Art of the day:

Pictured: Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer) – Monet. Monet is known for impressionism, as style of painting with visible brush strokes on the canvas used to emphasize light. This is just one of many canvases of “Haystacks” that Monet painted. The series is famous for the way in which Monet repeated the same subject to show the differing light and atmosphere at different times of day, across the seasons and in many types of weather. Why paint the same haystacks over 20 times? What was the motive. Perhaps to illustrate the passing of time. The changing world. I think it’s something different. He painted the haystacks so many times to show that they were real. He observed the objects over time, illustrated them at different points in their life, and when viewed together the viewer can undeniably say “the haystacks are real”. They exist, or existed in some form. This validates the haystacks, this validated him and grounded him in reality as he saw it. That’s the thing though. That’s reality as he saw it. Now, AI scrapes the surface of all that we know. It’s harder now than ever to know if I’m looking at a real painting. What if I “prompt” something to make up a painting using impressionist styles like Monet would? I could say it’s lost, rare, worth a fortune. It’s just such an odd thing, that this is possible… and that people regularly accept this “tool” into their lives at the cost of critical thinking.

Song of the day:

Nine Inch Nails: The Line Begins To Blur. Even in 2005, I was still purchasing albums on CD. In 2007 I also received Year Zero as a Christmas gift. It’s crazy to think that at an early age I was exposed to so much of NIN. I wonder, do parents still expose their children to this kind of thing? Is it good, is it bad, to experience music so… real? I’m not sure. Then I think about what kids are actually experiencing: nothing. Heads… empty. They’re just glued to the IPads, they’re just talking to themselves in a mirror. They like something because they are told to like it from an outside influence. What is real anymore? Is your love of this music, this art, an experience – is it genuine? Or are you living the way someone else expects you to live. The line begins to blur. It digs at me, this is why I am anxious you know? Is the way I’m feeling even… real? The questions now are usually “what caused me to think this way, to feel this way”. I have to reverse engineer my thoughts and feelings on the daily, hesitate, digest, and ground myself. It’s tiring…

Thought of the day:

I love what has been shared with me, but these days I HAVE doubt everything. I used to care, I used to give the benefit… but what is the motive behind sharing music, art… are you a real person? Are your creations real? Are you after money? My information? Thank you… but sometimes, no thank you. I can’t share anything with you. I used to engage with the estranged names on my screen. Now, everything is constantly monitored. I try to laugh it off, pretend some piece of tech isn’t listening. It’s just too much some days. Keep yourself.