Art advice 2023 Part 2

?Let me start off by asking what, I guess, you are asking: Why would I take advice from you?

No idea.? I have a keyboard in front of me and some time, so internets.

?1.???? Styles

I get a bit concerned with terminology.? It is fairly common that ill-defined words and jargon inundate any field.? People will repeat words, acronyms, and phrases without a clear idea of what the ideas they represent may be.? Favorites of mine are: “temperature”, “silhouette”, “value structure”, “tone”, “shape language”, “expression”, “reference” and “style”.

I’m mentioning style as I have seen it thrown around regarding AI, hiring, and situations of “adhering to style” where no style (or several styles) are in play. Let’s define style in some practical ways that might de-mystify and ground use.? Style is an incomplete set.? To create a style, aspects of how we see are left aside, swapped (like low value-darkness- exchanged with sharp linearity for emphasis), exaggerated, contorted, and simplified.? Styles can act as a personal stamp (which often appears as unintentional, idiosyncratic, visual biases) or it can be a recipe or “brand” or type of procedure when shared across groups. ?Styles in the sense of genre fit within a restricted frame of incomplete and recombined variations.

Working as an artist, at some point, you will likely run into “art direction” or “branded” styles that cannot be changed. But as you look for consistency in the iron clad style, you will find there is nothing consistent.? Style will be thrown around as a vague scare word.? When there is good clear definition and documentation, you may still find the art direction will veer away, through misunderstanding, of what a style is.

I’m mentioning this for a reason (here is the advice part).? Style is a mole hill that has been lauded as Mount Olympus. Back away from it. In the AI/Art wars there is an assumed premise AI can imitate styles. This style imitation is largely projected by the viewer through a trick of visual prejudice or is a near copy of a previous work.? When every Midjourny prompt had “Baroque” style as a prompt, it did not produce Baroque images.? Looking through the Baroque period there were many styles, many artists, many techniques. In this era of cultural back lash from the religious wars in Europe you will find no consistent style for AI to composite or imitate. When trying to imitate one another’s styles, at the time, the artists failed (I’m looking at you Rubens!)

?It is important to veer away from styles.? As an artist, you will have difficulty maintaining a style if you restrict yourself to one.? You will angle off because the apparatus by which you navigate in space and time are changing around you and altering your perception experience by experience. ?Your work will not be consistent even if you try (that is unless you simplify to some very strict measures and procedures which is terrible imagery).? AI will always be in the rear-view mirror.

?It is important to understand styles where they are used, also why they are used (the history of cartoons for example: cartoons were throw away drawings done on box “cartons” to make quick visual notes, leaving aside everything but the essentials.) It is especially important to know where any particular style is lacking, what it left aside, and how to fill it in.? If you think of a style as blurry vision, it is part of your job to be corrective lenses.

?Don’t pin your hopes or value on style.

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2.???? The Time Machine

Yeah!? The Time Machine!? How am I going to give art advice around this? Well…here we go. Go read H.G. Wells’ book The Time Machine.? “Why?” you may ask.? Because I said so.? That and a certain passage that is a valuable way for artists to think of how they are seen by non-artists (especially in the workplace). Replace “Time Traveller” with “Artist”:

?“I think that at that time none of us quite believed in the Time Machine. The fact is, the Time Traveller was one of those men who are too clever to be believed: you never felt that you saw all round him; you always suspected some subtle reserve, some ingenuity in ambush, behind his lucid frankness. Had Filby shown the model and explained the matter in the Time Traveller’s words, we should have shown him far less scepticism. For we should have perceived his motives: a pork-butcher could understand Filby. But the Time Traveller had more than a touch of whim among his elements, and we distrusted him. Things that would have made the fame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily. The serious people who took him seriously never felt quite sure of his deportment; they were somehow aware that trusting their reputations for judgment with him was like furnishing a nursery with eggshell china.”

?So, there is that.? But that isn’t all. I’m not a partisan, and when I think of artists I don’t think of a type, or artist ethnicity or artist movement. I know artists who can fit within the spectrum of angels to devils and unique eccentrics to the quietly bland.? There is no “artist type”. I can’t give advice without noting the failings or trespasses of artists against artists.? We somewhat share a type of endeavor and particular sets of skills, but everything else is a free for all. ?

?In the Time Machine humans have diverged into two species: The predatory (or herding) Morlock, and the “innocent” (herded) Eloi. Wells was referring to a Darwinian principle that, in any species there is an internal impulse for the members to become a predator or parasite to the group.? The Eloi were not exactly innocents. They were parasites. To behave as an innocent, a full-grown infant, is differing energy and actions to another. ?Absolute reliance and dependency is also differing responsibilities.

