The Quick Q & A editorial in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine is a much loved regular feature, in which we ask 5 artists the same 4 questions. In the December Issue 47, these were the Quick Q & A questions:
- What is the high point of your career so far?
- If you could ask any artist, living or dead, a single question who and what would you ask?
- If you didn’t have to worry about social media what would you do differently in your art practice?
- How can artists and galleries work together to educate the public on the importance of hand made art over AI art?
We feel that the artists’ responses provide such a valuable insight for our community of artists that we wanted to share one Quick Q & A response from each issue with you, going forward. The December Issue 47 print is sold out but you can download the digital magazine via our webstore to read more. To ensure you never miss an issue again, you can also subscribe to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, and have each issue sent straight to your door each quarter.
Excerpt from Issue 47 // December 2024 Quick Q & A editorial: Ornélie [2nd Prize Winner of the 2024 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, Sculpture Award], Rima Day, Georgios Georgolios, Vasilisa Romanenko, and E. E. Kono all respond to the below Quick Q & A:
Quick Q & A: How can artists and galleries work together to educate the public on the importance of hand made art over AI art?
“Artists must continue to make their art, and galleries must continue to exhibit artists, but by highlighting the entire body of work, the manufacturing processes, and the creative mechanisms behind each work: that’s how we will stand out, and continue to do so. Indeed, in an age when A.I.s generate images in a fraction of a second, this allows you to enter more intimately into the history of the work and create an emotional bond with your audience. Knowing how an artwork was conceived inevitably gives it more substance and depth. That’s why it is important to talk about it, at exhibitions, in videos on the internet, and to keep explaining and presenting the work. After all, it is human relationships that count.”
“Showing the process as Beautiful Bizarre Magazine does on social media is an excellent way of educating the public. As a lover of art history, I firmly believe that if one knows the process, his or her appreciation for the art deepens. I once was invited to work on my stitching in a museum. Many people asked questions while I was working. My home country, Japan, has many events to showcase art/craft making in life. I feel like the Japanese public appreciates and is curious about the techniques of artisans and artists. When we make a reel of the process it can be challenging to communicate how much time we spend doing the action. Live art-making can be very informative.”
“You know when you’re seeing a picture of a grandiose mansion on social media and the disappointment that sets in when you realise you were actually looking at an A.I. image? I think if the use of A.I. were always disclosed people would lose interest in it automatically. It leaves us feeling unimpressed and deceived. Unfortunately it is, also often by artists, not disclosed when A.I. has been used somewhere along the way. I find that profoundly deceitful. Even using it as a tool takes creative agency away from the artist, makes the work less meaningful and intentional, and dehumanises what is supposed to be the pinnacle of human expression. If only transparency were more prominent we wouldn’t have to worry about it infiltrating the art world.”
“I think art is a way of communicating with and connecting with each other – it is fundamentally about human relationships. A.I. art lacks humanity, intent, and point of view; it simply reflects back some average of the online world. Handmade art, that has had many hours of labour, knowledge, and emotion poured into it, has the ability to resonate with a viewer in a way that is new, personal, and unique. Galleries can act as a bridge between artists and viewers and help cultivate deeper relationships between the two. They can foster greater connection and understanding by sharing the artist’s intentions, techniques, and background stories, as well as facilitating the physical experience of viewing the art – something that cannot be replicated through a computer screen.”
E. E. Kono
“I would stress the importance of experiencing art in person. Handmade art is imbued with layers of intuition that are unique to humans and cannot be replicated by A.I. My work is highly focused on materiality; I use techniques that reference history and incorporate elements of nature. I select pigments for their historical and geographical significance and work on substrates that have a sculptural quality. While I can describe these details online, and some people might grasp the concepts, the true impact is often missed. But when viewed in person, even young children can sense that there’s more to the work than just its imagery. Galleries play an important role by providing the public real-world access to art..”
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