Late last year, the New York Times published an article about the resurgence of cubicles and how employers—eager to get workers back in the office—are allowing them to decorate their workspaces in creative, highly personal ways.

After reading the story, Neil Kremer and Cory Johnson, photographers and principals at Kremer/Johnson Photography in Los Angeles, created “Personal Space,” a series of images that finds employees—well, actors playing employees—inhabiting hyper-stylized cubes reflecting their passions.

One setup transforms a cubicle into a sauna, while another resembles a Tiki bar. There’s also a spaceship, a backyard (complete with working garden hose ) and a comfy parlor.

Kremer and Johnson created the concepts and handled casting, art direction, set design and construction. They built the cubicles and shot the photos in their Redondo Beach studio.

The duo regularly shoot for clients such as Ford, Hulu, Bulletproof Coffee and Joybird. Here, they discuss recent projects and reflect on the making of “Personal Space.”

MUSE: What was it about that New York Times article that inspired this project?

Neil: It seemed very timely. It seemed like something we could have fun with. We decided to buy a cubicle and start from there.

Have you spent any portion of your careers in a cubicle?

Cory: Yeah. When I was 20, and it was maybe the last time I had an actual job. I was like, “This sucks. I can’t do this.”

Neil: Let’s see—all told, through two different jobs, I guess I had 14 years in a cubicle. I personally didn’t mind it. I like it better than the big open space of today, which I find intrusive.

Cory: I guess my reaction wasn’t so much to the cubicle as it was just the general office environment. I realized really quickly that I’m a terrible employee and just wasn’t suited to the environment.

Neil, you mentioned you bought a cubicle to serve as the base of this project. I assume most people who buy cubicles run big offices and buy them in bulk. Is it easy to buy just one cubicle?

Neil: Well, we live in Los Angeles, and this is not a joke—we can get you a giraffe, a cobra, a 1954 Chevelle and a three-foot-tall monkey that has pink diarrhea—all in one hour.

Cory: It’s all out there.

Neil: There’s so much kind of cottage retail here in strip malls. One guy found there’s a lot of businesses going out of business, or moving employees away from office space into home life. So, he started buying them up and reselling them. This guy’s got 14,000 cubicles in this warehouse, and they’re all beat up. So, he says, “Yeah, pick out what you want, and bring it up front.”

Once you got the cubicle to your studio, which ‘Personal Space’ scenario did you create first?

Cory: The sauna—it was just so awesome and so finished looking. It really leveled up the whole project. We were like, “Well, we can’t really go backwards now. There’s no putting tchotchke’s on desktops. We’ve got to build a spaceship.”

I loved the spaceship. That was so ambitious. How did you come up with the ideas for the  cubicles?

Cory: Conceptually, this was all born out of daydreaming and spitballing ideas. A lot of it was, “What can we actually accomplish building ourselves?” Like the spaceship. That was talked about early on. We were both like, “There’s no way we could build a freakin’ spaceship and make it look cool.” And the more crafty we got, we were just like, “Well, let’s take a stab at that spaceship.” Some of them were spawned by props we found, or casting submissions—that person would look good at a Tiki bar, for example.

Neil: A lot of it came down to believability, too. We wanted it to look like something that someone would really do.

I feel like everyone can relate to Tiki cubicle. Who doesn’t daydream about being on vacation when they are at work? 

Cory: That was basically based on a Trader Vic’s or a Four Seasons kind of bar, and the idea was that this woman went on this amazing vacation once when she was maybe 32 and just had a fantastic time. Saved up her whole early adulthood to go on this trip, and wants to relive that experience every day. It was the place where she’s comfortable and relaxed, and she wanted to bring that kind of vibe to her office. We did a lot of image research on that, trying to find out what these more refined Tiki bars look like. What are the materials they use? What’s the color palette? What are the props? And then we started finding it. Typically, with all of these, we bought a ton of props and had a bunch of art elements on hand and used maybe half of what we had on hand for each thing.

Were there any cubicles that you wanted to create but just couldn’t get done for whatever reason?

Cory: We had a great idea for a crocheted cubicle.

Neil: We wanted to crochet the entire cubicle and everything in it, and it was just too costly.

Why is it important for commercial photographers and other creatives of all means, even those with limited funds, to create personal projects?

