Campaign Launch
Throughout the past several weeks of Drop-ins, a part of our ongoing roundtable has been a remarkably collegial, congenial and sometimes challenging discussion (seasoned with the occasional rant from one sector or another) amongst our rotating, multigenerational and multicultural, disparately-experienced professional cohort.
It all began with
“…if I can see that the image is AI-generated, I don’t even look at the picture…”
…and the conversation began with an abundance of strong feelings and points of view in support, in acceptance, in dismissal, in angst and in fear of the future affect on Art and, to no small degree, the effect on artists and designers and their ability to support themselves with their talent and training.
In the Macro, then;
The affects on the planet
The affects on quality of life
The Attack of the DataCenters
The Rise and Power of the TechBro Millionaires and further diminishing of the Middle Class
The further stratification and algorithmic curation of information flow
The diminishing trust in and suspicion of what we see and read
and…
The unassailable fact of the virtually unchecked presence of AI in, effect on and the undermining of basic security in the experience of our daily lives and our futures.
AI is here to stay; whether or not it “kills us all” by 2030…at least until then.
…and in the more personal, subjective Micro:
What, then, is art?
In dismissing art or visual because of the medium through which it was created, does that equate to the judging of a book by it’s cover?
What is the moral relationship between art and the medium through which it was created?
Is a photograph of a van Gogh sinful? Inauthentic? What of a print?
Will AI create a creeping homogenization of Art
We did wander into the character of the artist versus the value of their work…Picasso, Polanski, Rowling…
Where is the line of acceptability between the workshops of DaVinci through Warhol and Koons.
And what of the freelance contractor or small business person attempting to compete in a world of well-funded monoliths; striving to avoid being pushed aside and lost in the overwhelming panoply of Marketing Budgets…?
There was no challenge to the point of view that actual art-by-one-person is the epitome of artistic expression. Then what of the work of Koons, who has the idea and has others build it?
Alpine Rescue
As the conversation arrived at this point; I experienced my own crisis of conscience. Is my use of AI in creating the images for promotion of the Drop-in Sessions and my own “Kile Ozier Full Employment Campaign” ultimately hurting the Brand of The Guy?
Personally, I’d prefer to pay my artist friends and colleagues to create images for me as I have in the past. Yet, now, that approach is completely beyond my realm of possibility. Now, I write a detailed, scripted scenario, pass it to my Comrade Chat and get the art I envision. I’m actually fairly proud of the results, and am so thorough in my description of the image I want that I have only had to send it back for adjustment about 30% of the time.
The Drop-in cohort spontaneously suggested I share my simple process, in order to share the level of thought and detail that goes into each image. Ergo, below, are a series of narratives followed with the images created therefrom.
Perhaps all of you may do it this way.
I, on the other hand, had kept procrastinating on learning AI (despite being urged and guided by Michael Libby and Louis Alfieri - with recommendations as to which programs to learn) and, now that I need the images and have only my charm and good looks with which to recompense…this is how I do it.
Ultimately, I do see my images as reflections of me; expressing myself, who I am, sense of humor and approach.
So. To the work.
Orientation is Landscape
Time of day is early morning
Our perspective is facing East - from above the ocean toward the same beach that has been our location up until now…everything is still in place around the campfire except the surfboard is no longer there…
Eight of the people - have swum out to a floating dock perhaps 50 yards out, past the breakers. The dock is rectangular, 10 feet by 16 feet and floats so that a the upper surface is about a foot above the water
In one corner on the the 10-foot side is the “Swimming Pool” ladder for people to climb out of the ocean onto the dock.
At the opposite 10-foot side is a water polo goal net, floating in the water.
four are playing water polo and the ball has just been hit and is flying through the air toward the goal…
four are on the dock, some wrapped in towels, the others drying in the morning sun. All on the dock are watching the sunrise over the shoreline cliffs on the beach
One guy has the surfboard from the beach, is wearing a wetsuit and paddling to the floating dock from the beach.
One woman, wrapped in a towel, is standing at the edge of the ocean and looking out at the dock.
The two remaining, one man and one woman, are cooking breakfast on a weber-type grill near a gulf stream type mobile home that is nestled against the cliff at the edge of the beach (we didn’t see it before, as it’s been out of frame).
For perspective, the floating dock is downstage center, and our visual is from up above and a little behind the dock so’s we can see all the people on the dock and a bit of the ocean on the west edge…so that it’s clear that the dock is free-floating…and see all the way to the beach, cliff, trailer
A few of those on the dock are waving at the two cooks on the shore, who are waving back.
The women are all wearing one-piece bathing suits in various bright colors, the men are wearing James Bond style swimming trunks in blue, black and green solid colors…
Water Polo at Dawn
This iteration of our beach scene takes place just moments after our previous one….
