Terrific post. I got an art degree in drawing and painting in an era bamboozled by the belief that art was anything you could convince people was art. I wish I could have gotten the training in techne that I was paying for.
I left the art world for ten years because I didn't know there was still a sort of secret appreciation for representational art. It's nice to see ateliers popping up in response, to fill in the technical skills that people missed in their four-year art degree.
I used to work in a university art faculty and I remember one day a professor made an exciting announcement at a committee meeting that he'd read a paper that 'demolished aesthetics. Absolutely demolished it once and for all!' From then on I knew he was a soft, weak-minded fool.
“The AI programme doesn’t have agency, intention, experiences or training in any aspect of visual art - apart from the human-made images it uses to “train” itself. AI images are completely separate from human action.”
How does it go?
First it was "Art for God's sake";
then "Art for man's sake";
then "Art for art's sake";
and now: "Art! For God's sake!"
Thank you for holding to Beauty!
Terrific post. I got an art degree in drawing and painting in an era bamboozled by the belief that art was anything you could convince people was art. I wish I could have gotten the training in techne that I was paying for.
I left the art world for ten years because I didn't know there was still a sort of secret appreciation for representational art. It's nice to see ateliers popping up in response, to fill in the technical skills that people missed in their four-year art degree.
Thank you. Very helpful post, explaining much that has gone wrong, juxtaposed with the amazing techne required to do real art.
I am reminded of a woman I met on a train. She told me she was an artist. What form do you work in?, I asked. Her reply: Workshops.
Further questioning confirmed that she had no idea that art came in forms.
After that she wouldn't speak to me any more and did angry face for the duration.
Hahahaha
I used to work in a university art faculty and I remember one day a professor made an exciting announcement at a committee meeting that he'd read a paper that 'demolished aesthetics. Absolutely demolished it once and for all!' From then on I knew he was a soft, weak-minded fool.
I'm currently rereading That Hideous Strength, and your guy in the art faculty sounds like he'd fit right in at the N.I.C.E.
“The AI programme doesn’t have agency, intention, experiences or training in any aspect of visual art - apart from the human-made images it uses to “train” itself. AI images are completely separate from human action.”
Beautifully and succinctly stated! Thank you.