Frank Jacobus is a designer and a professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. He has always been fascinated by transforming ordinary objects into art pieces. Recently, he utilized the neural network Midjourney for such transformations, resulting in a series of visual fantasies centered around chairs and fruits. He named this collection “Fruity.”
In this way, artificial intelligence helped the designer explore the question: what happens when fruits become furniture?
It’s important to clarify that Midjourney is a neural network that generates images based on textual descriptions. In other words, the neural network recognizes printed text and transforms it into visuals.
Thanks to this magical tool, Frank Jacobus delved into the realm of art created by artificial intelligence. Through the Fruity series, he sought to understand how AI produces new forms of hybridity and how objects with different identities come together to create a new whole. In this series, he explored fruit-furniture hybrids that showcased a blend of bold shapes, colors, and textures, as reported by Designboom.
For enthusiasts of contemporary art, design, and architecture, the Fruity series presents a vibrant and whimsical collection of “juicy” fruit chairs and armchairs. In it, melon, passion fruit, grapes, pitaya (dragon fruit), papaya, pomegranate, and kiwi take on the role of furniture. They are certainly unusual, yet undeniably aesthetically appealing.
Image Generation with AI – A New Chapter in Design
Recently, traditional artists and architects have increasingly turned to neural networks. This helps to expand design possibilities without limits, particularly in industrial and interior design.
According to Frank Jacobus, Midjourney and other AI tools “are transforming architecture and design thinking, and we can expect significant progress soon.” He states that these “assistants” allow artists to “quickly create everything they envision at that moment,” resulting in astonishing visuals.
For instance, by using the Midjourney neural network, which is based on text recognition algorithms and image creation, even mundane household items can be given extraordinary appearances.
Regarding the Fruity series, Frank Jacobus managed to convince viewers that sitting in such surreal chairs could be quite comfortable.
Moreover, the designer playfully invited his fans to imagine that these pieces of furniture emit a subtle fruity aroma when you sit in them. Perhaps this is the first step toward feeling like a bee or a butterfly.