Strong opinions are for the insecure

A work of text-based art with the words “Having strong opinions is for the insecure”.

The idea behind this statement is that some people who feel insecure construct an armoured carapace or strongly held opinions around themselves to protect them from the uncertainties that surround them.

It’s partly about the concept of identity. People hold strong opinions so that they fit in with their peer group and so that they can differentiate themselves from others. It could be a strong opinion about which football team is the best, which genre of music is the best or which political attitudes are the best (this final one being particularly relevant for advocates of identity politics).

Some people flaunt their strong opinions the way that others flaunt their gym-toned physique. As a power thing.

The work is created in a vey affirmative typeface, making the opinion in the piece a strong opinion itself. So maybe it was though up by someone who is insecure.

About AI generated art.

A piece of text-based art that reads “AI generated art will soon become so commonplace that it will devalue the appreciation of all art”.

I occasionally relax by spending time scrolling through social media looking at art and photography. In recent months I’ve become more and more perturbed by the amount of work that bears all of the hallmarks of being generated by artificial intelligence. They often betray themselves by being quite eye-catching while also being a bit slick and soulless. The outcome is that I no longer trust what I’m looking at. Things will only get worse as AI gets better at disguising itself.

One day in the worryingly near future we will be swamped by AI generated images that are for all practical purposes indistinguishable from images created by real human beings who have had real human experiences. Eventually it will be assumed that all images are AI generated, and all images will become essentially valueless as art. People will assume that Vermeer’s painting Girl with a pearl earring comes from the same source as his other painting, Girl with a pearl keyring. The wonder will be lost and we will all be poor for it.

This piece of text-based art isn’t so much art as a warning about the future of art. It’s generated by a human.

Vita Brevis

Translation: life’s too short to learn Latin

A piece of text-based art with the words: Vita Brevis – life’s too short to learn Latin.

Vita Brevis translates as life is short, and is mainly associated with the phrase Ars longa, vita brevis which is a Latin translation of a Greek aphorism by Hippocrates meaning something along the lines of “art [as in the learning of a craft] takes time but life is short”

Our AI future

Text-based art reading “AI will take you to places you never dreamt of: nightmares“.

This work is based on the idea that any predictions about our future under AI are woefully unimaginative about the effects that AI will have.

Whenever a new technology is invented the ultimate effects are never those that are originally envisioned, partly because the new technology changes the whole landscape of possibilities, creating a new and unexplored land of which there is no map.

It’s the law of unintended consequences.

Why???

Why not?

Text-based artwork showing the word “WHY” followed by a large question mark.

The words “Why not” are added as though written onto the work as a reply or reposte.

One of the inspirations behind this work is the fact that many people constantly ponder on the nature and purpose of life. Unfortunately it’s possible that thinking too much about the nature and purpose of life may interfere with the actual living of life and thus interfere with a balanced contemplation of life. It’s a philosophical quandary!

Slogan T-shirt kind of guy

T-shirt design

A slogan for a T-shirt reading “I’m not a slogan T-shirt kind of guy.”

Too many !!!!!s

A piece of text-based art showing the phrase “STOP using so many exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!”

Obviously a comment on the excessive use of exclamation marks!!!