Art

Lately, I’ve wondered if the unique renderings created by Dall・E2 ( the AI software that converts text to images) qualify as art? 

What defines art? 

I don’t resonate with a lot of the art I see in museums. Yet, it must be art if it’s in a museum, right?

When I was a teenager, my parents hated the music I listened to; they called it noise. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon recently marked its 50th anniversary. It’s been on the charts the entire time. Was my parent’s noise art?  

What signifies an artist?

-A person who channels the zeitgeist?

-Someone who allows us to see something inside them that we recognize in ourselves?

-An individual with insight into the human condition, which enables us to experience where we belong?

Or a derivative algorithm?

The last statement sounds pejorative, but isn’t most art derivative? Is that not the definition of an artistic movement or period?

In his book Being You, A New Science of Consciousness, Anil Seth claims that we don’t directly experience the world as it is, but rather as we are. Maybe art lacks objective standards and instead is defined by who we are?

I love impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. Several years ago, we visited the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, which has a fabulous collection. A close-up view of Van Gogh’s self-portrait gives the appearance of haphazard dabs of pigment on canvas… until one steps back!

I can’t explain why Van Gogh’s paintings are compelling. He wasn’t commercially successful during his lifetime. Yet, today, he is recognized as one of the greatest artists ever. 

What changed?

Music is my favorite art form. Sometimes I mishear lyrics for my favorite songs. I lock them in my brain and insert them into the music, even when I know they’re wrong. Does that impact the artistic merit of the song?

Actress Judy Garland commented on the artistic journey: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of someone else.”

Bob Dylan is the poster child for that. Song lyrics won him the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016. Dylan elected not to attend the ceremony. Later, Alexandra Schwartz in The New Yorker commented on the rambling 27-minute acceptance speech Dylan recorded and sent to the Nobel committee, where he questioned his qualifications to win the prize. Schwartz’s comment: 

“He is onto something true and vital here: literature is not simply writing, or even good writing, but above all a way of examining the conditions of the human soul, and of trying to inform and guide one’s own.”

If derivative algorithms create images the public resonates with, perhaps one day, computer science courses will be added to the curriculum of fine art schools. Why not? Electronic music is popular, and it’s created by sampling and manipulating audio files.

Art is entering a new era. Computer algorithms now render unique images by building on the catalog of previous creations. Is that different from the Rolling Stones building on the Mississippi Delta Blues? Who’s to say one is art and the other isn’t?

Art will evolve as technologies advance. Perhaps more important than how it’s created is it’s capacity to move us.

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