THE ALASKAN EMPIRE, a visual preservation project
Created by Anthony Sylvester, “The Alaskan Empire” is an ongoing series that incorporates VHS footage he personally captured during a sabbatical journey through the Alaskan frontier—an experience undertaken to reflect on how the scale and power of Alaskan nature might reshape his thinking about humanity and its growing dominance over the natural world. The footage is recontextualized with artificial intelligence through imagined post-industrialized futures, drawing attention to the fragility and global significance of one of the world’s most vital ecological zones.
By blending degraded analog imagery with speculative narrative, the series reflects on memory, preservation, and the uncertain trajectory of landscapes that once seemed untouchable.
At a moment when policy decisions could rapidly alter the future of these wilderness areas, the project seeks to use art as a catalyst for attention and urgency. Environmental loss often unfolds quietly until it is too late to reverse; this work attempts to make that risk visible before it slips beyond public awareness. All proceeds from the project are donated directly to the Alaska Wilderness League, supporting efforts to protect wildlife reserves now facing renewed threats from federal policy proposals.
Works in progress:
5/5 Editions
10/10 Editions
Other work in this collection:
The collection concludes with a slow, contemplative landscape work, presented in the visual language of vintage postcards. Unlike the speculative AI-driven pieces in the series, these images focus quietly on the land itself—often depicting traces of abandoned human intervention slowly being reclaimed by the environment.
These final works act as commemorative gestures within the collection, reflecting on the persistence of the natural world and the way nature inevitably absorbs and reshapes even our most invasive imprints. In contrast to the apocalyptic tone elsewhere in the series, they offer a quieter and more hopeful meditation on resilience, renewal, and the enduring power of the landscape.
10/10 Editions
Artist Bio
Anthony Sylvester is a filmmaker and visual artist with nearly two decades of experience working across commercial, music, and experimental forms. His practice has included collaborations on large-scale projects with Nike, Converse, Katy Perry, Yonex, Comcast, ESPN, YouTube, Daft Punk, and Coinbase, as well as directing music videos for major record labels Warner Music, Sony, Capitol, and Atlantic Records.
Guided by a curiosity for forward-leaning techniques and a long-standing devotion to analog and retro technologies, his work often sits at the intersection of innovation and memory. Over the years, this approach has contributed to a number of culturally resonant projects, from the festival-award-winning experimental short Subtunes to music videos for artists including Yaeji, JPEGMAFIA, and Channel Tres.
He currently creates content full-time at Base, as Content Video Director.
He also is the Creative Director of Video for the Nithya Raman For LA mayoral campaign.