AI Creator James Gerde Transforms Videos into Origami Art

It was about a year ago that I first broached the subject of artificial intelligence as it relates to paper art on this blog. Sharing the link across social media created a rush of strong opinions. Concerns were voiced about the unethical hijacking of art that can come about as a result of AI.

 

While this is regrettably true at times, the artist I'm drawing your attention to today, filmmaker, photographer, and musician James Gerde of GerdeGotIt, is transparent about the fact that he is using AI to create remarkable videos that he posts on Instagram. James (although he generally goes by Gerde) tags the original artist and clearly marks his work as AI. Midjourney, the program he uses, is often tagged as well. 

 

Note that most of the photos in this post are screenshots from Gerde's videos that are best viewed on Instagram.

 

  

So, how does this relate to paper art? You'll find a number of recent videos on each of his two IG accounts, @gerdegotit and @gerdedoesit, that showcase the mesmerizing movements of dancers, athletes, and musicians that he has translated into origami forms in motion.

 

 

I'll let you decide as to whether you're impressed by his work, but there's no doubt that it is catching a huge amount of attention. Perhaps you'll be just as dazzled as I was upon viewing the reel below that he captioned, "a crumpled ball of paper dances." Rhythmic gymnast and dancer Brigita Krasovec is credited as the original artist.

This AI-generated origami art is rather a new venture for Gerde. In other reels on his IG feeds you'll find that he converted a figure into glass, animals into crocheted creatures, and brought an ancient statue to life.

 

 

Gerde readily answers many viewers' questions about his process, invites direct messages, and is genuinely appreciative of the contacts he has made via his art. A fine collaborator, his goal is to one day make movies.

 

 

It's only in the past 18 months or so that Gerde taught himself to use AI, although he clearly was proficient at computer skills prior to this. On his 28th birthday this past September 28, Gerde posted a message to his followers:

 

"I've spent thousands of hours over the last year learning all of this tech from when it was in its infancy, all with the hopes of being able to express myself. Seeing that expression resonate with so many people makes 14 year old me so happy. That angst ridden depressed kid from Seattle just wanted to create, he wanted to share his thoughts with the world, and we made it."

 

James Gerde

 

You'll find Gerde on TikTok and YouTube, although his largest audience (more than 900,000 followers) is on Instagram where he has two accounts, @gerdegotit and @gerdedoesit. While GerdeGotIt is his main account, he started GerdeDoesIt in December as a place to show more of himself, his process, and artistic ventures. 

 

 

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