Artificial Intelligence as a Visual Medium between Hegemony and Liberation in Contemporary Plastic Arts Practices

Abstract

Abstract:

The current study explores “Artificial Intelligence as a Visual Medium Between Domination and Liberation in Artistic Practice.” It consists of four chapters. The first chapter addresses the methodological framework, outlining the research problem concerning how AI impacts the trajectories of visual expression for contemporary artists. AI is examined as a dual-purpose tool—on one hand, it enhances creativity and liberates the artist from traditional constraints; on the other hand, it raises critical questions about control, programming, and technological dominance. The research aims to identify the role of AI as a visual mediator that enables the production of an alternative visual discourse, one that expresses individuality, subjectivity, and resistance to forms of cognitive or cultural authority. The temporal scope extends from 2010 to 2025, a period marked by significant growth in the integration of AI into artistic practices. The spatial scope is limited to the work of contemporary Arab visual artists who utilized AI technologies in the creation of their artworks. Chapter two comprises the theoretical framework and includes two main sections: the first discusses AI and the transformation of contemporary visual art production, while the second focuses on the duality of domination and liberation within the digital visual context. Chapter three presents the research procedures, adopting a descriptive-analytical method to examine a sample of three digital artworks by Arab artists who employed AI in their visual compositions, with analysis based on indicators derived from the theoretical framework. Chapter four outlines the key findings, notably that AI has contributed to reshaping contemporary visual discourse by enabling artists to surpass both technical and conceptual constraints through the incorporation of intelligent, interactive elements into their artworks. The selected samples revealed a visual tension between programmed direction and creative autonomy. The study concludes that AI is not merely a technical tool but rather a cultural agent that reconstructs the relationship between authority and creativity, offering artists a flexible space for expression and visual resistance.