May 29th, 2024

ChatGPT, Adobe Photoshop & Firefly

I remastered the original version of “The Creation of AI…Art” mainly to show my progress as a digital artist. Since the original was the first piece composed of many AI generated layers as well as my own doings, it only felt appropriate to challenge myself and the AI once again. And what a challenge it was, I mean the background alone must have taken between 18-20 hours to complete. The computer monitor as well as the cyborg hand emerging from it were less time intensive, but still took hours of generating and regenerating and structuring and editing and erasing. Don’t even get me started on the human hand, or the drop of light released by it.

I will not lie and say I loved every second of the recreation. That would be an unrealistic statement considering all the times my software failed on me before I could hit “Save” (do not put your entire trust into autosave when you have a somewhat unreliable internet connection), or all the times I worked until my body physically gave out on me, and all the times I mentally broke down because of how long it was taking and how I felt it would never be “Good Enough”.

I will say it was an absolute honor and privilege to be granted the opportunity to remaster this piece. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and my community. And while part of me wishes I could have afforded to re-enroll in university to learn better, more effective techniques, another part of me feels I haven’t done so bad for myself considering I am entirely self-taught in this field. I loved school while I attended and earned my scholastic accolades, but as a creative person I feel I do much better in an environment of my own design, driven by my own measures of merit. I know I am not the only person who feels this way.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from minting this NFT will go towards funding Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, a museum focused on showcasing the work of self-taught artists. Every subsequent sale will be split 50-50 with the seller and the museum. You must be 18 years or older (or whichever is the legal age in your area) and possess a valid credit card tied to your name, or if purchasing with crypto you automatically attest that you are of legal majority age within your jurisdiction to be making such a transaction.