Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity recognizes the power of data to drive creative outcomes

A novel creative canvas of what innovative minds and technology can come together to produce was in Cannes for exclusive viewings this week during the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.  The portrait, based on data collated from across the complete body of works of the great Dutch master, Rembrandt, with an injection of data in the cloud and other cutting-edge technologies, has shown that AI can be an amazingly productive tool.

On Wednesday at Cannes, “The Next Rembrandt” received the prestigious Innovation Lion, two Grand Prix for Cyber and Creative Data, three Silver Lions (one for Cyber and two for Creative Data) and a Bronze Lion for Creative Data. To date, “The Next Rembrandt” has received a total of 15 Lions Awards.

“The Next Rembrandt” has brought the great artist back to life by producing an all-new portrait. The project, produced by J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam in partnership with ING Bank and technology partners including Microsoft Azure, is an example of the art of what is possible using creative collaboration and technology.

“The Next Rembrandt” is a 3D printed painting, made solely from data of Rembrandt’s work. The painting consists of over 148 million pixels and was created using deep learning algorithms and facial recognition techniques, based on 168,263 painting fragments from Rembrandt’s oeuvre, bringing the Master of Light and Shadow back to life to create one more painting. Only this time, data is the painter, and technology the brush. Read more about the project and the role of Microsoft technology here.