Beauty by Default – What Remains for Art

During the Photo Brussels Festival, I visited the exhibition AIMAGINE at Hangar.It offers an impressive look at how artificial intelligence now generates images – perfectly lit, harmoniously colored, compositionally flawless.

What used to be the result of a slow and careful process for photographers and designers is now produced by machines with startling ease and precision.

But this is exactly where a new problem begins:

Beauty is no longer a standard – it's a given.

If everything is beautiful, what still holds value?

Aesthetic refinement was once a defining part of artistic work.Now that AI delivers beauty effortlessly, technical perfection has lost its edge. This shifts the role of artistic creation: away from execution, toward intention.

The new task for creators: idea, individuality, context

In a world where beauty is always available, it becomes background noise.The creative process no longer starts with the search for the perfect moment – but with a decision: what do I show, and why?This is where individuality becomes essential.

Artists and designers are becoming curators of their own work.Art is no longer about producing the image – it’s about the personal meaning behind what is shown, the consistency of a voice, and the clarity of context.

The key questions are:

– What images do I choose, and why?– What is my perspective?– What gives my work a recognisable signature?

It’s no longer a question of whether something is beautiful –but of what makes it personal, meaningful, and distinct.

Liberation or loss?

This shift can be seen as liberation:The technical struggle fades into the background, while concept, authorship and interpretation move forward.

Art doesn’t become obsolete – it becomes more personal.The challenge is no longer to produce beauty, but to define identity and relevance.

Perhaps that’s where the new artistic difficulty lies:If everything is beautiful, what makes the difference?Individuality.