Unit 2 Blogs – Karyn Easton

Dec 18

by Karyn in Conclusion, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Reflection, Unit 2 Blogs, Unit 3 Blogs 0 comments tags: Conclusion, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Reflection, Unit 2 Blogs, Unit 3 Blogs

Feedback

Thoughts Firing Actions – I’ll not lie, I was feeling so happy with my grade from Unit 2. Ahead of receiving my grade, I was so worried that I had completely messed up with regards to my thinking. I knew that there was a depth to my work still lacking, but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then I received my feedback! This put beautifully into words exactly what I was feeling. There had to be something deeper to what I was trying to achieve. It’s really not enough to simply use AI and it’s crucial that investigations go much further. I decided that I would try to dig a little deeper and ‘go under the bonnet’ of AI. What exactly is AI and machine learning? How easy is it to master? Can a non programmer access it? Could there be a creative use for it beyond simply using it and tapping into the vast wealth of humanity that created it without being asked? I decided that in order to move forward I needed to train one of my own models. I wasn’t sure where to start so I asked my old friend ChatGPT. The bot suggested […]

Nov 19

Epic Making Session

Yaacov Agam Inspired Work – Over many months now I have been wrestling with a myriad of ideas. In my Study Statement I was keen to develop a new form of hybrid human, digital and AI art. I also wanted to include an element of mystery and discovery whereby elements of the work were hidden. During my search for inspiration I came across two artists that particularly resonated with me, namely: Alexander Calder and Yaacov Agam. I particularly liked the idea of movement and mobile art seen in Calder’s work. Indeed I was so taken with his work that I went to visit the Tate Modern to see some of his pieces there. However, Yaacov Agam’s work really did inspire me. In his Artist’s statement he says: “My aim is to show the visible in a perpetual state of becoming”. I think this is a beautiful way in which he describes his work. However, I personally would liken it to, showing the visible in a perpetual state of change. Given the nature of the subject matter that I’m exploring, his work for me very much aligns with this notion of change as well as ‘becoming’. Below is a short […]

Love Letters From AI

Hidden Art – When I first began my MA, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. Ultimately I knew it would be something to do with the hidden or the unseen. Initially I began looking at invisible phenomena such as sound waves and the passage of time. However, nothing captured my interest quite as much as augmented reality. It was this whole concept of a hidden unseen world (only accessible to those ‘in the know’), that intrigued me. While conducting research for my Research Paper I discovered that there is a distinct negative bias towards AI generated art. I looked at a number of strategies to help mitigate this bias. Finally, after a number of image polls, used to inform my project, I created a fictitious robot called Athena. Her name was inspired by the old Athena posters from the past. My research was suggesting that humanoid robots with a sad ‘backstory’ could help to reduce bias and win over an audience when presenting AI art. At this point I began to develop a narrative for my robot. During a visit to Barcelona, I was completely amazed by the sheer weight of graffiti adorning the city walls. I […]

Nov 02

by Karyn in 3d, Abstract Art, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, My Work, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, my work, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Mental Derive Part #3

Made with a Mobile – As the deadline to Unit 2 rapidly approaches I’m aware that I really need to be pulling together all of my ideas. I have been trying to build a number of skills lately and it’s been quite a steep learning curve. I’ve explored augmented reality through my 21 day challenge. I’ve explored projection mapping, physical book printing and 3d paper sculpture via my Grotto Print. I’ve also explored drawing which appeared on my mobile 3d kinetic art piece. However, today I managed to return to my first love that is photography. This afternoon I decided to make two short films showing the beautiful motion created by my mobile. The background to this particular mobile piece can be found in ‘Mental Derive’ Part #1 and ‘Mental Derive’ Part #2. I deliberately shot both short videos using a very wide aperture as I wanted to add depth to my film. I wanted to see the patterns on the mobile slowly come in and out of focus as they gently glide backwards and forwards. I think that I managed to do this. Please see below for the two videos created today. Kinetic Art with a Mobile […]

Oct 27

MACBA Metamorphosis

Barcelona’s Hidden Artists – While visiting Barcelona, I became fascinated with the vast swathes of graffiti covered walls. It felt as if collectively everyone had given up on cleaning the walls. Indeed, it felt as if the walls themselves had become works of art. In stark contrast I also noted the pristine internal walls of the MACBA (One of Barcelona’s contemporary art museums). I was so ‘taken with’ the beautiful light inside of the MACBA that I decided to photograph it. I also photographed many graffiti laden walls across Barcelona. There really was a such a stark contrast between the pristine and the messy that I began to wonder what the MACBA would look like if it was plastered in graffiti? The internal walls of the MACBA were so beautifully clean that I felt an irresistible urge to ‘plaster’ them. The vibrant colours and designs found externally on the Streets of Barcelona seemed a logical choice. Unfortunately, my dream of taking spray paints to the MACBA walls was pretty much out of the question. However, I did have access to Photoshop, Ai and augmented reality. As a direct result of my thinking I managed to self publish 3 small art […]

