Digital artist Morten Klementsen has dedicated himself to creating AI-based digital art. He uses artificial intelligence (AI) to transform his thoughts and ideas into expressive images. And it is precisely this artist who is currently enchanting users around the world with his AI-generated images. His works of art have an intimate and unapproachable beauty and charisma. The pictures by AI artist Klementsen have an intensity and depth that takes your breath away. Klementsen’s AI-generated artworks instantly captivate the viewer. The connection is so sudden and touching that you literally can’t let go. ProudMag.com is enthusiastic about the works of Morten Klementsen. Feeling inspired and flattered by his art based on artificial intelligence. So we simply have to introduce you to this extraordinary man and artist from the far north of Europe.
By Claudio Prader
In order to properly understand and interpret the digital artist Morten Klementsen and his AI art, we must first familiarize ourselves more closely with the history, culture and nature of Norway.
Interesting facts about the country of Norway and its history
Norway has won the most gold, silver and bronze medals of any nation in the world at the Winter Olympics. Skiing was invented in Norway. The northernmost ski museum in the world is located there. And the northernmost ski lift in the world is also located in Norway. Norway is the richest country in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. And Norway is one of the countries with the highest quality of life and the healthiest population in the world. The Norwegians, or Vikings, discovered the North American continent hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus. The Norwegians were also the first to set foot on Greenland. The Norwegians were the best ship navigators in the world at the time.
They discovered and conquered entire countries and continents without maps or compasses. They navigated with the help of the stars alone. The reign of the Vikings lasted from around 800 A.D. to 1050 A.D. The early Norwegians were widely known and notorious for their fast Viking ships – also known as longships. The ships with the distinctive, raised bow were built from oak planks. The Vikings used them on expeditions to large parts of Europe and far beyond, as far as Byzantium, today’s Istanbul, and Baghdad in Iraq.
Vikings were not only good at fighting but also at culture
In our history books, the indigenous people of Norway are often associated with raids and colonization. Yet the Vikings were far more than just foolhardy conquerors or bloodthirsty barbarians. They were highly educated, devoted to culture and also widely known as peaceful traders and farmers. As people who enjoyed singing, dancing and drinking their mead – a beer-like brew. And what is not necessarily written in our history books is that women were held in high esteem by the Vikings. That women were not only equal to men, but also on an equal footing. How could people who ruled Europe over a thousand years ago have been so emancipated? The answer to this question can probably be found in the beautiful souls and hearts of Norwegians. Impressive, isn’t it?
And we haven’t even reached the most impressive part of this article. Namely the magical, enchanting and bewitching AI artist Morten Klementsen.
“My creativity is my greatest asset”
Morten Klementsen
The artist Morten Klementsen is just like Norway – full of mysticism and magic
Born in 1964, digital artist Morten Klementsen is the father of three grown-up stepsons (Morten, Thomas and Kenneth) and lives with his wife Gerd and their daughter Marielle Jeanette in Bergen. A picturesque town with just under 270,000 inhabitants, situated on the west coast of Norway. The Vestland-based artist worked there for many years as a local politician and is still heavily involved in social and cultural activities.
Norway is the land of the Vikings, the great navigators and conquerors. Norway, the land of a thousand fjords, rugged mountains and breathtaking coastlines. Norway, a country full of mysticism and magic. And so Morten Klementsen is also a child of his proud Norwegian culture. He feels deeply rooted in Norway, feels at home in the far north of Europe. And he has all the best qualities of the warlike and at the same time very gentle Vikings. During the interview, I keep thinking to myself: what an extraordinarily sensitive, gentle, generous and life-affirming person this Morten is.
He talks proudly about his culture and the cultural customs of the Norwegians. He is a great fighter and warrior. He fights for the recognition of digital art, for the cohesion of his family, for his work as an artist and for the continued existence of his country. At the same time, Klementsen is a quiet giant, gentle and magnanimous, in the guise of a rebellious, big-hearted dwarf. Morten Klementsen does not make a big fuss about himself. He is modest, bows in humility and full of gratitude before life and fate.
Morten Klementsen is a born artist
Although Morten Klementsen founded his first import company at the age of 13 and later had his own advertising company, it seems to me during the two-and-a-half-hour interview that he was and still is a born artist.
“You have to make friends with AI”
But how is art actually created on the basis of artificial intelligence? I ask Morten … to which he replies: I use artificial intelligence as a basis. With the answers that AI gives me, I then sit down at my computer. I use Adobe Photoshop to convert the suggestions that the AI has given me into images. “I ask the artificial intelligence, for example, to draw me high mountains.” However, he often has to set strict limits for the AI so that it doesn’t give overly exaggerated answers to his questions. And he makes an interesting comment: “You know Claudio, we have to make friends with AI. Because one day, artificial intelligence will take over our world.”
He often experiments with AI. And uses it to compose his own images. Because he doesn’t like it when the machine determines his works of art. “At the end of the day, I’m not a hybrid,” says Morten with a smile. So he doesn’t paint his pictures with his own hands. Instead, he composes his pictures in his head, in his thoughts. The AI forms the framework for his pictures. However, Morten determines the content himself. By adding the beautiful colors – which make his pictures so unique and expressive – in Photoshop.