Perspective is Landscape….
A giant, tentacled kraken has risen from the deep and grabbed the surfboard and surfer, waving them high the air
The waves caused by the surfacing of the Kraken have tipped the floating dock and thrown those on it into the surf…two are already in the water and the others are flying through the air from being tossed from the dock and not yet hitting the water….
the water polo players are racing/swimming to shore, one of them dragging an unconscious comrade in a lifesaving hold…
the water is gushing up the beach and has already begun to splash against the cliffside and begun to raise the trailer off the ground, while the two who had been cooking are now trapped atop the trailer
the girl who was at the shoreline is running from the tide, her towel flying behind her…
Atop the cliff is a crowd of people waving their arms and pointing to the Kraken and also to the spaceship in the sky…
Up in the sky, above the sunrise, a dark cloud has gathered, and we see the front edge of a spaceship with an observation bubble..inside which we see two classic, alien beings…with large heads and eyes….
The Kraken Appears
Good Morning!
I’m ready to try a new image…
The perspective is Landscape.
The scene is a lush, central American jungle…
Downstage center are the uppermost meter or two of an overgrown Aztec pyramid (“overgrown” reference attached…not to match, just for your inspiration…), atop which are the remaining ruins of the ceremonial shrine with the techcatl stone intact.
A team of two explorers have just finished climbing the pyramid and are stepping into the space with looks of accomplishment on their faces. One is me, dressed in black jungle attire, evocative of what I am wearing in the previous image, “Alpine Rescue.” Long sleeve shirts and long pants. We are both carrying machetes that we’ve been using to cut a path through the jungle.
The Other explorer is a woman, dressed in jungle explorer as well - long sleeves and long pants in green or khaki. We’re both wearing good boots. Just peeking out of the top of the woman’s backpack is a fresh copy of my book, “Creative Catalyst.” We can only see the top half; with the title and a bit of the blue and yellow cover…
Our perspective is from the front, just above the height the shrine, so that we can see the faces of the explorers, as well as the surface of the techcatl and, through the open/nonexistent walls of the shrine, we can see down to the thick jungle, below, that stretches all the way to the horizon.
Resting on the top of the techcatl is a copy of my book, “Creative Catalyst,” that looks worn and weathered, but is still very clearly this book.
The woman has a look of surprise and is pointing to the book on the techcatl.
Let’s label this image “Discovery”
I am uploading a few images of the book as well as a reference image of and “overgrown” Aztec temple AND our previous “Alpine Rescue” image for your easy reference…
Sound good?
Aztec Temple
Today’s image is the next in the KO Campaign
Still dressed in the black explorer’s kit from the previous, Mayan Temple image and carrying the machete; this time the only human is me…
Perspective: Landscape
We are on the jungle floor and against a mountain wall, I have just finished hacking away the dense foliage that has kept the Font d’EQ hidden from the world for centuries. What has been cleared reveals only about ⅔ of the width of the fountain..enough to see the majesty with enough still hidden to intrigue the viewer. we do see to the top of the fountain, though.
At centerstage is the fountain. Built of Ancient, aged stone, stained-by time and beaten by weather, this structure has been here for thousands of years. Mystical images are inlaid on the surface and sides of the basin and up the central column…lapis lazuli bordered in gold…
The column has three tiers with a spray at the crown.
Yet the water is sparkling…clear and clean, and glistening as though with hundreds of tiny diamonds….but we see nothing solid, just the tiny sparkles (we must be able to consume the water!) in the pool at the base of the fountain as well as in the sprays that arc from the center column into the basin.
A note that diamonds sparkle in red, orange, green and blue…tiny, tiny, tiny sparkles
As with many such fountains, there are little mini-basins, 3 or 4 of them, at the base of the fountain for birds to bathe or jungle creatures to drink.
This fountain is about 3/4 the height of the image, and is centered in the frame so that we can see the vegetation-clad mountain behind it and the flat ground downstage of it.
Further downstage right and left are two short, ionic columns…about 2 ½ feet high, with “Font d’EQ” (no quotation marks) carved in to the surface facing us. Kile is resting on the downstage right column, his machete in one hand and with the other wiping his brow from the exertion of excavation. And He is smiling at the beauty of what he has found.
And, of course, a copy of “Creative Catalyst” is peeking out of his backpack. Not too obvious, but definitely seen by us.
Font d’EQ
Good Afternoon, Comrade GPT…
Today, another in our series of promotional images for the weekly Thursday drop-in…
Orientation: Landscape
Location: Trafalgar Square
Perspective:
The camera is at street level across the street from Nelson’s Column. Upstage center is the façade of the National Gallery and midway between the column and the gallery are the two fountains at stage left and right.
