This is new for me to share my process in depth like this. As a matter of fact I usually make the work and then struggle to describe it in an artists statement after the work is done. Any time I start a new series there is always a lot of angst, indecision, and false starts. In this case I am struggling with how I can use this new tool, if I should use this new tool, and in a larger sense how image making is going to change because of AI. I do think that artists have a natural curiosity about the world around them and since my practice has always been connected to a machine it seems like a natural progression.
Since my day job is in publishing I hear a lot about how it is going to make our lives easier (or the flip side- put us out of a job eventually). Since I publish Computer Science books I can honestly say I have the utmost respect for the brilliance and ingenuity of the people that have invented this powerful new tool but I am more than a little alarmed that many of them are now saying we should put the brakes on until we figure out the damage it might do. While I understand the concerns of artists’ about copyright infringement those are not the root of my personal concerns. My concerns are the power it will have to increase the growing divide in this my country. I am torn about using it because I will be indirectly helping it grow. In these posts I will share my process of figuring out what I want to say and struggle to learn how to say it. Right now there are two possible tracks. One has to do with memories and the other has to do with the history of the environment and how it is represented in art. I keep thinking one of these ideas must be better than the other but so far that has not become clear to me so I am pursuing both.