His fascination with Fort Regent

Throughout his childhood, Lakeman had a fascination with the structure that we call Fort Regent. Fort Regent used to be a lot more interesting than it is now, being a sort of theme park, with different shows and concerts constantly being situated there. It was a place that was very special to young Lakeman, a place were he often went with his brother for entertainment. Lakeman took notice of every change that happened to the fort, the entertainment being shut down and many areas (like the swimming pool) being completely abandoned and left to rot, contrasting with the once crowded Fort Regent. Lakeman’s fascination continued into his adulthood, and he decided to create AI generated images that were a portrayal of not only the fort in the past, but also how he saw it as a child, enhancing the colours and making the place look more exciting and almost dream-like.

The work displayed at the exhibition

The exhibition was created in a very interesting way, including other senses like sound and smells to recreate Lakeman’s childhood memories of Fort Regent. I think it presented his work in a very effective way, causing it to more of an experience than a exhibition.

Lakeman talked about the many techniques he used, using a range of platforms to create his art. He mentioned how he wrote lots ‘prompts’, causing the AI to develop images that portrayed his childhood.

Review

Throughout the entire exhibition there was an obvious theme of nostalgia, each scene or memory being illustrated in a colour way. Lakeman talked about how Fort Regent nowadays is not even close to how it was when he was young, and each photo includes a portrayal for his longing of how the fort was before. I think it is interesting how Lakeman based the pictures on purely his memories, adding bright colours and soft shapes which represent how he saw the fort as a child. Moreover, the inclusion of props (like the lifeguard chair), smells (like the scent of buttery popcorn in one of the corners of the room) and sounds (like the sound of crowds) made the nostalgia even more present. It was interesting to see just how many details were included, and how they each contributed to the nostalgic feel of the exhibition. Despite not experiencing the fort in its full glory in person, the exhibition still had a very nostalgic feeling. As someone with autism, Lakeman mentioned that it is part of the reason for his ‘obsession with the fort’ and that he is ‘autistic for Fort Regent’, his fixation being still as strong now as it was when he was a child.

Before attending the exhibition, I didn’t truly believe that AI generated pictures count as a type of photography. The talk from Will Lakeman completely changed my view of this however, as learning about the amount of time and work that went into creating these pieces of art. Lakeman talked about how initially around 800 AI generated images were created by prompts that described a singular scene he remembered, from which he took 40 of the most ideal/ accurate images and stitched them together in photoshop. He also used many of his own images of Fort Regent currently, transforming them into the way he saw them as a child. Lakeman mentioned how he wanted to portray the memories he has of the fort ‘in the strange ways they appear in dreams and hallucinations’ and I think this created a much more effectives collection of images, with a much more unique and personal appearance.

I enjoyed this exhibition as it was almost a generated experience of Fort Regent in the past, utilising AI in ways that I haven’t even considered before. Despite the images being very interesting, the way in which they were displayed enhanced the effectiveness of the exhibition and I believe this is the reason I liked it so much. This is something I would recommend to others since it is a perfect example of the constantly developing technology around us as well as a unique experience of another person’s nostalgia.

This was one of the photos that were displayed at the exhibition, and I think it was one of the ones that were the most interesting. This AI generated image doesn’t have as much detail as the other pictures, it mostly being a mosaic of yellow and blue tiles that create a depiction of a swimming pool. Lakeman explained how this image was based on a specific day at the pool from when he was a child, when the hot weather made his vision blurred and combined the sun blazing through the windows and the iridescent gleam of the water to cast this weird mix of colours everywhere. Despite the wild colouring of the image, there is still a sense of depth and we can clearly tell that the picture is of a swimming pool. I think the concept of this piece is very interesting, the photo portraying a memory in a dream- like way. The aspect of nostalgia is clearly intertwined with the image, the specific colours and shapes showing the artist’s personal experiences. Moreover, the colours cause there to be a theme, sky blue and bright yellow commonly being associated with bright sunny days, like the day it is based on.