Child's Face

An oil painting with the artist’s signature is valued because of inherent aesthetic qualities and as one of a kind. Its the original touched by the artist’s hand. You can’t duplicate it! Not yet!

The paintings in museums are one of a kind. In the future we will have new modes of scanning and printing technology. Cameras will be able to scan and record distance as well the light. Every pixel will have depth information and light. Such inevitable technological advances will challenge the meaning of the original. Printing devices will duplicate any surface quality or texture of paint and color. We will see copies which look exactly like the original masterpiece. Only forensic experts will be able to determine the difference. You will be able to buy a Rembrandt or Picasso at the grocery supermarket. Imagine, a 50 million dollar Rembrandt for $50.00. Will this affect the idea of one of a kind?

Search Engine Art

For many years I have used the computer as a search engine to uncover art. My software is designed so I can invoke a mode where there is no single solution to a problem. I may ask for 500 variations or pictures of the same idea. I set the initial conditions or rules. The spatial relationships and orientation between individual parts change within every picture. Color relationships can also change. Most of the results are very bad but some reveal solutions I ordinarily would not think of. It’s like sorting through a junk pile searching for art. Afterwords, I pick out a small number eventually selecting one. Sometimes I make a few
minor adjustments.

I tried artificial intelligence approaches to creativity which never worked for me. There is too much of an emphasis on linear logic and predictability. Besides in the final analysis I really won’t know what makes something art. It’s still very illusive and a mystery. I may as well play and have some fun.

Infinite Universe

The sense of depth and scale to the universe is like science fiction. Where are the boundaries or the edges? It is indeed awesome! At the same time this is still nature but at a grand scale. Instead of looking at the landscape of earth we can look up at nature where there is no floor plane or background. Just space and matter or forms.

Here is a fragment of my infinite universe. A snapshot or instance in time. I can show millions of viewpoints of this universe. We could travel for billions of years. The visual cues provided by perspective, depth of field and layers of transparency enhances the qualities of space and form.

Plagiarism

This image raises some interesting questions. I did not create the data representing the flowers and the vines. Somebody did an excellent job of modeling the flowers and especially the vines with leaves. It was free data captured from the internet. I modified the data and made instances or copies of it. The original data was too mechanical and so I played with my fragmentation tool. I introduced transparency and the colors and placed the objects in 3d space. Also my concept about space and figure to ground relationships are a factor.

Who is the artist here? Is it the people who created the models or is it me? Who should get credit for this work?

Horsey

Perhaps this should not see the light of day but I enjoyed creating it. My grandchildren think its pretty cool. Any parent can relate to the game Horsey.The bones for the legs and feet have been on my system since the late 70’s. Like finding prehistoric body parts in the basement. Skull is more recent.

Caravaggio is looking and reminding me I am using his chiaroscuro technique. He was the innovator and a great representative of Baroque painting. The contrasts between light and dark give more emphasis to the three dimensional effect. The dark on the sides of the skulls function as a transition between them and the background.