One of my kids said "We have to fix everything, Ms. Ropple," yesterday. "Our generation has to fix all the problems on the planet that all of you guys made." Hmmmm. Somewhat true, I suppose, but I still feel like I'm the kid in this game. Maybe every generation does. At least there are new tools available to the future generations that will allow them to address tough situations. The body/mind connection is being explored more now than ever, in scientific ways, too. Design and art are integrated through use of technology, and everything seems to be coming together in a more holistic fashipn. The ugliness we see now in our society might just be growing pains. I'm sure there were similar problems during the Renaissance, too, as culture shifted from illiterate to literate, and from sacred to secular.
Today's link fascinated me because it uses a computer's artificial intelligence to make aesthetic decisions like an artist would make. It is being called "Inceptionism" and it uses AI that mimics human neural pathways to combine photographs, taking properties of each and creating an original image. The way the computer selects attributes is highly artistic -- the compositions of each piece are purposeful, not random, and reflect solid design. Sometimes this might be because of the composition of the original photographs, but in any case, the resulting final image feels like a well resolved work of art. Is there a soul in the machine?
The results are fascinating. After seeing this, I would like to give my students a shot at making a painting based on this idea. They could combine an image from nature with a well known painting from art history. This would bring together lots of skills and critical thinking processes. Ooohhhh, I love teaching! As the article above states, if you know Russian, you can pop over to the Russian site where this is being done and upload your own images, then make art based on them. How cool is it to be living during a renaissance?
Happy Saturday - off to battle domestic chaos.