Cory: It’s making what you want to make versus being told what to make. One of them is a job, which is an awesome job, and we’re very fortunate to have it. The other one is fun, and we are fortunate to be able to have fun. We didn’t really have a budget for this. I don’t want to spend all of our money. It forced us to get crafty with sourcing props and finding talent that was excited about the concepts and were willing to do it on a dime, and just putting in blood, sweat and tears.

Whether you’re collaborating on a job with a brand or creating a personal project like this one, why do you two work so well together?

Cory: I don’t think a lot of people can do it. It takes a setting aside of your ego and an ability to take criticism and not take anything personally. You kind of got to get out of your own way to be able to work with somebody else in a creative capacity.

Neil: You just can’t take it personally. Like Cory said, you’ve got to check your ego at the door and realize that every bit of criticism is given with the intent of landing on a better product, a better result, and as long as you get your ideas heard, that in itself should take away any ego you have.

Cory: Part of the reason why this works is we have similar aesthetics and tastes, but personality wise, we are not the same at all, and we probably approach projects from a different perspective. I’ll start out with a bigger-picture idea and broad strokes, and Neil hones it. He’s awesome at details and refining things. So, it’s just a really natural and easy partnership.

Mainly a street photographer, Vivian Maier took thousands of photos in New York City and Chicago between the 1950s and 1990s, capturing impactful images of people going about their daily lives. But Maier, who lived a modest life as a live-in nanny, printed very few of her photos.

Her work might have gone undiscovered if not for John Maloof. In 2007, Maloof, then a real estate agent, bought a trunk of Maier’s prints and negatives at a storage house auction. Realizing he had discovered something special, Maloof tracked down more of Maier’s oeuvre and acquired everything he could get his hands on.

Maloof never met Maier, who died in 2009 at the age of 83. But he made it his mission to get her work out into the world, posting her photographs online before they were shared through books and exhibits.

He also co-directed (with Charlie Siskel) a documentary about the photographer’s life—2013’s Finding Vivian Maier. The film (available on multiple streamers) includes interviews with those who knew the Bronx-born Maier. The daughter of a French mother and Austrian father, she spent much of her childhood in France.

According to relatives and those who hired her as a nanny—including talk show host Phil Donohue— Maier was a private, even reclusive, personality. She spoke with a slight French accent and often told conflicting stories about her background.

Maier was unhoused near the end of her life. Some of the children she nannied stepped up to pay for an apartment and later, nursing home care.

Today, Maier is hailed as one of the greatest photographers of the 20^th century by some critics—and wrongly discounted as an amateur by others. (It’s obvious where I stand.)

You can judge for yourself after visiting “Vivian Maier: Unseen Work.” The first major U.S. retrospective of her images, it runs at NYC’s Fotografiska through Sept. 29, underwritten by Kering’s Women in Motion initiative, which spotlights women’s contributions to culture and the arts.

Curated by Anne Morin, director of DiChroma Photography, the exhibit debuted in Paris at the Musée du Luxembourg and boasts more than 200 prints—plus Super 8 films and audio recordings. Camera buffs can check out Maier’s square-format Rolleiflex and Leica, both on display.

Maier often focused her lens on everyday people and the less fortunate, but the exhibit includes lovely some candid shots of Lena Horne, photographed by chance on the street in the 1950s.

The photographer also shot self-portraits on occasion, providing glimpses of her reflected in store windows and mirrors.

An Andy Warhol painting, believed lost for decades, has risen—like a campy, cerulean phoenix—to make headlines and power Absolut’s latest ad campaign.

The artwork in question—rendered in hues of blue—depicts one of the brand’s vodka bottles. Absolut tapped Warhol to create the piece in 1985, along with a second, more colorful representation.

The latter was immortalized in a famous print and billboard series. But the blue version wasn’t used at the time. In fact, the silk-screen’s whereabouts long remained unknown, and its existence lapsed into legend.

Until the gem surfaced at an auction in 2020.

Now, it fronts an Absolut initiative from The Mix Stockholm and Parapix director Santiago Sierra Soler. The push includes limited-edition bottles, videos, OOH elements and retail displays.

“Warhol was a big supporter of Absolut’s mission,” says VP, marketing Matt Foley. “And now that the ‘blue’ painting has finally been rediscovered, we’re excited to honor his legacy with this new bottle as a way for consumers to have a piece of his art in their homes.”

And you won’t have to pay six figures.

The painting itself will be exhibited as part of a Warhol show at Stockholm’s Spritmuseum in October.

