Heavy Metal Magazine announces its triumphant return, Ai-Da’s Turning portrait sells at Sotheby’s, and Serpieri’s self-portrait is headed to the Uffizi Gallery. Read more in Post Rendered’s news roundup for November 2024.
Heavy Metal Magazine relaunches via KickStarter
With Frank Forte as Editor-in-Chief, Heavy Metal Magazine formally announced its return to publication after an extended absence. The Kickstarter campaign, which blew past its $5000 goal in a single day, aims to release its premier issue in April 2025. The campaign states that the new volume will be “a bold return to the magazine’s roots” and feature “over 20 groundbreaking stories from genre-defining creators.”
It should be noted that this is an entirely different relaunch from the previous WhatNot publishing endeavor that never came to fruition. Bleeding Cool also reported that several creators are still owed money by the publication. It has not been announced whether the additional funds procured through the Kickstarter campaign could be used to help settle the publication’s debts. Under the Risks section of the campaign page, it states, “This project is funded regardless of the outcome of this Kickstarter campaign.”
Serpieri’s self portrait to be housed at the Uffizi Gallery
The Lucca Comics and Games 2024 took place at the end of October. Italian creator Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri was honored at the event, with his self-portrait being previewed at the ceremony.
Serpieri, who attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome before moving to fumetti illustration in the 1970s, is no stranger to the art of self-portraiture, having inserted his likeness into his Morbus Gravis/Druuna series of comics. Bleeding Cool reported that the work “will be exhibited in the Uffizi Galleries in the gallery of self-portraits,” alongside “some of the most important names in world comics.”
Robot Ai-Da’s algorithmic work A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turning sells for over $1, 000, 000
ArtNews reported that Ai-Da, the humanoid robot created by Aidan Meller, Salah El Abd, and Ziad Abrass, had her 2024 work A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turning sell for $1, 084, 800 at Sotheby’s Digital Art day sale. The work was expected to fetch between $120, 000 and $180, 000. Artist Xcopy’s DOOM Party had the highest estimate of the day, at $800, 000 to $1.5 million, but did not sell.
Meller stated, “This auction is an important moment for the visual arts, where Ai-Da’s artwork brings focus on artworld and societal changes, as we grapple with the rising age of AI. The artwork ‘AI God’ raises questions about agency, as AI gains more power.”
The work had previously been exhibited at the AI for Good Global Summit at the United Nations in Geneva earlier this year. The summit’s website states:
The AI for Good Global Summit is the leading action-oriented United Nations platform promoting AI to advance health, climate, gender, inclusive prosperity, sustainable infrastructure, and other global development priorities. AI for Good is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology – in partnership with 40 UN sister agencies and co-convened with the government of Switzerland.
Post Rendered Recommends: Shadowman: Soul Eaters #2
Alien Books’ Shadowman: Soul Eaters #2 launched on November 6, 2024. The book chronicles the continuing plight of Shadowman against Magpie and Master Darque, tying into the Resurgence of the Valiant Universe event. You can purchase the issue here.