Twentysix Image Returns

In 1963, Ed Ruscha published TWENTYSIX GASOLINE STATIONS, the first in a series of small artist’s books containing - for the most part - black and white photographs of vernacular infrastructure. Since its publication it has become one of the most iconic, as well as one of the most appropriated photographic publications. TWENTYSIX IMAGE RETURNS is a contemporary rethinking of Ruscha’s original. Utilising artificial intelligence (AI) image generation algorithms, this reconstituted version features impressions that are generated by using the titles of Ruscha’s photographs in the book as text-based prompts. These prompts are then processed through an open-source AI text-to-image generator to fabricate a selection of 'readymade' images. Alongside their titles/text prompts, the final selection of 26 image returns are brought together in a similarly modest publication that references Ruscha’s original.