Does Theobot understand the subtle qualities of artwork?
Yes, I’ve heard about Theobot!
Here’s what Theobot has to say about itself:
“Hello, I’m Theobot! I’m the perfect AI writing assistant for artists.
I’m your personal AI assistant, here to enhance your artistic journey. I know that your passion is all about creation and expression, and sometimes putting those feelings into words can be a challenge. That’s where I come in. I’m here to help you articulate your ideas, brainstorm concepts, and translate your artistry into words, allowing you to focus on creating art.
How I Can Help You
Creative Titles: Struggling to find the perfect title for your masterpiece? I will suggest creative and engaging titles based on the details of your artwork.
Artwork Descriptions: Titles are only the beginning, I will also generate compelling descriptions for your artwork that can be used on websites, social media, blog posts and email newsletters.”
Hmmm… ???
So, being a curious tech person, I decided to explore Theobot, to see what it can do.
I chose one of my older pieces, which was (and is) a successful, and popular, work. It is titled “Jesus, 1929” and is 30 inches by 40 inches in size. The medium is mostly oil paint, mixed with charcoal, iron filings dust, and black asphalt sealer.
First, I will quote Theobot’s response to my query about description of the work, then (below that) is some more precise and detailed information about the work. This is the first time that I have personally given any such details about the “meaning” of the painting.
From Theobot:
“The artwork is a painting that features a figure in a white garment standing in the foreground. This figure stands on a platform that seems to extend across the bottom quarter of the painting, with a series of rectangular objects, potentially books or blocks, scattered in an organized fashion directly in front of the figure. The background is composed of soft and diffuse layers of earthy tones, including browns, whites, and grays, creating an atmospheric effect. The overall style of the painting suggests a blend of realism and impressionism, with an emphasis on light and shadow to create a sense of depth. The use of blurry, indistinct outlines lends the painting a dreamlike quality. The figure is centrally positioned and is the focal point of the composition, evoking a sense of contemplation or expectation.”
“The artwork depicts a solitary figure dressed in white, standing on a platform in what resembles an austere space with abstracted details. The person is centrally positioned and contrasts with the dark, indistinct background that surrounds them. At the figure’s feet, there are what seem to be meat cuts or carcasses on a white surface, adding to the emotive quality of the scene. The brushwork is loose and impressionistic, allowing the details to blend and creating an enigmatic atmosphere. The overall palette consists of earthen tones, dominated by browns and grays with the bright white of the figure drawing the eye as a point of focus.”
Thank you, Theobot, for your analysis and unique perspective on my painting “Jesus, 1929.”
My comments:
Theobot was capable of analytically appraising my painting, perhaps in the way that Mr. Data (Star Trek…) would have appraised it.
Theo (for short) was unable to feel the mystery the enigma of the painting This has been a very popular work for me. I sold it the same night of an opening exhibition (first night out) and since then I have sold multiple prints of it. I really did not expect the response that I got about this painting.
A little bit of the backstory: the painting was inspired by a family photograph which was essentially the child standing in what appears to be a railroad boxcar that is empty except for a pile of bricks. My mother gave me the photo and couldn’t explain why the photo existed or who the child was. For some reason this photograph had been captured and retained for decades – the assumption was that it was taken some time in the late ’30s and there were no more details beyond that.
I found it to be an intriguing photograph, particularly considering the time frame in which it would have been actually taken – as a photograph in the late 1930s. It should be remembered that, at that time, not only in Nazi Germany but also in the Soviet Union under Stalin, groups of people were beginning to be regularly persecuted and one of those persecutions was to gather up the troublemakers (the unsuitables, the “vermin” of their time) were being shipped off to labor camps (in Siberia or somewhere in Germany.)
At minimum, they were being gathered up and gathered together, in railroad cars, and shipped off to some camp. Most would never leave those camps.
In 1929, there was a little known massacre that occurred when the Turkish army invaded a small town – a settlement of some sort – of Armenians. In an act of “cleansing,” the Turkish army executed all of them. If there were any survivors, they were probably taken as prisoners and who knows what happened to them.
When I read that story about the Armenians and the Turkish army, it made me think about another story – The Massacre of the Innocents” – where Herod the Great orders the death of all of the children under two years of age with intent that the new King, Jesus, would die before growing to adulthood – and threatening his rule.
There is a tragedy that often occurs in in human history: an particular innocent group of people – going about their business, behaving themselves, just living their lives – are chosen to be the group that needs to be expunged for whatever reason.
The story of this brutal massacre of a small Armenian town made me think of other times and other places in history and about how the story is that baby Jesus was able to escape from this massacre because his family snuck him out and took him to Egypt to hide him from Herod’s wrath.
I thought about these things when I was doing the painting and looking at the photograph about the lone child (perhaps the survivor of such a massacre) hiding, perhaps in an empty boxcar full of bricks and of course terrified, unable to understand what’s going on.
I also thought about how that kind of situation has happened far too often throughout human history.
While this is painting is not specifically about the evils of massacre, it is about the cost in human terms. It is a painting about that moment when both for “the child” and “the viewer” there’s an exquisitely terrible moment when both the viewer and the child realize where they’re at at this particular moment.
There is much to be said about that moment – when the innocent is found either by supporter – a rescuer – or perhaps one more of those brutal soldiers with a loaded weapon. It is though a not-so-uncommon condition of human life on Earth.
There is then the enigma surrounding this photo – not a cheery family photo by any means.
“Jesus, 1929” is not a painting of a photograph The photograph inspired in me – as a painter – a certain feeling, a series of thoughts and responses, that I wanted to capture in a painting.
When I was finished the piece, I found it to be mysterious and evocative, which is what I was working for. I didn’t just simply copy the photograph – I drew inspiration from the photograph, accentuating one thing or another. In the painting, the face of the child is stark, distressed perhaps.
These are conditions and qualities of the work that Theobot could not discuss or contemplate – because Theobot has never been human, does not have a family history, does not have the mysterious photographs of the forgotten people that are remembered only in the photographs – and that’s what this painting is really about.
Theobot can do remarkably well in creating copy – what it cannot do is it cannot experience the painting the way that a human would.