?To be an artist, is not to be the Eloi. Or Morlocks. Don’t relinquish your part.? Especially not your expertise or power of rejection.? There are movements and trends to communicate helplessness among artists.? At times this appears in the form of surrendering in advance to great overwhelming powers, or edifices.? Whether this surrender is to AI, clients, corporations, other artists, or encouraging, in unison, anxiousness, intimidation by tasks, or self-deprecation. This last often appears as social bonding around shared vulnerabilities and phobias. These are invitations to be meek. Don’t accept.? It is both enabling and passive aggressive domination.

?Steel yourself and take care of yourself. Don’t forget you are the Time Traveller.

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3.???? AI…again

?Yes.? I know.? You are sick of it.? But too bad.? Here we go:

I want to approach the subject of AI from a different angle than the last advice I gave about AI, but still maybe not along the lines of what may be most popular.? Again, my concerns around AI seem to run in a different direction, so I won’t be covering copyright or legal issues.

?Instead, I’d like to point some things out like the pressure to catastrophize about Ai or how it will influence professions. First examine AI image outputs and start to pick them apart by failings and inadequacy.? Yes suckers won’t know the difference, but no profession except conman are based on suckers.? Use the adoption of AI to replace artists by select companies as a diagnostic to evade working with them due to risk and poor decision making.? Notice I said “replace”. I don’t think the computery do dads that are collectively sold as AI are entirely useless and artists may have some ways to use it to short cut tedium added to art by technology. How that works?? I don’t know.? But artists are master turd polishers.? I can make paint from rocks and water. So, I’m sure something useful can be found. Replacing artists, though, isn’t a thing.

?When casually analyzing how awful AI images are, start indexing and adding up what would fix the image.? This is a pleasant and comforting way to confirm to yourself the difference.? It also pre-arms you with the ability to correct and teach those misguided by nonsense. AI will always be behind and deficient. This isn’t optimism.

?The marketing and buzz around AI are directing the discussion and thinking. There is a good deal of discussion about brains, intelligence, thinking, and creating an AI god (that culty nonsense). Numbers and comparisons to calculation power and speed are offered.? But… Brainy animals with intelligence are not brains alone. Other bodily systems influence the brain. The forms and structures throughout your body are not removed from how the brain works in its boney box. The brain is influenced by external things like environments, the movement of the sun, other humans, chemicals, systems measuring the body, physical changes, and things like grouping with other brains (including the brains of other brainy species.) Intelligence is not manifest by the compilation of reduced by products of intelligence, even mountains of by product. We have ranges of intelligence, many we aren’t aware of, many undiscovered, and these ranges interact in unclear ways, many in coordination with other intelligences or evidence of intelligence (like other humans, animals, and even inanimate objects). The way our brains assemble the experience of intelligence involves, needs, a body, an environment, social interaction, an ecosystem, chemicals (like iodine), and the ability to distort and bias and have experience. Need, want, cravings, drives, intent, are part of intelligence and the brain’s systems.

?Don’t forget octopuses have intelligence and very different brains.

?Don’t let the billions and trillions of AI processes in the newest mega computer fool you.? When a human brain learns it doesn’t use huge processing power or brain area.? It uses more as it learns and when it gains expertise it does something like consolidation and archiving information to make the information more efficient and conserve power. Energy conservation is a brain thing, and also an underpinning of intelligence.? We use quite of bit of energy with our brains, and our second brain (our gut).? Our super cool intelligence emerged after we learned to process and cook food (pre-digest) and free up gut energy.? Our gut to brain energy use is the inverse of chimpanzee energy use.? Our thinky smarts are a (reasonably) best use of energy and help short cut and conserve energy for our collective species.

?AI isn’t anything like intelligence as we know it. It is much more like a really, really, dirty fun house mirror.? Don’t forget the back of the mirror in this simile.?

?That the attempt is to make a computer God is again super creepy and culty.? Shady…so shady.

?4.???? Memes and pop culture

Stop. Just stop.? It is extremely important for artists to understand, adapt, recognize and invent metaphor and original turns of thought. Reconfigure the components and produce something strange and new. It is a fundamental component to imagination.

?Prepackaged, pre-formatted, ready-made, repeated, bundled phrases and ideas are stultifying. They make people AI, as well as setting the trajectory of AI (and model collapse).

?Make a concerted effort to invent new things, new thoughts, and stop imitating and borrowing the success of others. Intentionally look at your favorite things and find the flaws, dismantle them, do better than your favorite things. Don’t do “master copies” make “master improvements”. This is all inclusive.? Not just art focused. If this makes you feel like a bit of an outsider, it’s okay, you’ll find other outsiders.

“I have seen the things for which men cry hearts…and of this sight which all men see, all I ask is, Lord, blind me!”