Comment by thunfischtoast

1 day ago

I think, without knowing, that art often is similar to the hobby programming communities the thread leads with: the end result is interesting not by itself, but through the process that made it. We have feelings about art pieces because we feel with and through the artist. Can't do that with silicon. The Mona Lisa, even if the end result were exactly the same, would be dead boring had it been produced by the hand of a machine. My take

Totally disagree. I just want cool pictures hanging on my wall. If they’re totally unique and nobody else has them, even better. I can have a mounted picture of me on a horse like the famous Napoleon painting. I don’t care at all about the dude who painted it, I don’t even know his name.

The only exception is real photographs of some event, like I bought my friend a picture of the Falcon 9 taking off against the backdrop of the sun. Amazing photo.

I feel like obsessing over some artist I’ll never be friends with and the story behind their art is just another way to have a parasocial relationship, and the new tools allows us to have absolutely bespoke art in every single home. Things like this used to be considered strange and irregular before mass media. Now every person can make satisfying music. It’s incredible and amazing and should be celebrated because suddenly everyone can participate.

  • No one is stopping you doing that, but you probably aren't someone who should go dominate discussion in a hobbyist arts group.

  • > Now every person can make satisfying music.

    That "make" is doing some heavy lifting there. Even handwaving all the ethical stuff with art and LLMs, Christopher Nolan doesn't "make" music when he contracts Hans Zimmer and gives him some guidance. Not I "make" a cabinet when I do the same with a woodworker.

    And who's that satisfying for? For the one clicking the "generate" button? For the Sumo people getting VC money?

  • > I just want cool pictures hanging on my wall.

    That's decoration, not art.

    > Now every person can make satisfying music. It’s incredible and amazing and should be celebrated because suddenly everyone can participate.

    No one should be celebrating the theft of music from artists. Everyone can participate in making music today just as they always have throughout human history - learn to sing or play an instrument.