Elvis Is Back in the Building, Thanks to Generative AI - and U2 (time.com) 27
U2's inaugural performance at the opening of Las Vegas's Sphere included a generative AI video collage projected hundreds of feet into the air — showing hundreds of surreal renderings of Elvis Presley.
An anonymous reader shares this report from Time magazine: The video collage is the creation of the artist Marco Brambilla, the director of Demolition Man and Kanye West's "Power" music video, among many other art projects. Brambilla fed hours of footage from Presley's movies and performances into the AI model Stable Diffusion to create an easily searchable library to pull from, and then created surreal new images by prompting the AI model Midjourney with questions like: "What would Elvis look like if he were sculpted by the artist who made the Statue of Liberty...?"
While Brambilla's Elvises prance across the Sphere's screen — which is four times the size of IMAX — the band U2 will perform their song "Even Better Than The Real Thing," as part of their three-month residency at the Sphere celebrating their 1991 album Achtung Baby... Earlier this year, U2 commissioned several artists, including Brambilla and Jenny Holzer, to create visual works that would accompany their performances of specific songs. Given U2's love for the singer and the lavish setting of the Sphere, Brambilla thought a tribute to Elvis would be extremely fitting. He wanted to create a maximalist work that encapsulated both the ecstatic highs and grimy lows of not only Elvis, but the city of Las Vegas itself. "The piece is about excess, spectacle, the tipping point for the American Dream," Brambilla said in a phone interview.
Brambilla was only given three-and-a-half months to execute his vision, less than half the time that he normally spends on video collages. So he turned to AI tools for both efficiency and extravagance. "AI can exaggerate with no end; there's no limit to the density or production value," Brambilla says. And this seemed perfect for this project, because Elvis became a myth; a larger-than-life character..." Brambilla transplanted his MidJourney-created images into CG (computer graphics) software, where he could better manipulate them, and left some of the Stable Diffusion Elvis incarnations as they were. The result is a kaleidoscopic and overwhelming video collage filled with video clips both historical and AI-generated, that will soon stretch hundreds of feet above the audience at each of U2's concerts.
"I wanted to create the feeling that by the end of it," Brambilla says, "We're in a place that is so hyper-saturated and so dense with information that it's either exhilarating or terrifying, or both."
Brambilla created an exclusive video excerpting from the larger collage for TIME. The magazine reports that one of the exact prompts he entered was:
"Elvis Presley in attire inspired by the extravagance of ancient Egypt and fabled lost civilizations in a blissful state. Encircling him, a brigade of Las Vegas sorceresses, twisted and warped mid-chant, reflect the influence of Damien Hirst and Andrei Riabovitchev, creating an atmosphere of otherworldly realism, mirroring the decadence and illusion of consumption."
An anonymous reader shares this report from Time magazine: The video collage is the creation of the artist Marco Brambilla, the director of Demolition Man and Kanye West's "Power" music video, among many other art projects. Brambilla fed hours of footage from Presley's movies and performances into the AI model Stable Diffusion to create an easily searchable library to pull from, and then created surreal new images by prompting the AI model Midjourney with questions like: "What would Elvis look like if he were sculpted by the artist who made the Statue of Liberty...?"
While Brambilla's Elvises prance across the Sphere's screen — which is four times the size of IMAX — the band U2 will perform their song "Even Better Than The Real Thing," as part of their three-month residency at the Sphere celebrating their 1991 album Achtung Baby... Earlier this year, U2 commissioned several artists, including Brambilla and Jenny Holzer, to create visual works that would accompany their performances of specific songs. Given U2's love for the singer and the lavish setting of the Sphere, Brambilla thought a tribute to Elvis would be extremely fitting. He wanted to create a maximalist work that encapsulated both the ecstatic highs and grimy lows of not only Elvis, but the city of Las Vegas itself. "The piece is about excess, spectacle, the tipping point for the American Dream," Brambilla said in a phone interview.
Brambilla was only given three-and-a-half months to execute his vision, less than half the time that he normally spends on video collages. So he turned to AI tools for both efficiency and extravagance. "AI can exaggerate with no end; there's no limit to the density or production value," Brambilla says. And this seemed perfect for this project, because Elvis became a myth; a larger-than-life character..." Brambilla transplanted his MidJourney-created images into CG (computer graphics) software, where he could better manipulate them, and left some of the Stable Diffusion Elvis incarnations as they were. The result is a kaleidoscopic and overwhelming video collage filled with video clips both historical and AI-generated, that will soon stretch hundreds of feet above the audience at each of U2's concerts.
"I wanted to create the feeling that by the end of it," Brambilla says, "We're in a place that is so hyper-saturated and so dense with information that it's either exhilarating or terrifying, or both."