It’s a sunny day and there are random tourists in two’s and threes walking about. In each of the couples, one is looking at a map while the other person is pointing. Have everyone who is pointing point in a different direction.
Let’s have two male couples and two female couples, three heterosexual couples and one group of eight tourists. The couples are randomly placed about the square. The group of tourists are almost at the top of the main steps to the National Gallery. their tour guide is holding the map and is pointing toward the National Gallery entrance and none of the tourists are looking at her. They are looking down to the lower right side of that main stairway to where a small low key photo shoot is underway of a woman in a crimson cocktail gown and a man in a tuxedo
Seated on the steps at the base of Nelson’s column, around and upon the bronze lion on the downstage right corner is our group of `10 people in casual clothes and of different ethnicities…Arabic, American, Japanese, Congo, Pacific Islanders and from India. Ages from 25 to 50.
They are all looking at and listening to me. Dressed as in the previous three images in my black jungle kit (that you designed), with my machete sheathed, carrying my book “Creative Catalyst”…and the hand I am using to point to the National Gallery is the one carrying the book.
That is my group. Ten people of disparate cultural
this is a busy photo…so you’ll probably have to dolly out a bit to capture it all.
I will drop the most recent image from last week with me in it. And an image of the book, in case you need it.
Annnnnnnnnnnnd, GO!
Trafalgar Square
Good Afternoon, Comrade Chat! Okay…back to promoting me.
Perspective: Landscape
Image:I want me, sitting on a stone wall overlooking the ruins of the Roman Forum, contemplating as the sun is low in the sky…late in the afternoon (later than this sample shot I’m giving you), nearly evening, but not quite gloaming.
There is still light from the sun, though not midday bright…romantic, evocative…the place is quiet and still save for a few birds and gentle breeze one can feel more than see. A hawk is perched atop one of the columns, surveying his hunting field.
I’m providing two reference shots - one of the forum and one of me.
The forum reference shot is the angle of forum I’d like. There is a stone wall all the way to the left of the shot and down in the corner (downstage left). I want to be sitting on that rock; one foot on the ground, the other crossed under me - (similar to the “me” reference photo you made of me at the Font d’EQ - which I am also dropping into your bin…) We can see the sun on my face, though I am looking more upstage than in the “font” image.
To be especially clear, in your Font d’EQ image I look GREAT and would like to maintain that. But in that photo I am pretty much standing, and I want to be actually sitting on the wall and drinking in the view of the Forum.
Imagining I am hearing Marc Antony saying “I come not to praise Caesar, but to bury him.” Voices in faint echoes from thousands of years past. I know, this is way too much detail for a simple shot. I want to give you the “feel” I am seeking. Contemplative, Open, entranced, imagining…
Okay: I place it in your hands…
Roman Forum
Good Afternoon, Comrade Chat…
This one will be fun…
Perspective: Landscape
The scene:
It is night. A Full moon and just a few clouds in the sky. What looks like a pool of water at the base of a valley in the Jurassic Period. Just for reference, I’ve pulled this description of the vegetation of the period from google. You AIs might be friends. Here’s the description:
The Jurassic period featured lush, evergreen forests dominated by gymnosperms. Because grasses and flowering plants had not yet evolved, there were no open plains. The landscape was instead a vibrant, green mosaic of towering conifers, cycads, ancient ginkgoes, and a dense understory of ferns and horsetails.
I will drop a sample image in, but obviously, we don’t want to copy it. I do want mountains in the background.
Overhead a pair of Pterosaurs is flying up the canyon to the right. In the middle distance on the left side of the canyon are a sauropod, a brachiosaurus and a diplodocus all feasting on separate trees and plants. On the right is predatory Allosaurus in the midst of ripping the flesh of his recent kill…an Apatosaurus. As he chews, the predator is looking at the figure in the pool of water, downstage center…he is a little too interested in that man…
The figure in the pool is me. Dressed in my designed-by-you Black jungle kid, I am waist deep in the water, stuck in the mud and sinking, holding my machete in my right hand and my book in the left, keeping it dry.
There is a narrow dirt path from the edge of the pool behind me that leads to the left edge of the frame, where there sits a glass bubble that was my time machine. There is a sign next to the bubble that says “PARKING RESERVED FOR H.G. WELLS”
Finally, across the top of the frame is a small banner that says
“The Guy Discovers Full Immersion
So I’m giving you three reference images…the image you made of me that I like best, the sample of jurassic vegetation and the cover of my book…Take it away!
Jurassic
Perspective: Landscape
The view is of the deep blue Aegean Sea, about a mile off the coast of Santorini, offshore.
