Anatomy of Non-fact by Martyna Marciniak

Anatomy of Non-Fact is an art/research project that seeks a definition of the aesthetics of fact via an in-depth analysis of known cases of visual hoaxes, fakes, and conspiracies. The first chapter, AI Hyperrealism, focuses on the image of the fake Balenciaga Pope that captured the attention and imagination of many during the so-called “AI-boom” of 2023.

In an 18-minute video, mechanisms of AI generation, visual journalistic languages, and digital cloning are augmented, partly stultified, and reified. Alongside the video, artifacts that emulate elements in the image—the coat, cross, glasses, and ring—“spell out” the synthetically produced flaws. The second chapter focuses on the exploration of portrayals of catastrophes, “panic images,” and high-frequency trading, in particular, the image of the fake Pentagon explosion from May 2023. The work is accompanied by a comprehensive visual mapping/cataloging of all the case studies and connected visual examples.

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Interview with Martyna Marciniak.

Tick, tick, tick…boom

Essay by Martyna Marciniak for the inaugural issue of _BW_Mag about chapter II of her Anatomy of Non-Fact, Tick, tick, tick…boom.

I began the project by looking closely at AI-generation processes, and the technical architecture behind them. I quickly realised that while photographic realism is largely understood as the only reliable visual evidence, our visual culture hasn’t quite come to terms with photographic lapses, biases and limits. The project asks whether the interrogation of the post-optical (synthetic) imagery through photographic discourse and pre-optical imagery can resolve the mounting tension between faith and truth?

In my research I found that the figure of the pope has historically marked a turn in western visual culture, and ultimately shaped the collective relationship to authorities of truth. ‘It just dawned on me: I should do the Pope’ the author of the Balenciaga Pope image explained following the popularity of the image. It makes a lot of sense that he had this realisation. The loss of papal influence paired with anachronistic persistence of papal fashion and symbolisms pushed the figure of the pope into the shadows of the uncanny, making it the perfect device for expressing the paradoxes of post-optical image.

My goal has been for the project to balance between fake and real, the recognisable and unrecognisable, serious and absurd. Part of the mission of the project is to introduce alternative aesthetics and tone to discussions of misinformation, in order to detach the discourse from the often heavy and seemingly doomed narratives.

Martyna Marciniak

Jury Statement

With Afterfact, Martyna Marciniak expanded our initial question – What’s new/s? – and gave it a compelling direction. Marciniak will develop a ‘digital attention’ guide and toolkit as well as an audio-visual piece investigating the ‘digital aesthetics of fact’. In the information age that blew open the definitions of journalism, information and media, Marciniak’s work at the intersection of human rights research, art, and design is key to any investigation of fact-making mechanisms in digital realms.

Ars Electronica

Martyna Marciniak (PL/DE)

Martyna Marciniak’s practice bridges media theory and legal imaginaries to trace how power inscribes itself through image regimes and visual narration infrastructures. Her work pokes at the tropes of scientific and forensic aesthetics, revealing their uncertainties, contradictions, and lapses. Oscillating between sculpture, video, and animation, she writes visual counter histories, smuggling in other ways of seeing. Martyna worked with Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, and co-established the research group Border Emergency Collective. Her work has been shown by Ars Electronica, Onassis Stegi, and the Warsaw Biennale, among others.

Collaborators and Partners

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