First thoughts on areas for Body of Work

Introduction

In this blog entry I record my further thoughts on areas that I would like to pursue. This is based on a theme I identified in my Statement of Intent. I also note various references I have gathered over the last months in a somewhat haphazard manner (n.b. as part of the project plan I should add a line about providing a structure). I also discuss why I and interested in these topics and what could I try to communicate in a body of work.

Statement of Intent

The following is my statement of intent that I used as a starting point for discussion with the Programme Tutor for level 3:

“Please use this form to help give the Programme Leader an insight into your thoughts/plans for your study at Level 3 (HE6). Almost like an artist’s statement, outline your current practice, interests, and hopes for what to research, develop and explore as part of this final level of study on the degree programme.

During the OCA Photography course I have found that my interests are beginning to crystalise around two overarching themes:

• The increasing digitisation of our world, and the impact of an ever-increasing hybridisation of the physical and digital on our society
• The short-termism of individuals and society when compared to our environment.

I began to look at the first of these themes in my last course, Digital Image and Culture, in my final assignment Soul Searching where I explore the digital afterlife.

The second theme was the subject of my assignment 5 What if rocks could see? in my Landscape, Environment and Place course.

(Also see submitted portfolios)

Both of these themes are explicit examples of two of my passions: the changing technology environment with its impact, and how knowledge about the universe in which we live has become so unevenly distributed.

I also see that the act of taking photographs is becoming much more one of creating images where AI (e.g. Midjourney) and advanced digital tools (e.g. landscape generation Terragen) are becoming sophisticated and being used more frequently in creating art. In terms of presentation of work, I am becoming very interested in making work where the viewer is an active, rather than a passive participant. Here I have experimented with digital interactive presentations.

For level 3, I would hope initially to explore and develop both of these themes, and in addition find new ways of creating and presenting work before settling on one final theme.”

Statement of intent

After discussion with the Programme Tutor for level 3 we decided that the first topic:

The increasing digitisation of our world, and the impact of an ever-increasing hybridisation of the physical and digital on our society.

was a more appropriate starting point for level 3.

Areas of investigation

In a brain storming manner I have tried a very first set of ideas of what I might try to cover.

This is clearly a starting point and will evolve as my work progresses.

A separate but just as important questions are why am I interested in these topics and what would be the aim for a body of work. I try to address these in the next section.

Why am interested in these topics and what could be the aim for a body of work?

I think my interest comes from my IT and Science background where I can see an evolving science and technology progression making impacts on individuals and society (for better and sometimes for worse). Moreover, my work has often involved sense making where I try to provide structure and meaning to an audience of complex environments. This has also consisted of a predictive element. This has generally been done in a formal manner, non visceral. I think I would like to do the same for an aspect of the digital revolution but in a visceral manner.

Next steps

As next steps I think I should incorporate activities into an overall project plan but this would clearly involve detailed research and with it coming out with a number of candidate research questions that the body of work should try to address. Moreover I think this will then help influence which of the three routes (Dissertation, External Project, Holistic Practice) is most appropriate. One of the key questions that I think needs addressing is the ethical one and the associated point of “just because we can should we?”

References

Alves de Oliveira, A. (2016) ‘POST-PHOTOGRAPHY,  OR ARE WE PAST  PHOTOGRAPHY?’, in Post-screen: Intermittence + interference. Lisbon, Portugal: Edições Universitárias Lusófonas Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa, pp. 68–75.

Bandara, P. (2023a) Holocaust survivors use AI to generate ‘photos’ of their memories, PetaPixel. Available at: https://petapixel.com/2023/01/31/holocaust-survivors-use-ai-to-generate-photos-of-their-memories/ (Accessed: 22 June 2023).

Bandara, P. (2023a) Eerie ai tech processes photos to let you talk to dead loved ones, PetaPixel. Available at: https://petapixel.com/2023/01/09/new-ai-technology-processes-photos-to-let-you-talk-to-dead-loved-ones/ (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

Biennale 2015: The post-photographic condition – selected photographs from this year’s mois de la photo Montreal (2015) LensCulture. Available at: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/mois-de-la-photo-montreal-biennale-2015-the-post-photographic-condition (Accessed: 22 June 2023).

Glynn, P. (2023) Sony World Photography Award 2023: Winner refuses award after revealing Ai Creation, BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65296763 (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

Growcoot, M. (2022) AI image generator stable diffusion releases controversial new version, PetaPixel. Available at: https://petapixel.com/2022/11/28/ai-image-generator-stable-diffusion-releases-controversial-new-version/ (Accessed: 22 June 2023).

Haider, A. (2023) The beatles’ ‘final’ record: Should we bring singers back from the dead?, BBC Culture. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230616-the-beatles-final-record-should-we-bring-singers-back-from-the-dead (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

How the metaverse will reinvent the art of Photography – Fast Company (2022) Fast@company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90736185/how-the-metaverse-will-reinvent-the-art-of-photography (Accessed: 22 June 2023).

McKenzie, T. (2022) The crow: An ai film that won Cannes short film festival, 80lv. Available at: https://80.lv/articles/the-crow-an-ai-film-that-won-cannes-short-film-festival/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email (Accessed: 22 June 2023).

Paulussen, F. (2022) The metaverse for photographers: A dreamers prediction, Frederic Paulussen. Available at: https://www.fredericpaulussen.be/metaverse-for-photographers/ (Accessed: 22 June 2023).

Pueyo, T. (2022) Generative AI: Everything you need to know, Generative AI: Everything You Need to Know – by Tomas Pueyo. Available at: https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/generative-ai-everything-you-need?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=347533&post_id=84673122&isFreemail=true (Accessed: 22 June 2023)

Rahnama, H. (no date) Project Overview ’ augmented eternity and swappable identities, MIT Media Lab. Available at: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/augmented-eternity/overview/ (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

Reben, A. (2022) The weird and wonderful art created when AI and humans unite, BBC Future. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221123-the-weird-and-wonderful-art-created-when-ai-and-humans-unite (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

Sales L. (no date) 49/23 — considering technology, AI and photography, Lens Culture. Available at: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/gregory-eddi-jones-49-23-considering-technology-ai-and-photography (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

Schneider, J. (2023) Man fakes an entire month of his life using AI generated photos, PetaPixel. Available at: https://petapixel.com/2022/12/14/man-fakes-an-entire-month-of-his-life-using-ai-generated-photos/ (Accessed: 23 June 2023)

Thorpe , V. (2023) ‘CHATGPT said I did not exist’: How artists and writers are fighting back against AI, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/18/chatgpt-said-i-did-not-exist-how-artists-and-writers-are-fighting-back-against-ai (Accessed: 23 June 2023).

Zhang, M. (2023) Ai reveals how celebrities may look decades from now, PetaPixel. Available at: https://petapixel.com/2023/01/09/ai-reveals-how-celebrities-may-look-decades-from-now/ (Accessed: 23 June 2023).