How Art Learns

I'm reminded of something the late art historian Kirk Varnedoe said about Jasper Johns in his NGA lecture series on abstract art, specifically Johns' way of working: “Do something to it, and then do something else to it, again and again....” 

Working in an iterative way is essentially a feedback loop that is also moving in a spiral. In music, I may start with a rhythmic riff, then create a classical piece, take the elements from its recording, such as just the cello part, place it against a drum groove, write lyrics for it, and it becomes a completely different piece. 

I have been doing this with a song I wrote in the early 90s, The Inner King, originally a slow-tempo minor blues, whose lyrics I ran through an AI music generator, transcribed the melody and accompaniment, then composed a classical arrangement for a combined string quartet and wind quintet.

It's an interesting process on two fronts: first, taking what was essentially a slow minor blues shuffle from 

30 years ago, running its lyrics through an AI-generator, transcribing the result, then writing the arrangement as the "Human In the Loop". It's also a feedback loop of taking the output of something--like a remix and looping it back in, in this case through a classical process. This can continue on by taking the output of that and doing something with it, all the while there's a thread back to the original blues.

Original lead sheet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The AI-generated version:

The classical score:

It is also a "Continuation", where one form creates another in a generative fashion as continua, and in this particular case the book CONTINUA-TION is an example.

The corollary in visual art is taking a photograph of a completed painting and adding various treatments in Photoshop, then using it in a video, then embedding a screen in a wall sculpture with that video. 

In my own work, I used this on Zones, where I cut a painting into sections (zones), then re-assembled it on another panel. 

 

On Redimade, I took a shoe-shine stand I bought at an antique store, painted it red (as a readymade, with "red" as the pun), photographed it, converted it to vector art, printed it as a giclee, and framed it--essentially making it the source drawing from which the Stand could have been made. It makes the drawing last, and out of order. 

 

 

It's a form of "learning", as in "How Buildings Learn", a book by Stewart Brand which explores how buildings evolve and adapt over time in response to the changing needs of their occupants and the environment. The book argues that "the best buildings are those designed with simplicity, low cost, and adaptability in mind, allowing for easy modification and gradual transformation. Brand criticizes modernist "visionary" designs that prioritize novelty or aesthetics over usability, flexibility, and long-term value." 

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