In the foreground, downstage center, is me, standing on a free-floating dock in a black wetsuit similar to the black clothing in which you have been dressing me and now with swim fins, my goggles hang around my neck along with my scuba air hose…and the air tanks are on my back.
Let’s use the Kile Ozier/me from the Discovery image, which I’ll drop into the feed for you. my book, “Creative Catalyst,” is strapped to my left thigh in a clear, waterproof protective cover.
ON the floating dock, an elevator has just risen from the deep and stands at the ready, doors open and water dripping for me to enter and descend to Atlantis. It’s an old-fashioned Cage-Elevator…(example provided)…there may be a starfish and a few barnacles that have attached themselves to the elevator.
Atop the elevator is a sign that reads, “Express to Deep-Thought Repository” Standing next to the elevator is a hanging banner sign that says, “In Atlantis…all thoughts are Deep”
Across the top of the image is an unrolled parchment that announces, “The Guy Finds His Way to Deep Thinking”
…and way off, in the upstage right quadrant, we can just make out one eye of the Kräken and a glimpse of a tentacle…watching…
Santorini / Atlantis
Good Afternoon, Comrade Chat…
Today’s Star: Me.
Perspective: Landscape; looking down on CenterStage from above at about a 40-degree angle, as though from an owl in the rafters. In fact; let’s put an owl in the rafters near the upstage bookshelves.
Setting: Large Laboratory, stuffed with machines and equipment in the style of Steam Punk from the Jules Verne era…
A veritable web of glass-and-steel tubes and pipes climb the walls ant criss-cross the space from table to wooden-topped table and deep, steel basin.
Atop tables, Microscopes are focused on petri dishes of glowing substances, colorful liquids drip into flasks, steam rises from a few of the beakers and there is an energy of excited movement about the laboratory.
The shelves are covered with tattered, leather-bound books that look centuries old and seem imbued with magic and alchemy. Two or three random books are glowing golden light…somewhere on each table and shelf is a copy of my book, “Creative Catalyst” - on the shelves, perhaps just the spine and perhaps a bit of the cover is seen; while on flat surfaces, the book is open face-down and covers up.
In the center of the lab stands….me. The Guy. Clad in black lab coat, black pants, shoes, et cetera; reminiscent of my mountain climbing and jungle exploring kit that you designed…Kile is standing stage center, with the primary lab table before him, at waist height. In addition to the science equipment, this table also supports Kile’s macbook pro; with screen open and keyboard alight.
There is very little table or shelf space left.
Floors, walls and furniture are all of made of wood. Outside the windows, one can see that we are in a lab that is high on a mountain, with snow- and tree-covered peaks seen in the distance.
Something has been discovered.
IN a pair of silver tongs, Kile holds aloft a brightly glowing, deep blue crystal It radiates and reflects on all the metal surfaces in the room. He is smiling with accomplishment.
Across the top of the frame, a parchment banner announces “The Guy creates the Secret Ingredient for creating Experience of powerful Emotional Connection”
( Kile and Book cover Reference images dropped into the thread.)
Eureka!
The Answer from the Ancients
Perspective: Landscape
We are 1,000 fathoms (about a mile) underwater, deep in the Pacific Ocean.
We see various forms of ocean life; octopus, squid, shark, a pair of curious dolphins, a few clown fish, a tripod fish, a barracuda…all populate the water space…
On the left side of the frame, a rock-and-coral cliff rises from the ocean floor…the nooks and crannies of coral and the holes in the rocks in which house creatures that we can see staring out at the scene before them…a ribbon eel, a leaf scorpion fish, a hawkfish, a frogfish….
A school of lantern jellyfish hovers on the right side of the frame…
On the sea floor, a stonefish scuttles past, followed by a manta ray, seeking dinner…
in the distance, we can see more looming cliffside and little dots of luminescence that indicate more phosphorescent life…
In the center foreground is a 20-foot tall, bronze statue of a giant human ear. Clinging to this ancient artwork are a few barnacles, anemone and urchins, but the bronze still seems to gleam with a mystic light.
The statue rests on a base that says
“Il Segreto di Leadership Efficace”
Floating alongside, to the right of the statue, is Me, clad in black wetsuit, face clear through the mask, holding the ever-present machete and gazing with pride on this discovery.
At the base of the statue, somehow preserved although being in the ocean for so long, is a copy of my book, “Creative Catalyst” - the book is open, with the cover toward the audience … and floating on the other side of the book, using his “lantern” to light the pages as he reads, is a studious lantern fish…
The Banner Across the top says, “The Guy Discovers Ancient Tribute to Effective Leadership”
The Answer from the Ancients
The Night Before the Kraken
