Water[false] – low-waste practices in digital art

Water[false] is an interdisciplinary artistic and research project focused on the ecology of digital art and ethical creative practices in the age of generative artificial intelligence. I develop this project as part of the KPO for Culture artistic scholarship (2025), supported by the Polish National Plan for Recovery and Resilience.

The title plays with the words “waterfalls” and “false”, referring both to the flood of digitally generated images and to the growing difficulty of distinguishing what is organic from what is synthetic. Rather than contributing to visual excess, the project asks how digital art can be produced in a more mindful and resource-aware way.

Background and context

In recent years, generative tools have significantly lowered the threshold for producing images. This has resulted in a rapid expansion of digital visual content, often created without careful consideration of scale, purpose or environmental impact.

Within digital art, speed and quantity increasingly replace intentional decision-making. At the same time, the material and ecological costs of digital production remain largely invisible. Water[false] responds to this condition by shifting attention from output to process, and from visual effect to responsibility.

Research focus

The project focuses on the following areas:

  • environmental aspects of digital image production,
  • visual overproduction in generative AI practices,
  • representations of water in contemporary AI-generated imagery,
  • low-waste and resource-conscious approaches to digital art,
  • artistic decision-making under conditions of technological abundance.

Methodology and approach

Water[false] is developed using an original methodology that combines art-based research, visual netnography and interviews with artists and experts. The project tests low-waste creative practices and promotes digital awareness understood as a conscious and reflective use of technology, rather than automatic or excessive production. The project builds on and further develops the Agile Art Manifesto (2025), which proposes a flexible and responsible approach to artistic practice that respects environmental, material and infrastructural limits. It also refers to my previous artistic project [A]inspirations (2024).

Components and outcomes

Multichannel audiovisual installation
 A digital installation created with an emphasis on ecological minimalism, reduced computational load and controlled use of digital tools.

Bilingual publication (PL/EN)
 A digital publication documenting the project process, including critical reflections on post-digital art practices and edited conversations with artists and experts working at the intersection of art, technology and sustainability. The publication includes:

  • interviews with practitioners,
  • contextual research,
  • notes from the creative process.

Low-waste practices model
 A practical model for artists outlining ways to assess and limit the environmental footprint of digital art practices.

Why it matters

As generative technologies continue to shape contemporary visual culture, questions of scale, responsibility and sustainability become increasingly relevant. Water[false] contributes to these discussions by offering a research-based artistic framework that prioritises intentional practice, reduced production and ecological awareness within digital art.

Funded from EU: 36 000 PLN