Morgan Williams
Back in 1984, I was sentenced to a weekly, 45-minute touch typing class at high school. The lesson was housed in a long narrow room filled with typewriters. The main soundscape was the clatter of keyboards and frequent sighs of student frustration. Meanwhile, just across the corridor, lurked a den of new contraptions our teacher disdainfully dubbed “Apple Macintoshs.”
Our typing teacher eyed the new lab like it owed him money, casting frequent glares across the hall. Entry into the forbidden realm of the “Mac Lab” was only attained by achieving a typing speed of 40 words per minute. It was a goal as distant as the moon but I was itching to get in! Each night I honed my skills on an old typewriter at home, banging away like a mad scientist. Eventually, I breached the threshold of the Mac Lab, joining the ranks of the chosen few.
There, amidst the digital wilderness, I encountered MacPaint. It was love at first pixel. While some other typing genius crunched numbers on a spreadsheet, I was lost in a new digital realm of greyscale geometric shapes. My art teacher may have turned up his nose at the computer lab, but my graphics teacher saw the light. Together, we unleashed the power of MacPaint, creating Art Deco borders and patterns that would make Gatsby jealous.
Now, fast forward four decades, and the same scepticism that haunted the halls of my high school has found a new target: AI. Critics say it is the harbinger of doom for art, predicting the death of creativity and the rise of soulless machines.
Recently, I stumbled upon an exhibition of “Synthetic Photography,” a term as intriguing as it is perplexing. Turns out, it’s just a fancy way of saying “AI-generated images that look like photos.” The show was by Kevin Abosch and was a fascinating exploration of deep fake images via streetscapes of protest and civil unrest. For me it was a small glimpse of things to come.
My own foray into AI art began with NightCafe by DALL·E last year. The first attempts weren’t great. While the details and speed were impressive, capturing my creative visions weren’t as straight forward as I thought. Turns out, writing a good prompt is the secret to unlocking AI’s artistic potential. “Beautiful Landscape of Hepburn” won’t really cut it. But throw in some descriptions like ‘impressionism, a kangaroo, stormy sky, open field, long fence line’ and suddenly your mind’s eye can start to take shape.
Some artists swear by AI, churning out hundreds of prompts until they strike creative gold. It’s definitely a new tool in the artist’s arsenal worth watching.
AI may be in its infancy, but so was I when I first picked up a pencil. Who knows where this wild ride will take us all? One thing’s for sure: “Artistic Prompt Engineer” will probably be a job title in the near future. As for me, I’ve been a Digital Mentor, a Knowledge Navigator, and a Communication Designer. Playing around with MacPaint in ’84 set me on a journey I’ll never forget. And now, with AI in my toolkit, who knows where I’ll end up next? Probably writing prompts like there’s no tomorrow!
We will be hosting an interactive art event using AI later in the year for the Words In Winter festival so watch this space. Over the next few weeks we have a ton of cool events lined up; from movie nights (The Trust Fall – Julien Assange film nights) and a repair cafe to a clothes swap, gypsy band (Band Without Borders) and art auction. Check out our website for all the deets at radiusart.com.au.
Morgan Williams is the co-director with Kim Percy of Radius Art Space. His art practice spans a 30 year period and explores a diverse range of mediums and topics.
