In his latest series titled, Encounter, Metehan Özcan delves deeper into the exploration of collective memory and intricate layers of identity, through a thought-provoking journey through encounters with artificial intelligence. The focal point of Encounter revolves around the intriguing interplay between AI and its access to our shared memories, as well as the enigmatic origins of the sources it draws upon when crafting images. This dynamic exploration not only defines the essence of Encounter but also underscores the remarkable capacity of AI to seamlessly weave together seemingly disparate prompts into a harmonious and imaginative visual narrative.
Özcan's earlier fascination with blurring the lines between fiction and reality, a technique exemplified in his collages and his tendency to withhold information from the viewer, thereby cultivating ambiguity surrounding "the reality of the image," finds a parallel in the realm of AI processes. Here, new images are born from the foundation of preexisting ones, and the distinction between whether these source images were fictional or authentic remains elusive, giving rise to an intriguing alternative truth.