Michael Neff's *Rules of the Game* explores familiarity turned askew. The series delves into the typology of fields, courts, and tracks, capturing them from an overhead perspective reminiscent of satellite imagery or drone photography. What initially passes as documentary photography, unravels into an uncanny realm, where the seemingly mundane transforms into the surreal. Lines on familiar fields become too abundant, key equipment is misplaced, roads lead to nowhere, shadows that appear natural lack any tangible source, and perspectives skew like reflections in a warped mirror.


The result provokes questioning the familiar—what are these altered sports called, and by what rules are they governed? Is a racetrack a racetrack if you can’t drive a car around it? Are these mere imitations, akin to Canal Street knock-offs, or perhaps the misinterpretations of a game of telephone, reminiscent of Dürer's rhinoceros? Beneath the surface, it becomes evident that these anomalies are not products of camera tricks, but the outcomes of AI image generation, governed by blackbox rulesets that use observations of relationships to mimic reality, but ultimately fail under human scrutiny.


Much of recent AI-generated imagery strives for (and often achieves) verisimilitude with documentary photography, or indulges in hyperrealism. Neff's approach diverges. Rather than striving for accuracy, his work hones in on the threshold just before these models achieve photorealism. In doing so, Neff offers an underlying commentary on the impending era of ubiquitous deep fakes, inviting viewers to contemplate the fragility of perception in an age of digital manipulation.


Neff's commitment to a singular, overhead perspective invites deeper exploration into the critical nuances that shape sport gameplay, and comparative analysis amongst the ways that generative Al systems get them wrong, despite their convincing attempts at accuracy. While subtle, the made-up rules of these near-real games unveil small joys for those that play, and small victories for those who think the games are already silly.

Prints: Collectors can purchase a C-print of the pieces they own at 12 x 12 in. or 20 x 20 in by [contacting the artist on X](https://twitter.com/heyneff). The prints are available unsigned, and with a certificate of authenticity issued by the artist. 

Rules of the Game #10

The Decagon is the infinitely evolving, always unique, and eternally open membership token of the Decaverse. Designed by Kjetil Golid.

Decagon #26980

Michael Neff | heyneff

Rules of the Game #11

Rules of the Game #48

Rules of the Game #8

Rules of the Game #25

Rules of the Game #5

Rules of the Game #50

Rules of the Game #46

All the Grays

8BIDOU

2020.04.29 Golden Gate Park

Commemorating time together in person at NFT Paris 2024

NFT Paris 2024

Together

What happens when the content of a common, formal art advertisement in an industry publication is obfuscated? Formal itch → meet formal scratch.

Periodical Buff

Formal art about advertising by the market. Perhaps I should have named this collection recursion.

Periodical buff

Working with AI is reminiscent of having a complex conversation with a toddler. Frequently you don't connect and the conversation goes nowhere. Occasionally you get to a place that's interesting, even if it's not what you were aiming for.
4608 × 3072px PNG

"Parking lots in Los Angeles" 002

Rule-based AI art dancing with models to attempt to create simulacra of work that Ed Ruscha might make.

Working with AI is reminiscent of having a complex conversation with a toddler. Frequently you don't connect and the conversation goes nowhere. Occasionally you get to a place that's interesting, even if it's not what you were aiming for.
4608 × 3072 px PNG

Failing to follow in Ed's footsteps

from the collection Strange Fruits, 2023
Mike Neff
Long-Form Generative AI via EmProps OpenStudio Beta
2048 x 2048 px PNG

A curated artist proof from the development of Strange Fruits, a long-form generative AI collection created via EmProps OpenStudio Beta. https://emprops.ai/projects/strange-fruits

All natural

A curated collection of artist proofs from the testing for Strange Fruits, a long-form generative AI project created via EmProps OpenStudio Beta.
https://emprops.ai/projects/strange-fruits

Succulent

Strange Fruits Artist Proofs

Rules of the Game #34

Rules of the Game is a collection of 50 AI-generated post-photographic digital images by Michael Neff. The collection was part of the group show MORE.zip, curated by TENDER and released on Verse. The show was previewed at Galerie Data, Paris in February 2024 as a part of NFT Paris.

More information about the project and prints at https://verse.works/series/rules-of-the-game-by-michael-neff

Rules of the Game #6

Rules of the Game by Michael Neff

Series: Rules of the Game
Artist: Michael Neff
Medium: 1024 x 1024 JPG
Minted for the #OBJKT4OBJKT event, April 2024

What are the rules of this game?!?

Rules of the Game is a collection of 50 AI-generated post-photographic digital images by Michael Neff. Works released on Objkt are conceptually related but not part of the Verse release.

Series: Rules of the Game, 2024
Artist: Michael Neff
Medium: 1024 x 1024 JPG
Minted for the #OBJKT4OBJKT event, April 2024

Rules of the Game

Sketch — You can go your own way, 2024

The work before the works. Follow along with me.

Sketch — Spam 01 , 2024
Michael Neff
1,024 × 1,024 px

Hey Johnson, I heard you went to Burma to buy a batch of rough stones? Don't forget to tell me when you open the stone. I'm going to take a friend over to pick two pieces of jade to make a bracelet.

Michael Neff | heyneff (heyneff)

Michael Neff | heyneff (heyneff)

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