Brambilla created an exclusive video excerpting from the larger collage for TIME. The magazine reports that one of the exact prompts he entered was:
"Elvis Presley in attire inspired by the extravagance of ancient Egypt and fabled lost civilizations in a blissful state. Encircling him, a brigade of Las Vegas sorceresses, twisted and warped mid-chant, reflect the influence of Damien Hirst and Andrei Riabovitchev, creating an atmosphere of otherworldly realism, mirroring the decadence and illusion of consumption."
Typical (Score:2, Insightful)
This story of a pretentious artist's attempt to create a gaudy video using AI is like watching a collision of egos and technology. It's as if the artist tried to capture the essence of Vegas excess with the help of AI, but instead, they created a digital monstrosity that's both entertaining and cringe-worthy. It's a fascinating commentary on the intersection of art, technology, and the fine line between brilliance and kitsch.
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
U2 ripping off Evlis’s music much like Elvis ripped off Chuck Berry and other black musicians.
Re: (Score:1)
U2 ripping off Evlisâ(TM)s music much like Elvis ripped off Chuck Berry and other black musicians.
Just fucking stop. Almost all pop music is a progression of what came before. Chuck Berry ripped off Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Hell, Chuck Berry sounds like a direct rip off compared to what Elvis did.
While most people categorically deny that the Beatniks in the 50's created rap. They read poetry to repetitive drum and bass lines and called it "rapping". You can be the judge. The first sample in music was by John Kongos in the early 1970's. He'd be considered classic rock by today's standards. The Bee Gees h
Re: (Score:1)
Re: Typical (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
The guy directed Demolition Man. It's exactly what you describe, exactly what I would expect (and probably enjoy for just those same reasons).
Do you know how to use the shells?
This project ain't nothing (Score:1)
...but a hound-dog.
Reusing dead people for a show is gross (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I'm pulling this from memory but there used to be a show in Vegas that was called "Elvis Lives." They took footage from a Elvis show; rounded up all the original musicians. Then while the band played, they would show footage of the old concert on a screen or something. I thought it was the most ghoulish and ridiculous thing I had ever heard of.
I just did a google search and apparently it is still a thing. You can still get tickets.
Re: Reusing dead people for a show is gross (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
...And Leia.
Re: Reusing dead people for a show is gross (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Ingvild Deila was photo-shopped to look more like Carrie Fisher but there was not a CGI version of Carrie Fisher in the movie.
Strange focus for Slashdot (Score:2)
I guess it's kind of cool that AI can make an OK looking Elvis but...
A real Sphere story on Slashdot should at least mention the amazing technology of the Sphere... not the outside which most have seen pictures of, but the even more amazing inside which has similar LED panels all around the inner surface, but beyond that can generate wind and even scent [uxdesign.cc]!!
If you don't care about U2 they have what I can only assume is a Sphere tech demo show as well, which tickets are much cheaper for.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, it is almost October - I guess this was just one of those Stories for Boys. Maybe you're seeing Scarlet; I don't expect you to exactly Rejoice... but Is That All?
Re: (Score:2)
Finally, we get smell-o-vision just in time for 2024
Et tu (Score:1)
Bono?
Unoriginal (Score:2)
"I wanted to create the feeling that by the end of it," Brambilla says, "We're in a place that is so hyper-saturated and so dense with information that it's either exhilarating or terrifying, or both."
Hyper-saturated, dense information? How "original". In other words, a mish-mash of rehashed material, assembled in virtual dada style, with no real purpose other than to shock the audience in some fashion, because the "artist" lacked the ability (or was just too lazy) to create something novel and noteworthy.
So ... (Score:2)
U2's inaugural performance at the opening of Las Vegas's Sphere included a generative AI video collage projected hundreds of feet into the air — showing hundreds of surreal renderings of Elvis Presley.
Guessing they were kidding when they said, "With or without you" ...
Achtung, we are doomed, Baby (Score:2)
Achtung Baby was very good album, real creativity to enjoy. But now we are going to fry ourselves by increasingly wasting energy on things, we can't even have satisfying - hundreds of fake currencies, limitless incarnations of pseudo-cultural signal. What next?
Mankind is doomed, and should leave space to the remaining species, these could do so much better.
"It Sounds Awful" -Marvin the Paranoid Android (Score:2)
Will Harrison Ford be present, too? (Score:2)
Isn't this idea 26 years too early?
Elvis (Score:2)
is overrated. So is U2.
I guess we won't be invited to Graceland (courtesy Living Colour)
Missed opportunity (Score:2)
A little less Whoppers (Score:2)
Now, a fading band wants to burnish their image. Maybe when U2 dies the collective world psyche can rebirth them into a Panera. Their mac and cheese is tasty.
Vegas for Families (Score:1)
Poor Choice (Score:2)
Elvis was a terrible role model, overrated musician, and overall bad person. Same goes for Bono of U2 - except he's more of a psychopath. Marco Brambilla is a shitty director with no real skills - Demolition Man isn't a good movie, nor has any of Kanye's music videos been good.
None of this is art. It's garbage.