Ellen Pearson

Department: Man and Communication
Website: ellen.works

A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose

What: Can an image of a flower be as real to us as the physical original it depicts? The project explores our perception of the living counterpart versus the replica. Is the one less ‘real’ than the other if it serves the same purpose?

Why: In modern life we tend to encounter more images of flowers than real ones. As an example of a larger shift, it’s important to understand how we respond to these replicas.

How: Bringing together almost 1,000 images of flowers, Ellen Pearson analyses the visual semiotics of these blooms in a book. Fed into a neural network, the images are then used to generate new, machine-made depictions. Are these still flowers too, with the same symbolic power?