pictoplasma-2025-berlin
Pictoplasma reexamines the myth of originality, exploring the genealogies of character creation amidst the rise of generative AI and shifting cultural codes.
Pictoplasma returns to Berlin with a stellar line up of artists, illustrators, filmmakers and de-signers looking to the future and reimagining the visual culture. This year, the world’s lead-ing conference on contemporary character design and art dives deep into the genealogiesof character creation, peeling back multiple layers of influences, trends and contexts. Itflips the script on the myth of ‘the original’, often touted as an artist’s singular autographand guided by an inherent genius or talent, and asks instead: to what extent are our creations our own, and how do we even determine the dimensions of originality, or indeed,imagination?
This question is ever more urgent. On one hand, the rise of generative AI, which builds onenormous collections of preexisting imagery and concepts, shifts image creation to asearch operation, spitting out dreamlike, distorted and often nostalgic echoes of ‘originalmaterial’. And on the other hand, cultural hegemonies are fading, which challenges established conventions of character design as a universal visual language. While the worldgrows more multipolar, the longstanding dominance of Western pop culture iconography,the influence of Japanese Kawaii, or kitschy, exoticised portrayals of other cultures are allbeing questioned and reconsidered. Will we see a new era of multiple visual representation, or simply witness the another wave of pictorial hegemonies and stereotypes?
The conference features an extended programme of 25+ lectures and presentations, panels, animation screenings
