The Art and Culture of our time

The above is, as stated, a DaVinci-style syntax-driven AI prompt. I used multiple precise, or as precise as I could get them at that moment, word arrangements to create an anatomically accurate picture of a leaping dancer. This all began when I found out about a program called Gen AI. I have been hearing a lot of talk about emerging AI engines and their increasing intelligence, particularly their ability to turn well-crafted words and phrases into beautiful art (I should remind our reader that this is the same function as our own brains when it comes to encoding memories and recalling them. Do with that information as you will). This intrigued me, so I had to try it out.

After downloading the app, I began by creating versions of Captain America, who was one of my favorite superheroes in my early life (yes, I am a kid at heart and a responsible adult, much like fictional counterpart Agent Phil Coulson). As I created more things beyond the big red, white, and blue guy, I started scrolling through other works. What I started to notice in both my work and others' was a glaring disparity when it came to the extremities of the moving dancers. An example is shown below:

While most of the image looks great and detailed, the extremities of each of these two are, for the most part, way off. Seeing this repeatedly, I wanted to cultivate a string of words in hopes of achieving a highly accurate depiction of a leaping dancer. The first image is the result of my trials. It is not perfect, as the following aspects are still slightly off: the smaller facial features, the strange extra skin on the left (viewer's left) arm, and the weird foot placement of the right (viewer's right) leg kicking out.

I published the picture on Gen Craft, thinking I would get likes for it. The only reason I thought this is because a previously published picture had received 102 likes. To my surprise, I was mistaken. As of the publishing of this story, the dancer picture has only received 2 likes. Both pictures were published within an hour of each other. I am not disappointed or upset, but I am a bit surprised. The dragon image, a fantasy creature, was honestly not created with intricate word choice. Creating the dancer took many iterations, most of which failed to produce any image at all. It took me about an hour to complete, so it was not exactly a labor of love, but still required effort.

Having said all that, taken you on a journey, and arrived here with you, I want to ask: what has become of the appreciation of art? Slightly off-topic but correlated is the shift of our society.

I grew up near Pittsburgh, PA, and I watched as the riverfront of a once large industrial area was demolished and transformed into shopping and entertainment strip malls. This change occurred from the 1980s to the mid-90s. In just ten years, functional industrial complexes became an amphitheater, shops, upscale dining, and nightclubs.

So, how does the changing landscape of a once-industrial city correlate to my perspective on these two images? In my opinion, the first image reflects an era of fine art and hard labor. It reflects a time when things took time. The second image represents a more fantastical time of "magic" and wonder, almost completely outside reality. Those who worked, whether in a mill or as an artist, strove to build something that would last, at least before the advent of the consumer age. The beginning of mass consumerism, perhaps starting in the 60s and booming from the 80s onward, changed the mentality and landscape of our society. Of course, I acknowledge that there were consumers in the industrial age, and that is what drove it. However, in Da Vinci's time, "consumerism" was not even a thing. Da Vinci was never as appreciated in his time as he has been in ours. To a lesser degree, the mill worker was also not appreciated in their time. In Da Vinci's time, many people were working to survive, and "luxuries" such as observing or creating beautiful works of art required financial backing to enjoy. Men and women were focused on raising children and withstanding the challenges of nature. The shift occurred as the industrial age waned. When we reached a point where we could prolong life, reduce disease, produce more at a faster rate, and invent new things at an increasing pace, our perspective changed rapidly. More and more, we gravitated towards the pleasures of life and the unreal. There is nothing wrong with enjoying fantasy in moderation, but I am just now becoming aware of this shift and wondering if anyone else cares or even sees it. I'm not sure what to do about it, besides taking steps in my own life to not be solely fixated on either extreme. I think it is imperative to understand the past and appreciate what so many have done over the last 100 years to bring us to a life of great ease.

When is the last time you stood on a subway platform and marveled at how it arrived on time? How about the fact that complex machines can function well enough that you don't often fear for your life while using them? This applies to planes, cars, and even bicycles. So much goes into making these modes of transportation, by somewhat "invisible" people. In the industrial age families who worked in a car plant, for example, could sit back and say my dad or mom built that. The maintaining of the family car was a past time enjoyed by all involved. Now it is almost a forgotten tradition. When we can float by things and not have to think about them, we start to devalue them. It is not intentional, we can only take in so much at a time. Just try, when you have time to appreciate the things you know have taken a lot of good people a lot of time to make good things work well.

Let me know what you think about all of this, I enjoy hearing from my peers.