Meow everyone! I’m Mucincina, a cat with a refined instinct and a penetrating gaze, just like Wanda Wulz’s in her famous photograph Io + Gatto

 

Let’s start with an image. At the exhibition at the Magazzino delle Idee in Trieste, we closely observed Io + Gatto, the famous photograph by Wanda Wulz. A work that blends the human face with that of a cat, playing with overlays to create a new, hybrid, visionary identity

Taken in 1932, this photograph gave us a chance to reflect: while back then the fusion of human and animal was achieved through double exposure, today we could achieve a similar result – and even animate it – with artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, or Runway.

But what does this mean for creativity? If the idea of giving a voice to Mucincina, the real cat of the Wulz family, is ours, but its realization passes through AI, who is really the author?

To explore this question, we decided to conduct an experiment: using new technologies to bring Mucincina to life and have her conduct an impossible interview. A game, of course, but also a way to question the relationship between human and artificial creativity. Is it a natural evolution of the art world? Is artificial intelligence just a tool, or can it be considered an integral part of the creative process

In creating the project, Julian Kellner used several artificial intelligence tools to complete the experiment. ‘The programs I used to make this video are: Midjourney to create the image of the cat, Runway both to move the cat in the photo and to make it speak, ElevenLabs to generate the cat’s voice, and finally Premiere to edit the video with the audio and soundtrack. I had a lot of fun doing this work because I was able to better learn how to use all the AI tools, and I realized how useful they are for creating videos and generating images.’ This reflection and experimentation raise important questions about the future of creativity: if AIs are capable of generating and transforming autonomously, where is the boundary between human and artificial works?

Perhaps the real issue lies in how we choose to use these tools. Just as Wanda Wulz overlapped images to explore new identities, today artificial intelligence opens up unprecedented possibilities. But, ultimately, the heart of creativity remains human: it lies in the idea, the vision, and the ability to transform technology into artistic expression.

 

We cats are curious by nature, so I would like to ask my owner a few questions, because her art still lives on, transforms, and questions us. Imagine being with me in the Wulz studio in the central Hierschel building in Trieste, among glass panes and moments immortalized forever. She is here, ready to answer, with the same curious gaze with which she fused her face with mine

IMPOSSIBLE INTERVIEW
Curated by the cat Mucincina

Meow, Wanda! In 1932, you were the only photographer in Trieste. What was it like for a creature like you to work in a male-dominated environment?
I never thought of photography in terms of men and women, Mucincina. Just as you cats see the world with different eyes, I looked at it through the lens. My obsession was light, movement, and storytelling. I photographed because it was my natural language, thanks to the professional legacy I received. If my work was recognized, it’s because it spoke for itself, not because I was a woman among men. I prefer that people talk about my images, not about my condition.

I see… even we felines don’t like labels! But tell me, what do you want to communicate with your images
Each shot seems like the result of instinct, but just like every jump, it’s actually a combination of instinct and practice. Identity is not fixed, but constantly evolving. Photography freezes movement, but at the same time, it amplifies it, emphasizes it. I like to encourage the viewer to see the world as a dynamic flow, an ever-changing universe, just like your keen gaze that captures every nuance of reality.

Interesting… but tell me, which aspects of society did you want to represent with your photographic experiments?
I tried to capture the dynamism of modern life, the fusion of man and machine, the simultaneity of experiences. I explored photodynamism because I was fascinated by the idea of freezing energy in an image. Io + Gatto evokes the animal instinct and feminine sensuality, a play of overlays to explore new forms of visual expression.

Finally, let’s talk about me… And tell me, Wanda, how has our sublime feline nature inspired you?
You cats are mysterious and fascinating creatures, Mucincina. Elegance, independence, a sense of time all your own. In 1932, inspired by the experiments of photodynamism and my passion for Futurist movement, I decided to create an image that represented the fusion between the human and the animal. The cat, with its grace and enigmatic gaze, seemed the ideal subject to explore this interconnection. Through the technique of double exposure, I overlaid my face with that of the cat, creating a hybrid image that challenges conventions and invites the viewer to reflect on the fluidity of identity.

O great choice, I would say. We, as feline creatures have a lot to teach humans!

I know well what it means to observe the world from above, curled up on a windowsill, with the tail swinging in the air. From your window of the building Hierschel in Trieste on the central Corso You have seen the city change before your eyes. Did you feel like witnesses to history?
Each day carried with it the weight of something that would be imprinted, just like your light paw prints on the cushions. We watched Trieste transform: the streets, the people, the shadows stretching across the Corso. But we didn’t have the awareness that we were ‘capturing history.’ We were spectators, silent witnesses. Only with time did we realize that it wasn’t just us capturing time with photography… it was history itself that was capturing us.

Meow, Wanda, your words I like almost as much as a scratch behind the ears. Thank you for this chat outside of time!

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