Very thoughtful piece. I keep returning to this one quote :
“at its worst (like with Saint Luigi) Romanticism falls into bathos and Promethean performance art.”
This expresses a kind of failure in such a *specific* way. And yet it relates to a tendency within Romanticism as a whole in the author’s view,
I’m so curious as to how the author of those words describes the reason why we might expect bathos and promethian performance art- it is not obvious to me. Can you explain?
Romantics are usually seeking the sublime or trying to live heroically. It's so easy to fail when attempting something that grandiose, and such failure often takes the form of bathos or obnoxiously performative behavior. It's a particularly humiliating kind of failure, I think, like when we cringe at badly written love poems.
Makes sense, and I believe I have observed just the thing you are talking about.
So to me, there is that aspect of Romanticism that emphasizes personal genius and originality. In more recent times we have seen people such as Ayn Rand or, say, Camille Paglia emphasize this inheritance in several ways, landing on receptive ears in certain circles. The attraction seems based upon the social valuation of individual achievement, and perhaps the thirst for certain displays of heroics.
Another side of the Romantic tradition, and the one I am more drawn to, seeks renewed connection and a sense of the whole rather than a breakdown into fragmentary parts, something that is so important in our technologically suffused world.
The question is whether this Romantic influence becomes fundamentally nostalgic, sentimental, reactionary, world denying. Or whether it can be highly adaptive and affirming
Thank you, you’ve given me some things to think about.
Wow! When you said you were writing a piece that touched on AI, I didn't expect to be quite so comprehensive -- there's sooooo much to think about here.
When you brought up having made artworks using uranium as a material, my ears perked up -- what?? that's so cool!!, I thought -- and of course I had to take a look. And, well, my sense of awe is tempered a bit by only getting to observe it in jpg/video form, but the installation you did with the Geiger counters is just incredible. I think one of the really important high-level things that art can do is to draw attention to the invisible mystery that surrounds us at all times... and boy oh boy did you do just that. That you can make such interesting high-concept artwork and ALSO more "basic" and technically proficient drawings is, IMO, incredibly cool. You're something of a polymath yourself, it would seem. :')
I think you’re right that photography has much less value as a consumer, but I think it still has huge impact as a practitioner. It teaches you to see beautiful moments throughout your day, and as you more and more miss a moment that you would have photographed, you start to appreciate the fleeting moments in life, and take the ones you see with gratitude, even if you didn’t catch them on film.
Similarly, I wonder what benefit AI art (at least in its current form) has for its practitioners. I find the quick iteration the factor that influences me most. My optimistic view is that those who use AI a lot will start to see things in the world as unfinished and iterable. As a work in progress that we could improve. That the world given to us is malleable and we can start to have more vision on how we would like it to be.
100% agree — I do think drawing and painting teaches observation better than photography, but that isn't to say photography can't teach a good deal, too. I like your AI take!
Wonderful, and pulls together so much -- including a lot of reading I did a long time ago, and enjoyed the reminder, not to say some more recent concerns about . . . anyway, bravo and highly recommended!
BTW, I think Tyler Cowen is just smitten with LLMs, and simply wrong about how they work and what it means. I don't know personally, or even know of, a single academic (as opposed to industry) computer scientist or philosopher who talks that way about LLMs or ML more generally. Love of tech doesn't mean love of all tech, or a free pass . . .
He's definitely smitten! I know him personality and think he's highly knowledgeable about AI; he may disagree with the academics you're thinking of, but I'd be shocked if he was unaware of their arguments. I'm not knowledgeable enough about the intricacies of AI tech to say whose predictions are correct, but I hope Tyler is right, because that would be a fascinating future.
As a once commercial photographer and showcased CGI artist, today I can't even get galleries or venues to review a proposal. They want 'insouciance de jeure' art, the kind you stand in front of with wine glassed fellow audienciers commenting on 'the line' and 'the gesture' of some pastiche. Then I discovered AI art, ... art so evocative and inclusive, so deep in form and in meaning ... that no gallery or venue or publisher would touch! Even donated it, but they wouldn't hang it. Maybe if we go back to fingerpainting with red ochre, the Gods of Primitivism will be assauged. We can get naked, wearing furs and leather sandals. Join us to enjoy evocative AI art at: ANTHAE360
This piece is amazing.
"Enlightened Romanticism." I'll be thinking and dreaming and debating and agonizing over that for a long time. Thank you!
Great article! It's exciting and invigorating to think we may be part of a new period of romanticism?!
And a little scary!
Very thoughtful piece. I keep returning to this one quote :
“at its worst (like with Saint Luigi) Romanticism falls into bathos and Promethean performance art.”
This expresses a kind of failure in such a *specific* way. And yet it relates to a tendency within Romanticism as a whole in the author’s view,
I’m so curious as to how the author of those words describes the reason why we might expect bathos and promethian performance art- it is not obvious to me. Can you explain?