In the future, all of us may become world-famous for 15 minutes. But Andy’s cultural relevance—and power to boost brands—will never wind down.

Tiffany Nicole Ervin is getting a lot of attention for competing on the most recent season of the CBS’ Survivor. But the New Jersey native is also an accomplished artist known for creating colorful acrylic paintings and digital artwork as well as apparel.

“I like to consider myself an all-around creative,” Ervin tells Muse. “It’s whatever the spirit moves me to do in that moment—that’s what I go for.”

Here, the self-taught artist discusses how her positive personality drives her work. She also highlights projects for brands like the New York Rangers and Knicks, Jordan and Nike.

MUSE: How did you get on Survivor 46?

Tiffany Nicole Ervin: I started watching in high school. I applied when I was in my early twenties, and I never heard back. I kind of went, “Okay, I guess that’s that.” And somewhere along the line, 10 years later, I decided I was going to go for it again. After watching some of the new-era seasons, I was like, “You know what? I feel like I’m in a difference place in my life because 33-year-old Tiffany and 23-year-old Tiffany have lived two different lives. I’ve been through a lot more. Maybe I’m a little more prepared to go on the show now.” I submitted the audition tape, and got a call right back. I think the universe was just waiting for me to be ready before it put me on the show. Because now, knowing what I had to go through, I know 23-year-old me would have been chewed up and spit out. 

Your fellow competitors included rocker Ben Katzman. And lots of other creative people, including writer/actor Mike White, who developed the HBO series White Lotus, have competed on Survivor over the years. Do you think there is a special place on the show for creative types?

Absolutely. You have to have some element of a free spirit. You have to be able to move, have a certain fluidity about you. And people who are artists and creatives tend to fit into those categories. I feel like it’s something that any person with an adventurous spirit would want to try to accomplish. And artists, by nature, we have adventurous spirits. We’re curious. We want to explore. And Survivor is the ultimate adventure.

When you got home from Survivor in Fiji, did you get back to making art right away?

I wasn’t in a rush to create. It took me about a week-and-a-half to decompress. I came home, got my phone back, I didn’t even use it. I texted my parents and siblings like, “Hey, I made it home safe, but give me a week to learn how to be human again.” And it wasn’t until I had the chance to digest what the experience that I was able to make some doodles. And then I did a really cool painting. But it took me a while to jump back in.

Did you know from a young age that you were going to be an artist?

In school, I was into the ceramics, the painting, the drawing classes. I took it all. But career-wise, I never thought I’d be an artist because everybody always scared me when I was growing up, saying things like, “Oh, artists are poor. Artists don’t make any money. It’s such a hard field to break into.”

So, when I went to college, I was a political science major, and I was quickly humbled by that because I did not enjoy it at all. Then I got into the entertainment industry doing video production. It wasn’t until about 2016 that I started doing artwork for fun again. I started showing my paintings to my friends, and they were like, “Tiffany, we had no idea that you were this good.” And I started sharing [my work] on social media. And people started reaching out, and it kind of took off. 

Your paintings and prints are vibrant and joyful. Where does that come from?

The joy is heavily influenced by my personality. I would also say it’s influenced by my perspective on the world, and I think that’s a good and a bad thing at times, because I’m a person who is really optimistic about everything, about people, about situations. My friends kind of warn me, “You’re so nice. You always see the best in people. You always see the good in every situation. Sometimes, you’ve got to learn to see the bad a little bit.” They describe me as a unicorn, or somebody who walks around with her head in the clouds. But those are just the things that I gravitate towards—color, liveliness, brightness. That’s what makes me feel the most alive.

Your work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions, and you’ve created art for major brands, including the Rangers. Tell me about that project.

That project was amazing and echoes a lot of the reality of how I have worked with a lot of brands. Most of the time they just find me on Instagram [Ervin’s handle is @tiffycrazycool]. They’ll reach out, and they’ll give me a prompt or a project, and I’ll get started from there.

It was actually Madison Square Garden that reached out to me, and for the Rangers I designed a custom hockey jersey and a puck for a Black History Month game. They were reaching out to Black artists, and they wanted our perspective on what we would want the players to wear and do and feel in that moment, in that celebration.

I also did some work with the Knicks. I was able to make some digital work they put on the Jumbotron during the game.

After I saw your work for the Knicks, I was thinking I would love to see you work with the N.Y. Liberty.

I would love to, because I used to play basketball. That would be the perfect alignment of the stars.

You’ve also done some cool projects with the Jordan Brand.

Jordan had me design 50 custom art pieces. I designed them digitally. They were art prints. I designed the art prints, and I signed and numbered them 1 through 50, and each print was placed in a box that was sent out to some of their influencers to promote the new Jordan’s women’s line that was coming out.

And you’ve created art for Nike.

I’ve done a ton of digital work for them across different brands like Jimmy Jazz and the proper Nike account. What I do is usually digital imagery that they’ll put on their website and in stores.

Every year, Nike has Air Max Day. They celebrate the Air Max sneaker, one of the most popular Nike sneakers. They sent me a couple of sneakers, and I was able to create artwork inspired by the sneakers. They put that on their social channel, and they put some of the branding in Jimmy Jazz stores. They sent it out to a few influencers and celebrities. 

I have seen and admired your sneaker collection on your Instagram account. Do you have dream clients that you would love to work with?

Yes! Two of my biggest dream clients are Apple and Target. Apple specifically because I use all of their technology to create my art. And Target because I absolutely adore the collaborations that they do with independent artists and women, whether it be custom prints or merchandise or clothes.

Now that you’ve been on Survivor, have you heard from any new brands that want to work with you?

I did a speaking engagement for Adobe, which is another dream client of mine. It was amazing. They had me come in and speak to some of their college ambassadors. I ran them through my artistic journey, and then I held a contest where each of the college ambassadors used Adobe Express to create their own Survivor tribe flag. I was able to pick a couple of winners, and they won prizes through Adobe. That was just one of the beautiful opportunities I’ve had so far.

Nadya Tolokonnikova, artist, activist and creator of the global feminist protest art movement Pussy Riot, has devoted her life to pursuing social justice—no matter the consequences.

In 2012, she was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in staging Pussy Riot’s anti-Putin performance piece “A Punk Prayer” at a Moscow cathedral. She spent much of that time in a remote penal colony before she was pardoned in 2013.

More recently, “Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist”—a piece featuring artwork hand-drawn on a digitized copy of her 2012 prison sentencing documents—and the short art film “Putin’s Ashes” landed her on the Russian Interior Ministry’s wanted list for 2023.

Here, Nadya, who is headlining a sold out benefit for New York City’s American Folk Art Museum on May 16, discusses Pussy Riot’s origins, her upcoming museum show at Austria’s OK Linz and what gives her hope.

Muse: Why did you want to headline the American Folk Art Museum benefit?

Nadya Tolokonnikova: I love the idea of uplifting self-taught artists, so AFAM is a very cool fit. In my early art action days with [the art collective] VOINA and early Pussy Riot, we raged against the “wine and cheese” openings of galleries and museums. We wanted to show more raw expression, so we did art in the subway, the streets, courtrooms, released things on YouTube, and generally got kicked out of fancy galleries and museums. But what came with that was a self-taught and DIY ethos. Of course, we honored the lineage of artists who came before us and inspired us. But there were no graduate programs at the time on how to upset the government so much with your art that they threw you in jail one day.

AFAM displays and champions the work of self-taught artists like yourself. What do such artists have to offer?  

We always joke that in early Pussy Riot days, the only thing we had to offer was the chance of getting arrested. We had no money, we had no support from galleries or museums, we were on our own. If you wanted to take part you were welcome. If you hesitated at all, or asked for too much, you were out. We were very serious about our mission and our vision.

 

 

 

 

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Can you tell me about your new art series “Dark Matter,” which will be featured along with some of your other work at an exhibit called “RAGE” opening in June at OK Linz?

This new series is a reflection on what I’ve lost. 

My upbringing was in a snowy town north of the Arctic Circle. It was so polluted that the snow was black and the rivers were red. These pieces are a nostalgia, a trauma bond with those places, of which I still have visions that remind me of the things I’ve lost.

Not everyone may think a power plant next to an orthodox cathedral is the subject of warm nostalgia, but it is my experience. These are still part of my identity, and I explore those things in this series. They are based on photographs I took while in my country, or things that spiritually remind me of it, engraved onto wood, black with ink and inlaid with calligraphic work. It’s an old Slavanic language and style used in icons/churches known as Vyaz. Yes, the same church that accused me of religious hatred or blasphemy. So, again, this is a reclamation of an identity. 

The OK Linz exhibit marks your first solo museum exhibition. What does it mean to have your own show in a museum?

