The Surreal Dream of Salvador Dalí Brought to Life with AI
The great Spanish and Catalan surrealist Salvador Dalí didn’t only produce canvases and sculptures. He also worked on several movies, but his most ambitious was never made.
Giraffes on Horseback Salad: A Futuristic Dream
Back in 1937, Dalí came up with the idea for Giraffes on Horseback Salad. Harpo Marx was to play a Spanish aristocrat who falls in lover with a beautiful woman who’s face is never seen. There would be flaming giraffes, and Harpo would use a butterfly net to capture dwarfs.
A Surreal Masterpiece Never Made
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Marx Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided the film was too surreal to make. But they didn’t have access to AI image generators.
The Birth of a New Era: AI-Generated Trailer
Florida’s Dalí Museum and the ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners have used Google’s DeepMind Veo 2 generative video model to finally make Dalí’s Giraffes on Horseback Salad. So far, they’ve only released a trailer, but they say a full film is coming soon.
AI Video Generation: A New Frontier
It will be intriguing to see the full piece because so far AI video generation really only serves for trailers like this, which combine short unrelated clips with no narrative continuity.
Conclusion
The aims seem to be as much to promote the power of DeepMind Veo 2 as to show Dalí’s vision. But then Florida’s Dalí Museum likes to make attention-grabbing use of AI. What’s most fitting is that this kind of stunt would probably have pleased publicity-loving Dalí, who designed the Chupa-Chups logo and even appeared in adverts for chocolate.
FAQs
Q: What is Giraffes on Horseback Salad?
A: It’s a surrealist film project conceived by Salvador Dalí in 1937, featuring flaming giraffes, a butterfly net, and a beautiful woman with a never-seen face.
Q: Why was the film never made?
A: The Marx Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided the film was too surreal to make, but they didn’t have access to AI image generators.
Q: What is AI video generation?
A: AI video generation is the use of artificial intelligence to create videos, often combining short unrelated clips with no narrative continuity.
Q: Why did the Dalí Museum use AI to bring Giraffes on Horseback Salad to life?
A: The Dalí Museum wanted to promote the power of Google’s DeepMind Veo 2 generative video model and create an attention-grabbing stunt, which would likely have pleased Dalí himself.
