Hyperallergic
Sensitive to Art & its Discontents
This spooky season is a special time, as it is the first spooky season with the widespread ability for the public to generate AI (artificial intelligence) imagery from simple text prompts. As previously noted, AI generators trend creepy on their best days, so what will happen if we use them to spookily revisit some contemporary and art historical landmark moments? Perhaps we stand at the precipice of releasing another internet cryptid, a la Loab.
One thing is for sure: It will be goddamn creepy — though it may be said, on occasion no creepier than the baseline reality of life in the art world.
For starters, I prompted DALL-E to contemplate “Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World but she’s hiding from Michael Meyers” to which it replied with images that are a great way to stay awake for the rest of your life.
Many an art historian and Louvre patron has wondered what the Mona Lisa hides behind her enigmatic smile. I suggested to DALL-E that perhaps she is a picture of Dorian Gray, and, you know, it’s pretty upsetting.
Are you afraid of this “girl with a pearl earring as a ghost”? What if I told you that THERE WAS NOTHING THERE WHEN WE TOOK THE PICTURE???
As my friend Meredith Yayanos likes to say, fame is a wasting disease of the soul, and nothing drives that point better than “death in the style of Andy Warhol”
But there is one nightmare almost too grim for mortal contemplation, a vision that haunts even the waking hours of every critic. I speak, of course, of Jeff Koons’s balloon dogs. But what if it were even somehow worse?
Am I the only one who thinks these “Alex Katz paintings of Dracula” are a lit series and need to be serialized immediately? The only thing scary is how fast I’d buy one on a t-shirt.
In a funny plot twist, “Hieronymous Bosch Halloween” is actually much more toned-down and friendly-seeming than the original paintings, so sometimes there’s nowhere to go but up!
Of course, if you want to face true horror, let’s talk about climate change, with a serving of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” in the mix.
Haha, we’re all going to die!
The Kiowa Tribe is urging Bonhams to halt the sale of the books, which they believe “may have been wrongfully acquired.”
During his more than 50-year-long career, Graham pushed the limits of documentary and fiction.
Focus on experimentation at SAIC.
Founder Hattie Bishop Speed died in 1942 — but some employees of the museum say they continue to feel her presence.
Laemmle NoHo 7, the last independent cinema in North Hollywood, is slated to be destroyed and replaced by luxury apartments.
This fully funded residency immerses contemporary artists in Miami’s cultural landscape, where they can forge connections to help their careers thrive.
At the height of his influence as an art critic, Greenberg was in “Sullivanian” psychotherapy, the same cult I was later exposed to as a child.
A former journalist, Sim Chi Yin came to question the primacy of archival sources after realizing the deliberate decisions behind what gets included or excluded.
The Morgan Library & Museum presents She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 B.C, on view in New York through February 19, 2023.
The Computer Accent follows the pop-dance band YACHT as they use AI to help compose their 2019 album Chain Tripping.
The use of technologies such as NFTs and live streaming has been growing steadily in the music world since the COVID-19 lockdowns.
There are tensions between those who wish to preserve the nature of shadow play and those who want to see it evolve.
Sarah Rose Sharp is a Detroit-based writer, activist, and multimedia artist. She has shown work in New York, Seattle, Columbus and Toledo, OH, and Detroit — including at the Detroit Institute of Arts…. More by Sarah Rose Sharp
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *


Δ
{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}Your submission failed. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}
{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}
Submitting…
Hyperallergic is a forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking about art in the world today. Founded in 2009, Hyperallergic is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.

source