Why Adding Motion to Art is a 150-Year-Old Tradition

The "Fake!" Exhibition at Rijksmuseum

In my work on The Drawn Series, I’ve spent a lot of time recently collaborating with AI to breathe a "pulse" into my static drawings. There is a specific thrill in seeing a hand-drawn line begin to sway, or a character’s expression shift with a sense of "action and motion." 

A new exhibition titled “Fake!” at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum reminds us that image manipulation didn't start with Photoshop or AI.These manipulations were for entertainment and wonder and meant to amuse, shock, and act like a magic trick—where the viewer knows they are being fooled but can’t see how.

The curator, Hans Rooseboom, notes that while AI has "lowered the bar" for who can create these images, the fundamental human desire to use technology to interpret or alter reality remains unchanged.

The exhibition at the Rijksmuseum showcases manipulated photographs from as early as 1860. Long before Photoshop, photographers were using multiple negatives to make giant geese roam parks or to place the same person in a room twice.

In the 19th century, photographers manipulated images to overcome the "limitations" of the medium. They wanted to show more than a camera could capture in a single second.

In The Drawn Series, I am doing something remarkably similar. By using AI to add motion, I’m not "faking" the art; I’m overcoming the limitation of the static page. I am taking the soul of a drawing—the raw, human ink—and using modern "darkroom" tools (AI) to let it express the movement it was always meant to have. You can see that aspect of my work here.

The exhibition notes that most historical manipulations were created for entertainment and wonder. That is exactly where my collaboration with AI sits. When adding action into my drawings, I’m not trying to deceive the viewer into thinking the drawing is "real” but to evoke a feeling.

There is a long lineage of artists who refuse to let the medium have the last word. Whether it’s a Victorian photographer blending negatives or an artist today using neural networks to add motion to a sketch, the goal is the same: to move the viewer.

The take-away? Manipulation isn’t about making something "fake." It’s about using every tool at our disposal to make the art feel more alive.