"Is this... art?"

My attempt at classification

We recently spent some time in Greece. Once again, we were drawn to the Peloponnese (mainland, west of Athens) and specifically to the Mani Peninsula. This region is rugged, relatively untouched by tourism, and primarily famous for its countless tower houses, built and inhabited over centuries. The historical background of this architecture would be beyond the scope of this post, but it is fascinating – and also disturbing…

After such trips, I usually select a number of pictures and print them large on fine art paper using my fine art printer, mount them in suitable frames and hang them on the wall at home.

This time I changed the process a bit, because I've been experimenting a lot with AI-generated images lately – even as a retiree, one can try not to completely miss the train to modernity…

So I uploaded a selection of my own photos to Midjourney and experimented with "creative prompts"—with the intention of transforming my photos into new images reminiscent of Friedensreich Hundertwasser's paintings. I then downloaded the selected images to my computer, adjusted them to print size (A3+), and optimized them with Photoshop.

I think the attempt was successful – the prints look very elegant and “artistic” and now decorate our living space.

The longer I worked with this new design process, the more I asked myself what to call the resulting prints: "Photographs"? "Paintings"? "Mixed Media Prints"? "AI Art"?

I then did some intensive research online and came to the following conclusions:

The most common and factually correct term:

• Digital art or AI-generated art.

• They are not photographs (even though they appear photorealistic) and not classical paintings, but a new, hybrid form.

• Even though Midjourney can make images look like paintings, the origin remains digital.

Are they works of art?

Whether something is a work of art depends not only on the medium, but also on:

• Creative contribution (e.g., how much creative control did one have)

• Artistic concept (e.g. series, theme, statement)

• Presentation (e.g., high-quality prints, exhibition)

  
  

In today's art world, many AI-generated images are considered art if they are curated, consciously selected, possibly edited, and shown in the right context.

So I'm not a painter in the traditional sense, but I am the creative originator of the image concept (prompt, selection, editing). For commercial use, e.g., selling prints, it's important to be transparent about the AI origin.

Conclusion:

So, if I print and exhibit or sell Midjourney images, I can, depending on the execution, justifiably call them digital artworks or AI art . Whether they qualify as art in the strict sense ultimately depends on the intended meaning and context – but they certainly can be.

A crucial aspect of this discussion, in my opinion, is the realization that I – as a real person – did indeed have the idea for this specific series of images. I used some of the source material (my own photos) for it. Furthermore, I subsequently processed the images, corrected them where necessary, presented them attractively, and hung them on the wall. That involved a lot of manual work. And yes, a touch of specialized know-how was also required (Discord/Midjourney, Photoshop, fine art printing, etc.).

So I mean: most likely definitely art.

And then there's this one too:

The famous banana, by Maurizio Cattelan, taped to the wall with duct tape. This "art" famously sold at auction for $6.24 million. And at that price, it must surely be genuine art...