Oct 11

by Karyn in 3d, Abstract Art, Ai, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, My Work, Photography, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, ai, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, my work, Photography, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs

Grotto Print Ideas #2

Adding Value – I quite like the idea of ‘Killing Time’ and the oil on water re-imagined clocks. However, I do feel that there needs to be some level of interactivity with my Grotto print. I decided that since posting the video short included in the Grotto Print Ideas blog, more of the clocks needed to be shown. This is pure experimentation and the full video can be seen below. A couple of years ago I began to explore Paul’s book. I felt that the nature of the folds created within would lend themselves very well to warping the clock faces and dials even further. Killing Time – Calming Edit As well as the calming edit, I also produced a shorter more rousing video short, showing the clocks animated as they warp and destruct. This is more in keeping with the idea of ‘Killing Time’. I’m debating whether or not to include these either one or both of these digital edits as part of the print sale? At this point in time it is just a thought. I’ve a long long way to go before I make a firm decision. I’ve also had another idea regarding […]

Oct 05

by Karyn in Abstract Art, Ai, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Ideas, My Work, Patterns, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Tasks, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Abstract Art, ai, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, my work, Patterns, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Tasks, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Grotto Print Ideas #1

Print Ideas & Adam Bridgland (Jealous London) – Today we had an interesting talk about the ‘Grotto Project’ formerly ‘Merch’. Adam Bridgland from Jealous London came along to share some insights and revealed a lot of useful information – see a selection of his slides at the end from the talk. I’ve just been looking at the deadlines and I’ve realised that I really do need to start moving on this. Some very interesting takeaways from the talk included answers to questions such as: what was a popular poster colour? What kind of images sold well? Adam suggested that blue was a popular colour and skulls, butterflies and cute cats seemed to do quite well. Unfortunately the human form, unless comprising a skull did not seem to fair quite so well. I’ve produced many digital images over the years, but the thought of choosing just one singular image to print has really made me think. I have some interesting macro photographs of oil on water hanging on my walls. One was bought by a large Australian advertising company, one hangs in the local hospital and one appears on an album cover. Even Adobe use some of my work. Therefore I can’t […]

Sep 24

A Mental Derive Part #2

Picking Up Where I Left off – Ever since my first mental derive, it was always my intention to recommence this particular project. now that the second draft of my research paper is nearing completion, I feel I am better able to return more fully to creative activities. Since part one of my mental derive, I didn’t totally abandon this project and I experimented with suspending some of the circles on a sheet of acetate between some thick heavy duty white elastic. Below is a gallery showing the results. This is a project I’d like to return to at some point, but I don’t currently have the correct materials. The acetate was far too thin and buckled under the strain of the elastic. Therefore thicker acrylic is possibly a better choice. The patterned discs/circles also had a habit of ‘pinging off’, so a better method of securing them is required. However, I do think that there is room to develop this project further. Moments in Time and Space Each black and white patterned circle/disc above, is a collage of many little moments in time. For this reason I wanted to trial another form of suspension. I am particularly […]

Sep 20

Deeper Meaning

How to Find Meaning? – Having recently finished 21 days of an augmented reality investigation followed by another 21 days of research paper investigation and compilation, I’m feeling somewhat down. I think that primarily it is due to my investigations into AI generated art. The further I dig into this, the more depressed I become. I’m sure this is just a transient phase. Why am I so sad? It’s because over the years I learnt so much about photography. I collected a wealth of knowledge on this subject especially because each year I tried to present my students with increasingly technically challenging workshops. I was proud that I was able to replicate pretty much any style of photography from slow shutter work to speed shooting, star trails to zoom burst, macro photography to physiograms. I felt I had reached the pinnacle when I managed to work out the technique that Michael Jackson (the photographer not the pop singer), uses to make his ethereal Luminograms. Even today colleagues are badgering me to give up that secret which I flatly refuse. It’s so beautifully simple yet complex at the same time and I nailed it! However, with the advent of AI art […]

Jul 24

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, Ideas, My Work, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #12

Monday July 24th – Time is going so fast! I’m already well over half way through my 21 day challenge and I’ve still got so much I want to do! Today I worked hard at both AR and touch designer and also with ChatGPT. I managed to create a Touch Designer ‘data mosh’ of one of my images and add it in augmented reality to my Barcelona Graffiti book. This took most of the day. I also added a dancing robot to represent my use of AI. Sadly my back is very poorly at the moment so I’ve had to call it a day, but I have actually created a video of what I achieved. However, I’ve just stumbled across a new ‘AR’ (augmented reality) program. Yes, another one! This one also looks great. So feeling under the weather I decided to watch a few tutorial videos in order to investigate further. I pretty much know exactly what I will be doing tomorrow and that will be testing out the new AR software. Maybe this software will deliver everything I need? I will have to wait and see. I’m in bed nursing my poorly back at the moment so not […]