Created for Claire Silver's AI Art Contest, the title and subject allude to the fleeting nature of time and how, in the blink of an eye, an entire life can pass you by. The looping portrait depicts a woman holding a mobile phone. In the beginning, we see her in her youth, eyes cast downward, focused on her phone in an all too familiar posture today. As the image changes and the woman ages, she suddenly looks up, contemplation playing on her face. What is she thinking? Is she pondering her squandered youth? Or is she present and focused on the time remaining? Is her gaze distant, lost in thought? Or does she see the viewer, give them her full attention?

During the contest, lorepunk.eth was inspired to write the following poem:

A witch showed
me how my future
would go—the
first times I
watched, fear
gripped my shoulders,
then I noticed
the spaces between,
and understood
what remains
the same, old
and young,
is the will
to love, to watch,
to set right,
to live

In this artwork, the intricate interplay of technique and innovation takes center stage. Inspired by Pindar Van Arman's artistic mastery, a virtuoso who diligently refined these techniques and generously shared them with his dedicated collector base, I embarked on a profound exploration of the inner workings of his art. Utilizing my own creations as a launchpad, the resulting work doesn't attempt to depict Pindar as a person; rather, it portrays the very essence of his artistic process.

Crafted using the dynamic capabilities of StyleGANs, which learn to create through a continuous cycle of trial and error, it remains uncertain whether this process mirrors the mechanisms of biological intelligence. Nonetheless, this piece serves as a unique window through which we peer into the origin of creativity. It captures the invaluable moments of learning and offers an enticing glimpse into the genesis of artistic inspiration. The training process, a journey from the abstract to the concrete, was intentionally halted before the model could be fully refined. The deliberate incompleteness, a testament to the allure of unfinished artistry, is where its beauty truly resides.