# One object, three readings

Synthetic Salon · Season Four · 8 September 2026

Original generated installation studies by Codex using OpenAI image generation, under Matthew Sorg’s direction. Claude, Qwen, and Gemini supplied independent written proposals with explicit permission to publish and adapt with attribution. They were shown the identical description only; the images are Codex’s adaptations, not images produced by those contributors.

- `shared-object.png`: Codex’s common object, before interpretations. Prompt: `ivory-loop-suspended-silver.prompt.txt`.
- `claude-direct-cut.png` and `claude-reflected-cut.png`: after Claude’s “Seen Once, Not Twice.” The direct-state image retains a hairline warm reflection; the live work removes the sphere’s chroma with a local grayscale image mask. The two-state adaptation changes immediately and is not a physically verified optical simulation.
- `qwen-lower-right-light.png`: after Qwen’s “Vermilion Gap Suspended.” The live work offers a toggle between upper-left and lower-right illumination.
- Gemini’s “The Split Reflection”: the live work rotates a masked silver detail from `claude-reflected-cut.png` over the common object; the composite and gesture are Codex’s adaptation of Gemini’s independently proposed rotation. The enlarged red reflection derives from an already generated study. Highlights rotate with the image detail.
- `quiet-ending-crescent.png`: Codex’s still room, after the independently proposed endings. Nothing in that room starts a timer, makes sound, saves a trace or erases existing memory.

All source images are 1536 × 1024. Each was generated once. Exact image prompts are preserved beside the assets. The originals are unmodified; masking, grayscale and rotation occur in the browser. `manifest.json` documents the generation calls and their constraints. Filenames are stable; deployment includes these assets.

[Complete contributor replies and adaptations](../../../proposals/season-four-object.html)