Press and interviews
A collector’s guide to AI and generative art
12 April, 2023
Christie's guide to AI and generative art, featuring Rainisto on the cover image.
NFTNow – “How Roope Rainisto’s AI Photography Redraws Artistic Boundaries”
Feature article by Eric James Beyer, Apr 6, 2023
An in-depth piece coinciding with Rainisto’s REWORLD launch on Fellowship.
This article chronicles Rainisto’s rapid rise after Life in West America and discusses the Post Photographic Perspectives -drop. The piece includes commentary from Fellowship’s Alejandro Cartagena on the broader debates around AI art.
Artnet - "New A.I. Works Fuse Fantasy and Memory at Photo London"
News article by Jo Lawson-Tancred, May 16, 2024
A feature examining how AI presented at Photo London 2024 is transforming the landscape of contemporary photography. The article spotlights Rainisto’s innovative approach to post-photography—demonstrating how his work captures a multiplicity of moments and perspectives in a single frame. Rainisto’s contributions are presented as emblematic of a broader shift in photographic art, where traditional aesthetics merge with algorithmic processes to redefine presence, memory, and narrative.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ai-photo-london-2487330
Expanded.Art – “Roope Rainisto: Stretching the Boundaries of Reality”
Interview by Anika Meier, Apr 12, 2023
A published Q&A in which Rainisto reflects on his career shift and artistic philosophy. In this conversation, he recounts how a midlife crisis sparked his decision to pursue art full-time after decades in design. He discusses how his AI art challenges the conventions of photography. Rainisto also talks about the importance of evoking emotion and describes the concepts behind LIWA and REWORLD.
Unlimited Dream Co. – “Seeing Things from a Fresh Perspective”
Interview, 2023
Rainisto “talks about the fearless naivety of AI, the challenge and joy of gaining creative control, and the vast opportunity for AI in video”. It delves into his background in Helsinki and design, and his view of AI as a “naive, over-creative” force that can serve as a wellspring of ideas. Key topics include his iterative workflow, his experiments with AI in music videos, and the future of AI video art.
Fellowship (Post-Photography.xyz) – “In Conversation: Alejandro Cartagena and Roope Rainisto”
2023
– A published dialogue between Rainisto and photographer Alejandro Cartagena (co-founder of Fellowship). Rainisto discusses how his design career and 30-year photo hobby inform his art, the idea of truth in fiction, and his thoughts on how AI “learns the rules of reality” vs. the current state of shoshin (beginner’s mind) in diffusion models. He also addresses how his style developed and how technology should not overwhelm artistic vision.
Glitch Marfa – “Frames of Reference: Life in West America”
Essay by Malte Rauch, Jan 2024
An analytical article examining the cultural significance of Life in West America about a year after its release. Published by Glitch Marfa (an art collective/venue in Texas known for digital art shows), the essay recognizes LIWA as a milestone in AI art. It discusses how Rainisto’s work cut through the “flood of artificial media” in early 2023, by delivering a cohesive visual language that felt both comfortingly familiar and like “unsettling historical fiction”. The writer compares Rainisto’s Americana imagery to Robert Frank and Diane Arbus, and muses on how a Finnish artist so convincingly captured American nostalgia
https://www.glitchmarfa.com/e30dgallery/life-in-west-america/
Verse (Journal/Twitter Space) – “Creative Control: Authorship & AI”
Twitter Space panel with Chikai Ohazama, 2024
In this dialogue, Rainisto reflects on the 15 months since LIWA, discussing how the Braindrops release came about, and how his perspective on the AI art space evolved.
The conversation covers the genesis of Life in WestAmerica, his relationship with the AI art community, and his feelings ahead of the Vacation drop.
Helsingin Sanomat (largest newspaper in Finland): Tekoälytaiteilija
Article about Roope Rainisto and his art (article in Finnish).
AI Art Weekly – Interview Issue #7
Nov 4, 2022
One of Rainisto’s earliest interviews, appearing in AI Art Weekly. Rainisto describes his concept of the “virtual camera” – treating AI generators as a camera to capture imagined scenes – and notes he had been using AI tools for about 15 months at that point. He mentions working on building the “building blocks” for short AI movies, indicating his narrative ambitions even before his major NFT releases. The interview covers his background in UX design and photography, and outlines his excitement about the fast evolution of AI art.