We won’t be having wine and cheese. We will open the event with black metal and rage, and, of course, imagery of Putin burning.

It was heartening that the curators and director Alfred Weidinger were not afraid of being political or for taking a stance against Putin and against the war. In fact, he encouraged me to lean in. I wish more people in positions of power in the art world encouraged political art, promoting feminism and freedom and all those good things, even if it might upset some people.

In a press release, you are quoted as saying, “Politically and culturally, we’re entering the new Dark Ages, but I believe that better times will come—I believe, because it is absurd.” Part of me was surprised to read that you believe better times will come. But then I thought, why should I be surprised? A person who has devoted their life to resisting an oppressive regime wouldn’t do so if they didn’t have hope. What gives you hope?

On a broader scale, it’s hard to find. But on a personal level, when people can come together, united against a common enemy, that can bring hope. We did a fundraiser for Ukraine at the beginning of the war, which people from all over supported. Then, when I was planning the “Putin’s Ashes” action and video, I was joined by women from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia who felt an acute hatred towards Putin. We came from different places, but we were united in our symbolic resistance. This meant a lot to me.

Beyond your art about fighting for social justice, do you make personal art that you don’t share with the world? Art that is just for yourself?

I’m very self-critical, so some art I do never sees the light of day. But in my practice, sharing art is as essential as creating it. In that sense, those pieces that I never shared are dead because they failed to inspire others. 

How can art change the world?

By inspiring others to not self-censor, show you can be brave and loud and scream against oppression. Hopefully, someone else will see that and say, “I can do that, too.”

I am also obsessed with this latte art you made of the zoned-out cat who appears in so many memes.

So many people, myself included, can relate to this cat’s expressions. So, I just had to do a latte with it.

Similar to the process with smoothies, I chose the color that would go well with the subject as the backdrop—in this case, light green, using matcha sweetened with agave syrup. I used ready-made cold brew coffee, and layered it with whipped, sweetened oat cream.

I then “painted” the background with the matcha mixed with the cream.This gives a more natural look to the painting and adds a  cool stop-motion animation element to the video.

I then drew the outline of the cat with cream before incorporating the other colors using superfoods mixed with cream.

This cat inspired me to do a whole latte series dedicated to meme cats.

Do you have to work quickly and more efficiently given that you are making art with food?

Yes, I do have to work somewhat quickly. Working with food has given me a limited-time window to complete the art—therefore, less time to overthink things, which I really appreciate.

Additionally, working with food has also helped me embrace curiosity as well as broad thinking and interests—seeing different materials in a new light, seeing how a range of experiences can converge into creating something unique.

Can you tell me about your project for Warner Bros.?

The Harry Potter team reached out to me to create smoothie art video content for their Halloween campaign. They wanted to showcase creatives who use unique mediums and methods to create art. They wanted a design based on magical characters, creatures or icons from the Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts films.

Being a huge Harry Potter fan, I was so grateful and thrilled to be part of this project. I created a smoothie bowl based on the character Hedwig, Harry Potter’s trusted owl.

And how about your collaboration with Le Creuset?

Le Creuset got in touch with me to create several different artworks for a summer campaign to showcase one of their iconic core colors—Caribbean—and incorporate messages aligned with the color story.

I am a big fan of Le Creuset and again, so honored to be part of this campaign and produce not one but four different videos. Inspired by their Caribbean line, I created a beach smoothie bowl and two motivational toasts with slogans that align with the color’s theme—”Moment of Zen.”

After you photograph or make a video of your food art to post on social media, do you eat it? Or give it to someone to eat?

Yes, I eat them. Or my husband and I will eat them together.

What do you get out of the experience of making ephemeral art?

People sometimes ask why I go through the trouble just to “destroy” the creations soon after. To be honest, I see it as an opportunity to create another piece of art through the swirling, shaking and spreading videos, which could not have been achieved using different or traditional media.

Ultimately, creating ephemeral art has taught me a lot about balance, letting go and looking at things holistically. It reminds me that life is temporary and that every moment and every beauty should be savored.

 

 

 

 

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Bohemian. Cowboy. Goth. Looks so unique they defy categorization. The wealth of sartorial creativity seen on the sidewalks of NYC never ceases to delight photographer Johnny Cirillo, who’s chronicled the Big Apple’s street-fashion parade for nearly a decade.

