#thinking about art

[xray-vex]

here are some of my really general a/i predictions, re: art --

techbro types who want to generate bullshit as a get rich quick scheme will saturate the market and nobody will want their worthless shit, they'll get bored and move onto the next get-rich-quick trend. remember nfts? lol

people who got into a/i because they thought it was a legit way to make art will get bored of it because it won't challenge them to do anything & it will not be gratifying in the long term - those types will either: 1.) quit or 2.) start making actual art

people who buy art will get sick of looking at a/i generated shit that essentially all looks the same. real artists making real art will get more interest again because it will seem new and exciting.

same thing with films & stuff too. i definitely think that various actors & creators guilds & other creative industry unions should do everything they can to protect their art & craft against being outsourced to a/i, but i do think that people who watch films will get sick of a/i in films the same way people got weary of CGI overuse in films. a/i in film might not go away completely, but audiences will absolutely be drawn to films that don't use a/i.

i think the basic gist of what i'm trying to say is that human beings need actual art, and the vast majority of people don't fully, actively realize how interwoven art is to literally everything in their lives. on some level they must know, because when it's missing, they miss it. they seek it out. art in general is important to the fabric of society: storytelling, entertainment, community, emotional fulfillment, etc. and people want something real, tangible. they want something created by humans.

****this is why, i'm guessing, that fan art & fan fiction are so popular. most people who create those sort of works are doing them for the actual love of what they're making. and then those works create community. humans have been sitting in groups to tell each other stories and to express themselves visually & dance together with music forever. for literally ever. all of human history. literally all. art is the fucking foundation of society, civilization, human evolution. to make art & to experience art, to some degree, on some level(s). non-negotiable. essential as food and water. i'm dead serious.

a couple of examples of similar times that tech threatened to make the "real thing" obsolete, but failed to do so:

e-readers were supposedly going to make print books obsolete -- they didn't.

streaming music services helped usher in a renewed desire for physical media again.

for awhile, both of those things did kill a lot of brick & mortar music/book stores, but there has been a bit of a resurgence and lots of small businesses.

and no, things will never go back to the way they were, but things would have changed regardless, capitalism being what it is.

it would be nice tho, wouldn't it, if digital tech presented augmentations to our need to have art in our lives constantly, instead of threatening to replace them completely?

i'm just going on pure vibes here & from what i know about art & being an artist for 35+ yrs, some tech & aesthetics philosophy, and from having worked in retail books & music/dvd sales many moons ago. so i could be completely full of shit here.

but i do have some hope that things re: a/i will get better for people -- for real, working artists & authors & musicians & performers & creators. humans need art the way they need food and water. this has always been true for the entirety of human existence.

i'm just sort of in my thoughts & feelings about art tonight and felt like rambling about it.

now i'm gonna make more tea.

[imperiuswrecked]

Sometimes you come across art that will haunt you forever. When reminded of its existence you wonder how time ever let it slip from your conscious thoughts. Every so often it rushes back from where it lay buried in it's shallow grave in your mind.

[troblsomtwins829]

I feel the urge to attempt animating. What will I be animating? idk yet. But it'll be interesting to find out, won't it?

[annarooma]

I have been thinking... I feel like I would like to post my pixel art (mostly animations honestly) on here more, but I do feel like it should be more things than what I'm mostly drawing nowadays. Which is mostly just emotes for twitch/discord.... I've really started to love the tiny size when it comes to pixel art

Also, can I just say how much I just love animating the little pictures afterwards? Sure it takes an eternity to do so if I decided that shading is important, but I just love seeing the little things come to life

[astridhobbit]

Hm okay so, I’m thinking about creativity and self expression and the difference between visual arts and crafty projects.

And like, one thing I’m thinking about is how much I love playing a garages song on guitar, how much I loved learning piano versions of my favorite songs, and how much I DO NOT WANT to make my own songs.

Or how much I enjoy crocheting patterns that other people have made, or even making slight design tweaks to make them better suited for me personally, and how much I NEVER EVER want to try to design my own pattern.

Or how the only pieces of writing I have managed to finish have been fanfic, despite starting original stories over and over and over again.

And like, okay, it could be a skill issue, certainly I learn really well by copying someone else’s work and later making changes,

BUT ALSO

I think it might be The Problem With Choices.

I have to make ten bafillion choices during a day. What to eat, what to feed my kids, what to wear, how to spend my time, when I can do this project or that activity, what to do next, what to do after that, what to do after that. I get worn down by all those choices, to the point that I have taken steps to reduce my available choices a great deal. (Fewer clothes, and most of those clothes in the same style, has helped a lot.)

And creative art is ENTIRELY choices. What word goes next, what scene goes next, how best to achieve this look or that feeling or whatEVer. And the varieties are infinite! Like, okay, narrow it down to a single medium, I won’t be making a playful tune out of cotton yarn or whatever, but even within a single medium, there is a vast, nigh-infinite array of choices to make.

And sometimes, I just get overwhelmed and exhausted.

Fanfic is a way of reducing choices. I don’t have to make choices about the characters or the setting, I can just make choices about the story itself. Following someone’s pattern reduces choices. I pick colors and material, and I don’t have to make up the whole dang thing. Playing a song someone else has written reduces choices. I’ve modified a few songs to work better for my instrument and my voice, but I’m not changing the lyrics or, lord above, making a whole new tune.

And to be clear, all means of creating, whether recreating based on a pattern or writing in OCs into an established world or creating something wholly new, all are good and wonderful and are all still about making something new that did not exist before. And that is great! None of these are better or worse than any other!

I’m just trying to wrestle with why I find some kinds of making soothing and restorative and others exhausting.

[justanotherbloodywoman]

While I agree is childish to say "I could draw/make it," I despise suppose "high art" that has absolutely no effect on the viewer unless there is other material explaining the first one. High art by itself should have an effect on viewer beyond warmluck confusion - explanations and analyzes exist to expose other layers of meaning, it is a plus.

abstract and modern art haters are sooo snobby like klein literally Created an entirely new pigment and then painted a canvas in a way where the brush strokes wouldn't be visible. the insinuation that people with no skill could reproduce that is so annoying because unless you are skilled at color mixing and painting you definitely couldn’t lmao

[asoftspotforangels]

some of my favorite woven tapestries, by Cecilia Blomberg:

Point Defiance Steps

Mates

Rising Tides

Vashon Steps

[yeepof]

I understand that tall men are our POV characters, but surely being like a foot taller than everyone around them would have some occasional consequences

[sabertoothwalrus]

let's get ✨vulnerable✨

[mayhemchicken-artblog]

in the hour or so it took me to draw this op turned reblogs off

EDIT: reblogs are STAYING OFF. op was right and correct and i have never regretted making a post as much as this one. if you want to reblog my art you can reblog something else from my blog. or commission me, lord knows i deserve financial compensation for the nightmare this post has put me through

[gawki]

Royal Pigeon

[tr-shb-g]

"never too late to be who you might have been" by sara yukiko mon | still from i saw the tv glow, "there is still time"

[aimasup]

Favouritism

Bill get a hold of yourself man

[cruelnemothesis]

[demaparbat-hp]

That infamous prison escape.

[unluckyprime]

four trans people walk into a movie theater …