Portrait of Clarity, 2020
Aesthetic Absurdity, 2020
Tristan Onek
“Portrait of Clarity was made by taking descriptions of Jackson Pollock’s One: Number 31, 1950 written for visually impaired visitors at the MoMA and then providing those descriptions to my AI Aesthete system. This particular AI-generated production demonstrates a clear inner area surrounded by an unclear exterior. This contrast between clarity and confusion, along with a central portrait of a man, serves as an apt reference to MoMA’s efforts to make art more accessible to those who are surrounded by inaccessibility.”
“Aesthetic Absurdity was produced by feeding into AI Aesthete the first chapter of Theodor Adorno’s book Aesthetic Theory, in which he claims that art’s role in society is no longer self-evident. This piece represents challenging and complex efforts necessary to make sense of the relations between art and society. Adorno spent much of his career studying art, and this production turns Adorno’s words back into art.”