Known as the People’s Paparazzi, Cirillo posts his candid images of stylish people on @WatchingNewYork, an Instagram account that reaches 1.3 million followers. Cirillo has a massive audience on TikTok, too. And, now, he’s added book author to his impressive resume.

Watching New York: Street Style A to Z features a foreword by model Gigi Hadid and more than 200 pages of Cirillo’s iconic images as well as lots of fresh snaps. The volume was spotted in the wild at the famously well-curated MoMA gift shop this past weekend.

Dog lovers will be happy to know the book even devotes space to New York’s fashionable pooches.

Here, Cirillo celebrates a person who believed in his talent early on, explains why he not only photographs but also talks to strangers and reveals whether he has any interest in chronicling street fashion in cities other than his native New York.

MUSE: In the introduction to your book, you write about how you were working at Colony Studios, observing other photographers taking photos of the likes of Bella Hadid. Your boss, Gio, encouraged you to go out and pursue your own passion for photography full time. He believed in you. How did you feel about what he did?

Johnny Cirillo: Gio is a very creative, very talented artist himself. And when there’s someone else who you look up to in this world who gives you a push, you embrace it. I was happy he canned me.  

Not all street-fashion photographers engage their subjects. But you also talk to them. What do you get from those conversations?

Friendship! That’s number one. Human connection is so important to me. Seeing past the clothes and a little deeper means we’re starting to trust each other. Once you learn something from someone else you carry it and them with you forever.  

Why is fashion—street fashion in particular—of interest to you?

The simplest answer is that it’s just something beautiful that I want to look at later on. It’s art to me. 

You capture some of your subjects over and over again in the book. Do you feel a little thrill when you see one of your repeat subjects walking toward you? 

Seeing someone in a great outfit once is a blast. But seeing them a second time makes me think it’s not a fluke. I like to think of the page as a TV show, and these are the characters that make it worth watching. 

Do you have any interest in photographing people in other cities, or is there enough going on here in New York to keep you busy forever?

I’ve been to Paris and loved it. Yes, I would love to explore the rest of the world! One day. 

Relaxing in a giant, steaming bowl of soup like it’s a hot tub. Strutting down a fashion runway with all the gear they need to do their daily chores. Floating on sushi rolls in a pool at the Museum of Modern Aunties.

Aunties can do all that and more, thanks to niceaunties. The artist has worked as a designer in the architectural field for the past 20 years, launching into AI in 2023.

Her imaginative output quickly gained a following on Instagram and YouTube. It was recently exhibited at ZONAMACO, the largest art fair in Latin America. Her first solo show in Germany drops in April during Gallery Weekend Berlin.

Here, the artist discusses the challenges of AI and the reactions she gets to her work.

Where did the idea for niceaunties come from?

Initially, my goal was to use AI to depict events and social phenomena that are difficult to capture, especially the memories of my family members and the charming yet peculiar behaviors of people in my culture. The “auntie culture,” widespread in Asian communities, became a natural subject for exploration. However, I aimed to offer a positive and uplifting view on the notion of being labeled an auntie, which often carries negative connotations.

Are there any women in particular who inspire your creations?

Yes! My late grandmother, very socially active mother and my aunties. They are pivotal characters in my childhood, since women are the main caretakers. The quirky things they say, their delicious foods, their fears, dreams and self-constraints, their social interactions inspired my work.

 

 

 

 

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How do you create a piece of niceaunties art?

Firstly, I conceptualize the main idea or emotion I wish to project. I then use text-to-image AI programs to explore the concept. This process might inspire more ideas. The images are then upscaled and processed in animation software. Those sequences are then edited into a video. The music is created through AI software; voiceover with an AI tool. 

Tell me more about the specific AI tools you use.

I use Midjourney and DALL·E 3 for text to image creation, magnific.ai and Topaz Labs for upscaling the images, Pikalabs and Runwayml for animation.

How long does it take to create a niceaunties original?

Anywhere from half a day to one month.

Aside from aunties, there are lots of cats in your work. Do you have a cat?

I do not have a cat, though I envy people who do. They seem utterly delightful and lovable. I create imaginary cat companions in my AI art as a dream for the future.

How would you like to see AI change or improve?

AI programs often have filters that limit the capacity of creation. Even if the intention is completely innocent, the prompt might be banned for unclear reasons. When I first started exploring AI, the programs did not adhere to the prompts exactly, which was frustrating. This has since improved tremendously. The future? Perhaps a direct connection from the brain to an AI device?