Romantics are usually seeking the sublime or trying to live heroically. It's so easy to fail when attempting something that grandiose, and such failure often takes the form of bathos or obnoxiously performative behavior. It's a particularly humiliating kind of failure, I think, like when we cringe at badly written love poems.
Makes sense, and I believe I have observed just the thing you are talking about.
So to me, there is that aspect of Romanticism that emphasizes personal genius and originality. In more recent times we have seen people such as Ayn Rand or, say, Camille Paglia emphasize this inheritance in several ways, landing on receptive ears in certain circles. The attraction seems based upon the social valuation of individual achievement, and perhaps the thirst for certain displays of heroics.
Another side of the Romantic tradition, and the one I am more drawn to, seeks renewed connection and a sense of the whole rather than a breakdown into fragmentary parts, something that is so important in our technologically suffused world.
The question is whether this Romantic influence becomes fundamentally nostalgic, sentimental, reactionary, world denying. Or whether it can be highly adaptive and affirming
Thank you, you’ve given me some things to think about.
Yes, and it's probably impossible to only get the good parts of Romanticism...
Wow! When you said you were writing a piece that touched on AI, I didn't expect to be quite so comprehensive -- there's sooooo much to think about here.
When you brought up having made artworks using uranium as a material, my ears perked up -- what?? that's so cool!!, I thought -- and of course I had to take a look. And, well, my sense of awe is tempered a bit by only getting to observe it in jpg/video form, but the installation you did with the Geiger counters is just incredible. I think one of the really important high-level things that art can do is to draw attention to the invisible mystery that surrounds us at all times... and boy oh boy did you do just that. That you can make such interesting high-concept artwork and ALSO more "basic" and technically proficient drawings is, IMO, incredibly cool. You're something of a polymath yourself, it would seem. :')
I think you’re right that photography has much less value as a consumer, but I think it still has huge impact as a practitioner. It teaches you to see beautiful moments throughout your day, and as you more and more miss a moment that you would have photographed, you start to appreciate the fleeting moments in life, and take the ones you see with gratitude, even if you didn’t catch them on film.
Similarly, I wonder what benefit AI art (at least in its current form) has for its practitioners. I find the quick iteration the factor that influences me most. My optimistic view is that those who use AI a lot will start to see things in the world as unfinished and iterable. As a work in progress that we could improve. That the world given to us is malleable and we can start to have more vision on how we would like it to be.
100% agree — I do think drawing and painting teaches observation better than photography, but that isn't to say photography can't teach a good deal, too. I like your AI take!
Thoughtful and compelling essay, with a nice self portrait.
Well written. Fascinating Informative....thank you
Please find an introduction to a unique Artist, Philosopher and social critic via these references which include the references to Narcissus
http://www.daplastique.com/essay/the-maze-of-ecstasy this essay features a reference to Narcissus as the formative aspect/feature of modern culture
http://www.daplastique.com/essay/the-rebirth-of-sacred-art
http://www.adidafoundation.org/essays/the-eternal-war-between-orpheus-and-narcissus
http://beezone.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-World-As-Light-Introduction-to-the-Art-of-Adi-Da-Samraj.pdf The World As Light
Two related references on Narcissus
http://www.dabase.org/up-1-6.htm The Criticism That Cures the Heart
http://beezone.com/adida/narcissus.
Please also check out this introduction to the book Art & Physics
http://www.artandphysics.com
It could be said that William Blake was the last and best of the Romantic Artists.
This reference introduces his work
http://thehumandivine.org
Wonderful, and pulls together so much -- including a lot of reading I did a long time ago, and enjoyed the reminder, not to say some more recent concerns about . . . anyway, bravo and highly recommended!
BTW, I think Tyler Cowen is just smitten with LLMs, and simply wrong about how they work and what it means. I don't know personally, or even know of, a single academic (as opposed to industry) computer scientist or philosopher who talks that way about LLMs or ML more generally. Love of tech doesn't mean love of all tech, or a free pass . . .
He's definitely smitten! I know him personality and think he's highly knowledgeable about AI; he may disagree with the academics you're thinking of, but I'd be shocked if he was unaware of their arguments. I'm not knowledgeable enough about the intricacies of AI tech to say whose predictions are correct, but I hope Tyler is right, because that would be a fascinating future.
Incredibly kind words, I'm so glad the work delighted you! 🥰
As a once commercial photographer and showcased CGI artist, today I can't even get galleries or venues to review a proposal. They want 'insouciance de jeure' art, the kind you stand in front of with wine glassed fellow audienciers commenting on 'the line' and 'the gesture' of some pastiche. Then I discovered AI art, ... art so evocative and inclusive, so deep in form and in meaning ... that no gallery or venue or publisher would touch! Even donated it, but they wouldn't hang it. Maybe if we go back to fingerpainting with red ochre, the Gods of Primitivism will be assauged. We can get naked, wearing furs and leather sandals. Join us to enjoy evocative AI art at: ANTHAE360
What happens when the people in power are the ones unilaterally regulating AI?
https://open.substack.com/pub/horrorwithagrin/p/witch-hunt?r=6fy6iq&utm_medium=ios