Paul Chan, the artist known for his early digital video works, is preparing for a new exhibition at Greene Naftali titled "Automa Mon Amour," opening March 12, featuring his latest "breathers"—kinetic windsock-like sculptures powered by fans. Chan, who quit making art in 2009 to found the indie publishing house Badlands Unlimited, has since returned to art-making with analog-focused works, yet simultaneously developed Paul’ (Paul Prime), a sophisticated AI project that creates a digital version of himself using his personal data, writings, and interviews. The article explores the contradiction between Chan's rejection of screens and his engagement with highly technical, code-intensive digital art.
This matters because Chan is one of the most unclassifiable figures in contemporary art, and his dual path—abandoning screens for sculpture while secretly building an AI self-portrait—raises profound questions about artistic identity, technology, and authenticity. His trajectory from early internet-age success to a self-imposed hiatus and then to a hybrid practice that merges the analog and digital reflects broader tensions in the art world about the role of screens and artificial intelligence. Chan's refusal to label Paul’ as art challenges conventional definitions and invites critical debate about what constitutes artistic creation in the age of AI.