Maulcirus Isle
Upon hearing that this project was based around AI-generated art, I can’t say I was overjoyed; I feel like the medium is mostly being used as another way to undervalue artists, especially digital artists. However, wanting to at least give it a good try and see its limits, I decided to fall into the concept of uncanniness and discomfort that AI art can evoke, as well as associations we have with the glitch aesthetic.
I remembered that I would love to create my own homebrew Dungeons and Dragons campaign one day (homebrew meaning that it was something I created by myself, not published by a company), and that was my starting point. What if I was able to subject players to a world that I created that was in many ways, familiar and fantastical, but in others foreign and maybe uncomfortable?
The name of the world that these GIFs portray is Maulcirus. The world I’d intend for players to see is a fairly straightforward semi-modern fantasy, with a world that emphasizes the magic that is stored within it. Think elves, fairies, wizards, [other dungeons and dragons stuff].
However, the name of this place is an anagram of the world Simulacrum (missing an m).
Which means something that is a simulation of something that doesn’t actually exist. And for this purpose, this society is a replica of a society that doesn’t actually exist anymore. Hence the small glimpses of… something else that you see between the prettier, more whimsical images glitching out.
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