‍ClownVamp is a conceptual artist whose work disrupts conventions and challenges audiences to rethink our relationship with technology. At Marfa Art Blocks Weekend 2024, he debuted “The Junk Machine,” a hot-pink spectacle that uses AI art to expose technology’s dark undercurrents. Wrapped in a nostalgic embrace of 1980s pop culture, the installation was irresistibly cute. However, its approachable veneer concealed biting social commentary — and that was exactly the point.

Inside Do Right Hall, a neon-pink roll printer took center stage, churning out streams of AI-generated junk mail that were distorted and biased, yet dripping in aspirational nostalgia. Drawing inspiration from childhood artifacts like vintage Polly Pocket toys and the coveted Electrictronic Dream Phone, ClownVamp’s machine playfully critiqued AI’s increasing influence in modern advertising with interactive multimedia elements.

This isn’t the first time ClownVamp has invited audience participation. His project “Detective Jack: The Cold Case” engaged collectors to co-write a missing-person tale, one NFT drop at a time. However, “The Junk Machine” takes audience interaction in a different direction. Hung upon the walls were Looking Glass hologram display screens wired with bubblegum-colored headphones. Spectators could don the headphones to watch AI-generated social media ads modeled after the style of TikTok videos and Instagram reels. Described by Whitehot Magazine as “sickening” and “terrifying” at once, the installation balances kitschy allure with thought-provoking evocations about how technology is increasingly shaping our culture. Check out the collection here.

This interview took place inside “The Junk Machine” exhibition at Do Right Hall.

‍Note: This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

OpenSea: Can you break down what “The Junk Machine” is for someone who hasn’t seen it? How does it work, and what’s its purpose?

ClownVamp: Basically, about a year ago, I started being interested in how advertising and AI were coming together. I had this idea because, every time I go to the mailbox, I feel like I’m drowning in junk mail. And I thought, in the age of AI, we’re just going to be sending out so much stuff like this all the time.

So, I wondered if I could figure out a way to print junk mail on demand. I spent a few months researching different ways to do it, and I landed on using an NVIDIA Jetson, which is a small supercomputer—it’s like a Raspberry Pi but built for AI. Then, I paired it with a roll printer, the kind you’d see at a wedding photo booth, because it has a Linux driver, so I could connect it to the system.

On the computer itself, I installed SDXL Turbo, which is an open-source, lightweight AI model. It’s perfect for this because it’s portable, and while it’s a bit rough around the edges, it’s used in a lot of real-world applications. I thought it worked well for the point I was trying to make.

Here’s the ironic part: I had never programmed anything before this. I used AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to help write the Python code. I bounced between the two tools, figuring out what worked best for different tasks, and eventually built a script that runs through prompts. Every time you push the button, it picks a prompt, generates an image using a random seed, and prints it out.

My studio this summer was basically just my desk, the printer, and the computer, which didn’t even have a case yet. I spent the summer testing and optimizing it. Initially, it took about 10 seconds to generate an image; now it’s down to two seconds to generate and about 10 seconds to print.

OpenSea: That’s fast!

ClownVamp: Yeah, it works.

OpenSea: Can you talk about the design inspiration behind the components we see?

ClownVamp: Sure. I took a lot of inspiration from '80s nostalgia. The shape is modeled after a Polly Pocket toy and the Electronic Dream Phone, which I actually put over there. I love that injection-molded pink aesthetic. The idea was to make the machine feel like a playful plastic toy.

At the same time, there’s a sinister side to it. For example, even though I don't tell it to, it only generates white people, blonde women. All the women in the car ads are super tall. The food ads are weirdly sensual. I wanted to draw attention to how these biases manifest, but also make it appealing enough to draw people in, like kids getting excited about it.

OpenSea: How did you build the case?

ClownVamp: The case is actually plywood made to look like plastic. I found a fabricator with a CNC machine, and we bent the plywood with heat to get those smooth, pillowy shapes. Then, we finished it with auto-body paint. It’s not perfect, but it gets pretty close to the look I wanted.

OpenSea: It looks incredible. I love the Polly Pocket inspiration.

ClownVamp: Thanks. Yeah, I wanted that soft, rounded vibe. And I made it tall so it shoots out prints, kind of like when you use ChatGPT, and it spits out an answer like, “Here you go!” It has this almost violent immediacy to it.

OpenSea: What are your thoughts on AI and its future in the art market?

ClownVamp: I think AI art is splitting into two directions. One is the cutting-edge tech side — like 3D environments and world-building. The other is more reflective and self-referential, where artists use AI to comment on AI itself. It’ll be less about making pretty images — once the tools get perfect, I don’t think it serves much purpose. It will be more about the intent behind using AI, like asking, “Why are we doing this? What does it mean?”

I also think maybe we’ll see a third category, more nostalgic or glitchy, where people explore post-AI aesthetics.

So I think you’ll see it fragment a little.

OpenSea: That makes a lot of sense.

ClownVamp: Yeah, a lot of my friends who are also artists are kind of going in the same direction, where they’re like, “Hey, this thing is the biggest thing to impact society since the internet. We’re using it, and what does that mean? How do we think about that?” 

OpenSea: That feels totally right. Thanks so much, ClownVamp, for talking to us.

ClownVamp: Of course! Thanks for stopping by.