Ascension Through Flame: An AI-Enchanted Poet's Journey 

By Lulu Yueyi Wang

Video & Animation

"Ascension Through Flame" is a AI-driven animation that integrates my own paintings, masterpieces from art history, and Eastern and Western artistic traditions. Initially, the artwork showcases traditional Chinese ink wash landscapes, portraying serene mountains and valleys through flowing ink and meticulous brushwork, harmonizing with Cézanne's Post-Impressionist aesthetics. It then transitions into my contemporary paintings, deconstructing the tranquil scenes into chaotic imagery reflective of modern disruption. My creative process combines traditional oil painting and artificial intelligence in a co-creative partnership. Approximately 80% of the visuals originate directly from my canvases. Photographs capturing critical stages of the paintings' development are transformed using an AI image-to-video model (ali-vilab/i2vgen-xl), animating still imagery into dynamic sequences. This process fosters a lively dialogue between contemporary creativity and historical artistic traditions.

As the narrative unfolds, peaceful landscapes succumb to chaos: mountains fracture and valleys steam, symbolizing modernity’s disruptive impact on classical serenity. AI, exceeding mere technical function, intuitively interprets and enhances my artistic intentions. Its generative power creates innovative transitions, uncovering deeper artistic meanings impossible through traditional methods alone. The piece culminates in a phoenix rising from ashes, symbolizing renewal and spiritual rebirth—echoing Mahler’s powerful declaration "Rise again!" Poetic subtitles inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy were refined in collaboration with language AI, blending human literary creativity with computational precision.

Ultimately, "Ascension Through Flame" highlights AI’s potential as an artistic collaborator, amplifying tactile brushstrokes, animating the creation process, and enabling artists to transcend time and cultural boundaries through dynamic visual dialogue.