Nowhere in the world do the northern lights – the aurora borealis – shine more beautifully, brightly and polychromatically than in Norway. And it is precisely this beautiful, enchanting light that shines in Morten Klementsen’s eyes when he talks about his Viking wife, Norwegian culinary delights or his digital art. He seems like a little boy. So restless and impatient. Obsessed with exploring the world and conquering it with his art. He seems so curious and so open, as if he wants to embrace the azure blue of the sky. As if he is trying to embrace the royal blue of the sea. To gently kiss and caress the soul of Norway.
When words and images unite to form a total work of art
Morten Klementsen’s favorite color is blue. Blue in all intensities and shades. From light azure blue to dark royal blue. As a graphic designer, he has a very broad knowledge of colors. He is familiar with the wisdom of colors and knows how to use them to his advantage. Afterwards, he uses Adobe Photoshop to change the texture of the colors. Just as they are suggested to him by the AI. He adds this expressive sun, ochre or turmeric yellow to his pictures. Then there is the dominant scarlet or crimson red. Or the radiant mahogany brown, the Byzantine blue, paired with the ultramarine or azurite blue. The abundance of colors in the digital artist’s paintings is not merely apparent, it is almost infinite.
When the author hears the word “blue”, the image of a fjord comes to mind almost immediately. A fjord carved into barren rock by ancient glaciers, cold in form. This cold, azure to dark blue color shimmers towards the viewer in the ice-cold water of its own body temperature. The word fjord is an ancient Viking term meaning “wherever you travel”. Fjords tell the story of Norway’s prehistory. Over a period of more than 2.5 million years, the imposing glaciers have formed the fjords from the hard primary rock of Norway. The longest and deepest fjord in the whole of Europe, at over 200 kilometers long and a remarkable depth of over 1300 meters, is the so-called Sognefjord.
Where the digital artist draws his inspiration from
Klementsen draws inspiration from artists such as Salvador Dalì and Edvard Munch. Because, as he says, they were among the extremists of their time. Like these two artists, he wants to shock his audience in a “good” way. To shake up the viewer. “I love being unpredictable and unpredictable. And I always want to be different from everyone else!” For him, words and images are part of a complete work of art, explains the playful Norwegian. And just like the Vikings before him, he wants to combine the most diverse cultures into one image. He finds inspiration not only in art in and of itself, but also in the technical background of artificial intelligence. He also gets ideas from his work with Photoshop.
He finds inspiration particularly in artificial intelligence itself. By using AI to create fictitious, non-existent people. He would give them names and then communicate with them. Engaging in an AI-led conversation with the artificially created “people”, so to speak. Which is extremely inspiring, as the artist explains to the perplexed journalist. He has to explain – because for the author of this text, the whole subject of AI and art is still difficult to grasp. But Klementsen is kind and patient enough to explain it crystal clear to the author of this article. So that even he suddenly understands what exactly he means by “people”. He means AI people, and not his neighbors or the tourists at the boat landing stage. Got it?
“I’m the old man in the new game!”
Morten Klementsen
For him, his art is not about being cool or hip, but about telling personal stories with his art. Instead, he wants to give tangible expression to his own authenticity and integrity. For him, AI is sometimes also about incorporating memories and experiences from his childhood. Although he was already very interested in technology and innovation as a child, he doesn’t want to misuse AI technology as a means of making an impression on Generation Z. Or to curry favor with the young. Or to curry favor with the young. One of his teachers, a Canadian, encouraged him to seek inspiration in everything that surrounds him. And that he must break and break through the laws of art with his works. Klementsen clearly took this credo to heart later in life. “Every work of art needs its own story. Otherwise you’re just like everyone else,” explains the AI artist. This type of communication and interaction with AI people is about talking to the AI in a very personal and intimate way. It often literally gets under the skin. “What you give to AI, you get back,” is his motto.
Morten Klementsen hopes to leave an impressive mark with his art
With his art, Morten Klementsen does not want to talk to the material. Money is not important to him when it comes to his art, he says. He is much more interested in leaving his mark on the world with his art. He hopes that he can leave an impressive mark with his works of art. So that these fade very slowly and with great difficulty under the eroding forces and powers of the present and the future. In this way, he hopes to escape forgetfulness and transience. He hopes that one day, perhaps, hordes of children, schoolchildren and young people will be moved and fascinated by his paintings. Just as artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Henri Matisse and other celebrities were granted. Concepts such as mythology and destiny have defined the Norwegians from the very beginning. To be able to let go of the material. To be able to trust in the supernatural. In this respect, Morten Klementsen is a born artist and descendant of the Vikings.
A heartfelt thank you to Morten Klementsen from Switzerland
The time during the video interview that I was able to conduct with the cheerful artist Morten Klementsen via LinkedIn passed me by as quickly as a Viking ship on the high seas glides past a rock in the ocean.
So I sincerely hope, dear reader, that the time spent reading my article about Morten Klementsen has also passed you by at least as quickly and entertainingly.
Many thanks to Morten for his openness and his infinite patience …
Dere nordmenn er de største!
You can find more information about Morten Klementsen under these links:
Please visit the YouTube account of Morten Klementsen. It’s worth it!
https://artportable.com/en/profile/@www.klementsen.net
https://payhip.com/TheNorwegianMortenKlementsenDigitalArtist
https://www.linkedin.com / profile morten
You can find more information about Norway here: