a unique fusion of art and science with What Darwin Missed and be inspired by Fontcuberta's visionary work.