I discovered your work on Instagram. Why do you enjoy sharing your art via social media?

Sharing my art online, especially on Instagram, is like having a public diary filled with work-in-progress creations. I would say it is a practice in vulnerability and courage. What I enjoy is community engagement and mutual support with other artists. 

And what kind of reactions do you get to the work you post online?

The typical reactions broken down into ratios: 60 percent love it, 20 percent ask about mushrooms and substances, 20 percent are against the use of AI.

 

 

 

 

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Is there a particular museum or gallery you wish would show your work?

It would be a dream to exhibit my work in MoMA. 

Who are your favorite artists?

David Bowie, Picasso, Salvador Dali.

How do you stay inspired to create?

I meditate, watch movies, have conversations with people.  

Do you ever get into a rut where you feel like you don’t have any ideas; how do you break out of that?

Very rarely! If I do, I will break out of the typical activities and do something new or travel. A change in scenery always helps.

“The inspiration came from the 1998 Brazilian film Central Station’ depicting the true story of a retired school teacher who wrote letters for illiterate individuals,” say Lucas Casão and Guilherme Rácz, SVPs at McCann. “The image of her in the streets, skillfully crafting people’s stories into letters, seemed truly honest and powerful. That kept us thinking about how nice it would be if we could use AI to turn different holiday stories into masterpieces.”

In addition to the long-form ad, seven individual stories were packaged as 30-second spots. Andree Ljutica directed. Consumers can learn how the memories were brought to life and visit Bing to create their own stories.

“This campaign is centered on rekindling connections with people, memories, and the things we cherish most about the holiday season,” says McCann EVP, executive global CD Cristina Reina. “We chose AI to amplify those feelings and evoke a sense of wonder. To show how incredible a modern tool like AI could make those past memories and connections feel new.”

CREDITS

Microsoft
Kathleen Hall | Corporate VP of Brand  
Sven Seger | General  Manager, Global Creative  
Carol Phillips | General Manager, Global Advertising  
Sunita Richardson | Senior Director, Brand Strategy + Ops, Chief of Staff  
Aleksey Fedorov | Director, Global Brand Marketing  
Kaity Butcher | Brand Manager, Microsoft Brand Studio  
Pia Rodriguez | Global Brand Strategist  
Stephanie Quartararo | Managing Advisor, Content Creation  

McCann 
Creative
Sean Bryan | CCO & ECD Global Brands, North America 
Shayne Millington | CCO & ECD Global Brands, NY 
Cristina Reina | EVP, Executive Global Creative Director  
Pete Johnson | EVP, Executive Global Creative Director  
Lucas Casão | SVP, Group Creative Director  
Guilherme Rácz | SVP, Group Creative Director  
Camilla Ciappina | Associate Creative Director  
Daniel Trimarchi | Associate Creative Director  
Matthew van Leeuwen | EVP, Head of Design 
Mook Phoungbut | Design Director 

Business Leadership
John Dunleavy | President, McCann Worldgroup
Socrates Papazoglou | SVP, Executive Account Director  
Hugh Simpson | VP, Account Director  
Marguerite Daly | Account Director  
Courtney Marin | Account Director  

Project Management
Anne Denny | VP, Project Management Director 

Strategy
Emily Portnoy | Chief Strategy Officer
Sam Chotiner | EVP, Executive Strategy Director
Danielle Noto | SVP, Group Strategy Director
Kyla Jackson | Strategist

Production
Aaron Kovan | Chief Production Officer  
Stacy Flaum | SVP, Executive Producer 
Debbie Myllek | Talent Payment Manager  
David Halberstadt | Integrated Production Business Manager 
Jamie Jou | Director of Music Licensing

APR  
Stephanie Quartararo | Managing Advisor, Content Creation 
Tommy Murov | Post/VFX Advisor 

Craft Worldwide 
Andree Ljutica | Director  
Adam Hirsch | SVP, Head of Content, North America  
Zoe Greene | Executive Producer  
Kim Anderson | Line Producer  
Malik Dupree | Photographer 
Marta Gromysz | Business Director
Lisa Kawamoto | Client Partner Americas Language Services
Ajit Jha | Project Director, Translation

No6 
Corina Dennison | Executive Producer  
Laura Molinaro | Head of Production  
James Duffy | Editor  
Nick Schneider | Editor 

Revolve Audio 
Paul Weiss | Mix Engineer  
Gilda McCrann | Studio Director 

Music:
JSM