VARUN MUNDRA

Brand Designer and Art Director
New York, NY

RE-REWRITING HISTORY
Exploration of an AI-Manipulated Reality








Graduate Thesis
Master of Science

Tandon School of Engineering
New York University




Re-Rewriting History aims to examine the use of Generative AI technology and the consequences of it being made available to mass public, without proper regulations and safeguards.

If everyone has the power to alter and manipulate images, the object truth behind a photograph is lost. The act of doctoring image not only alters the narrative, but changes their personal history. 

The project collects instances from history, where manipulation has already occured. Its a series of photographs where people have been erased from history and a degree of manipulation has already occured. Utilizing Generative AI, the projects brings back these individuals and situates them in new environments and prompts the viewers to question the power, and the responsibility behind the tech.

Bringing people back and forcing us to come face-to-face with that reality is becoming as easy as clicking a button. 

What other long-standing consequences can it lead to?






Joseph Stalin, Nikolai Yezhov
Moscow-Volga Canal
1939
Joseph Stalin
Moscow-Volga Canal
Released by USSR, 1939
Nikolai Yezhov
Artificial
2024







Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Red Army
Moscow
1920
Vladimir Lenin,  Red Army
Moscow
Released by USSR, 1920
Leon Trotsky
Artificial
2024






It begs the question of what it means to 
capture a truthful record of history.

IS THERE AN OBJECTIVE TRUTH TO
A PHOTOGRAPH ANYMORE?



These images have multiple degrees of manipulation to them. Initially released as propaganda, 
they were photographed and designed and released to provide a specific message to the public, counting as the degree. 

When the people were erased, they were done through techniques such as airbrushing, ink and paint on the prints, 
securely acting as the second degree of manipulation. 

And finally with the current use of AI, they are used to create a new reality 
where these inviduals can be brought back as easily as clicking a button, and writing a text input, 
promptly adding the third degree of manipulation. 







Goebbels Ghost
Dahlem, Berlin
1937Joseph Goebbels
Artificial
2024




WHAT DOES OUR WORLD LOOK LIKE WHEN GENERATIVE AI
PLAYS AN ACTIVE ROLE IN BUILDING IT?















LATELY