AI Print Workshop

Prompts for engagement:

Materiality

AI image generators like DALL-E and MidJourney change the look/feel of an image when you ask for a specific medium. They can generate an apple in the style of a photo, painting, woodcut, pencil drawing, etc. However, any printmaker looking closely at these AI images will notice they lack a sensitivity to graphic detail which draws many artists to printmaking. There are many historic occasions on which mechanical-reproduction caused existential crisis for artists and creators alike, such as the Arts & Crafts renaissance of woodcut in the early 1900s as a direct reaction to mass-produced lithographic advertisements.

This portfolio seeks artists who will ask questions about what makes analog vs. digital, mechanical vs. hand-made art good, meaningful, or beautiful?

Originality

AI experts claim that DALL-E 2 is getting “too close to human-level visual creativity. It can create anything you can imagine – and anything you can’t – from a single sentence.” Artists whose work visualizes narratives, constructs poetry, or engages with the imaginary, can use AI as a tool to sketch, invent, and create rather than replace their process outright.

This portfolio seeks artists who will use AI to further their own creative process. How might we use AI image generators to construct compositions, characters, and forms?

Social Significance

The internet (like print itself) opens the doors for artists to self-publish, share freely, protest, and build communities. However, AI tools are being built using artist images online which challenges authorship. How AI tools are built (the process for collecting images, labeling, and training an AI to identify and construct new information) is not public information. AI tools trend towards what is most repeated or mainstream when generating content leading to misrepresentation of underrepresented groups and misinformation.

This portfolio seeks artists who will ask questions about the consequences of technological progress, the blackbox around how AI tools are created, and the nature of individual versus collective authorship.

Roundtable:

To compile our communal knowledge and thoughts on AI, participants will meet online for a roundtable discussion. Participants can pose a question to the group, share a project they’ve done using AI, demonstrate a technique or tool for AI image or video generating, share an artist or exhibit they admire about AI, share readings or theory on AI or print, or simply observe and comment on the discussion. A list of resources and notes from this roundtable will be complied for the participants, published in the portfolio, and made available digitally to the SGCI community.

Each participant will be asked to share something about their process, thoughts on, or use of AI in the work in some form of writing and image. The reflections will be included as a booklet in the final portfolio.

Dedication:

This portfolio is dedicated to Phyllis Merriam. A copy of the portfolio will be made in her memory. Phyllis Merriam, a beloved and influential figure in the world of printmaking, passed away, leaving behind a legacy of innovation, creativity, and inspiration. Known for her never-ending energy and passion for education and collaboration, Phyllis touched the lives of countless individuals. Alongside her husband and creative partner, Victor Merriam, they explored new frontiers in printmaking, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge technology like 3-D printed plates, and combining printmaking with animation. Together, they co-founded thepostdigitalprintmaker, an artist community of printmakers, multimedia artists, and animators who combine traditional printmaking with emerging technologies.