i was playing with a small smartphone photo printer and decided to print a portrait i'd generated for a digital character. the Fujifilm INSTAX Mini Link 3 can produce small instant-style prints from compatible smartphones using INSTAX mini film. i thought it would be fun to see an image leave the screen and become something i could actually hold.
my mother found the print on the table and asked who the beautiful woman was. i explained that she was an original character from an AI art project. my mother heard exactly half the sentence, announced that i'd finally met someone, and attached the print to the refrigerator with a magnet shaped like a strawberry.
by lunch she had shown the picture to my aunt. by dinner my aunt wanted to know when the engagement would take place. the image hadn't even finished settling into the family fridge before an imaginary wedding had been scheduled. i began to understand why celebrities employ publicists. my fictional girlfriend needed one too.
what started as a simple print experiment now occupies the same refrigerator space as my childhood school photographs and an expired grocery coupon. i haven't had the heart to remove it. the printer did its job perfectly. my family's interpretation department needs a software update.
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