TMBZTon Meijdam with Ton Meijdam and 2 others
ABOUT
The Gilded Baron presents a monumental golden tower that combines the visual languages of a cathedral, a bank, a surveillance tower and a theme-park attraction. Part machine and part living organism, the tower is populated by symbolic characters arranged in a hierarchy of wealth, power and technology. At its summit, a trinity of figures presides over a world of mechanical guardians, cameras and drones. Below them, the balconies are filled with the “Superegos”: exaggerated personas absorbed in their own identities and performances. The work draws on the tradition of historical frescoes and altarpieces, which used recognizable imagery to communicate complex systems of belief. Here, that visual language is rebuilt from contemporary icons. The Gilded Baron becomes a synthetic fresco for the twenty-first century, reflecting on a world in which wealth has acquired an almost sacred status and power is presented as spectacle. Made with Runway, Cinema 4D and After Effects
SELECTED FRAMES — 8 OF 8
PROCESS
The Tower is built piece by piece rather than generated as a complete scene. Each building block and character is meticulously designed as an independent animation, and each animation consists of dozens of animated pieces stitched together. Hundreds of separate elements are eventually composited into a single composition. The result is an “altarpiece” in constant, shifting variation. The final workflow is hybrid. AI-generated animations are combined with traditional 3D software and After Effects.
Credits
- Ton MeijdamCreatorVIEW PROFILE →
- Ton MeijdamAI artist
- Béla ZsigmondAI artist
FAKE YOUAI artistVIEW PROFILE →
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