Foundation Year: The Importance of the Remix in GenAI
As an abstract figurative painter, I relate the modes and attributes of light and color to a geometric structure. Themes are drawn from the changing landscapes of nature and interiors, or from memories and man’s archetypal experiences…
My foundation (freshman) year “Light, Color & Design” professor Mary Buckley asked each of her students to meet with her individually to show her their work. I was into collage and African art at the time. Professor Buckley looks at my artwork and told me to look at two artists: Edward Hopper and Romare Bearden. Hopper’s work depicts scenes of everyday American life and features strong contrasts of light and dark tones. Bearden painted more abstractly, which emerged in his collage works. My earlier artwork was heavily influenced by both artists.
It was Hopper (and artists like him) who taught me about color theory but it was Bearden who taught me about the remix (in visual art). The latter artist was greatly inspired by Pablo Picasso. Bearden’s experimentations with pure abstraction and Cubism can be seen in his collages that reveal the impact of various aspects of Picasso’s work, ranging from the way in which he constructed pictorial space to his use of silhouetted figures and African masks. Picasso (and others) employed remixing through paint.
Through the lens of generative AI we can see how Cubists collected and categorized African masks and other artifacts to identify and use specific elements in their works. These elements include simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and collage. To a machine (computer) these elements are zeroes and ones and the training process seeks to find relationships between seemingly disparate things. When Professor Buckley suggested a connection to Hopper and Bearden I eventually discovered a method that took elements from both artists’ works.
Bearden also appropriated (remixed) the narrative of Homer’s Odyssey by illustrating key scenes from the story, all recast with black figures. One such example was replacing Circe, a goddess from ancient Greek mythology with Mami Wata, a water goddess from African stories (see Drexciya/Mami Wata, collage). I wanted to see if MidJourney could be used to remix Hopper’s “Morning Sun” using Bearden’s collage technique. The goal was not to copy the artists’ works but to learn from them the way Bearden learned from Picasso, who, in turn learned from African artisans. This is the result:
Some of Hopper’s approach to color and thematic theme(s), as well as subject matter and composition are evident in the Midjourney image. Bearden’s collage style is in there, as well. Like with Bearden’s Circe/Mami Wata the woman in the new image is Black. My contributions are there, as well, especially the subject matter, bronze dress, and background with multiple views. Here’s the original image and the expanded one:
When extending the original image more of the bed can be seen. However, the woman is floating above the bed. This was fixed in Photoshop. The remixing process included repositioning the woman and adding new areas. In Hopper’s “Morning Sun” (above) the subject faces the sun impassively and is seemingly lost in thought. In “Daybed” the subject is almost ready for a night on the town and has decided to take a break to watch the sun go down. There is a feeling of solitude expressed in both images. The biggest difference between Hopper’s work and collage/GenAI is space and place.
a black woman sitting on a bed, looking out the window at a city skyline
It should be noted that works by neither artist (Hopper or Bearden) were included in the prompt for “Daybed.” The prompt is my interpretation of the artists’ works, techniques or styles. The resulting thumbnails are, in a sense, remixes. The process to upscale and use ‘variations’ is a version of remixing in collaboration with MidJourney. What results is more possibilities for outcomes beyond what any one brain, model or system can think up in one image.
I argue that Remix, starting in the nineteenth century, has a solid foundation in capturing sound, complemented with a strong link to capturing images in photography and film. Given the role of these media in art practice, it became evident to me that art is a field in which principles of remix have been at play from the very beginning of mechanical reproduction — hence the prevalence of art aesthetics… — Eduardo Navas
Remixing often goes hand-in-hand with appropriation or reappropriation (and improvisation). These methods or modes of production are responses to postmodernism that broke down boundaries between art and daily life, and between high and popular culture. Generative AI is a new form of mechanical reproduction and the backlash to come will likely be where we place the value of AI-generated images, either as part of an established system or way of doing/looking, or as part of the way we work (with machines). Either way it will change the way we make and perceive “art.”