Generating Monet

 

 

Generating Monet

 

You changed the way that we look

not as form, but as color and light

so that we who look must impress ourselves 

to discover your new found insight 

 

And now the lilies can see themselves

transformed through automaton art

an algorithm, a mind of its own

making new forms of color and light

 

Saturated with shade and exposure

a warmth and a vibrance so bright

are you Frankenstein or creator?

a mutation or start up delight?

 

Note:

Each of the images above were created using four different original photos of water lilies and a computer algorithm with some degree of autonomy, to create new original works of art. All photography by Ken Dickinson, generated art by FotoDa

The poem explores issues of what art is today originally outlined in an essay by Walter Benjamin: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. In recent years, images of art have become freely available global commodities without little or no value because they are commercial products that lack the aura of authenticity of the original. Now however, we see a movement towards generating original art digitally and authenticating and creating value for digital art through NFT's (Non Fungible Tokens), a digital token that can authenticate a digitally created piece of art, that can then accumulate value and is redeemable.