lzmunch

[lzmunch]

On AI and Death of the Author

I saw a comment online about someone taking a "Death of the Author approach" to AI art. Their take on AI is that using this principle, we should be able to enjoy AI art without caring that it wasn't made by a human. As long as the end product is good right?

There is a lot to be said and unraveled about AI art, specifically the strain of tech bro hype we are seeing recently, not real experimental and explorative art that uses AI (I really like the work of Lingdong Huang). For here, I just have some thoughts I want to get out, so let's make the assumption that AI can produce art that is indistinguishable from that produced by a human.

As example, I'll use this picture of Obama by Kehinde Wiley.

Let's imagine for a second that this was actually created by an AI. We put on our analysis/critique hat.

--

One opinion we could offer is one about the pure aesthetic principles of the image, ignoring the creator. I think there is a lot of awesome stuff to say about this painting from a "Death of the Author" perspective. I won't get into it but tl;dr it looks good. It looks pretty. It is colorful and all the elements are expertly composed and rendered.

--

Another opinion we could offer would be one that takes into account the creator(s)--the person who typed in some prompts and the AI that was used to produce this. So they must have typed in "photorealistic President Barack Obama sitting on a chair amidst some leaves with colorful flowers sprinkled throughout." But why? Why did they make this, why this prompt? Why does the AI produce this specific type of chair for Obama to sit on in this pose? If the prompt is more complicated, say they specify the exact type of chair he is sitting on and what wood it is made of and what pose he takes--why?

In this hypothetical, if the "artist" had some meaning behind the choices they made and they really worked that prompt within an inch of it's life to produce an image with several meaningful elements woven together, maybe we can consider that something close to meaningful art.

But maybe they specifically sought to copy someone's style.

And it doesn't take into account all the images that the AI used in its training--perhaps that chair comes into play because there are a lot of photos of obama on that certain type of chair. Maybe there was a specific photo of him on a chair that became a meme, so that particular image got duplicated a lot on the internet. Maybe the AI accounted for that while it was trained.

--

You can see that considering the author raises a lot of interesting questions. We are happening upon the beginning of some real Analysis here.

The actual meaning behind the elements of the painting and Wiley's general style are very interesting and answer a lot of these questions. I think having the Author be alive when analyzing his work elevates it pretty pictures. Wiley likes to put render black people, young black men especially, in a neoclassical style and with neoclassical props amongst backdrops of bright florals, feminine and prestigious elements that contrast the image that black men typically have in society. It makes you think about the role of black people in culture, history, and art history.

With this context, I hope you can see why I think "Death of the Author" analysis of this painting is useful. You can compare how the meaning of elements change depending on whether you factor in the artistic intent or pull more from your subconscious biases, and that can say something about yourself or society.

--

All this to to say, analysis is cool, even in the context of AI. In general, I am lukewarm about "Death of the Author" in media analysis (you can tell from my analysis) but I think it's perfectly worthwhile and valid. Notice however, that this is not really a defense of AI art. In our imaginary scenario, I did not at any point say this wasn't problematic (it is) and that people shouldn't feel some sort of way about enjoying AI art knowing that it is built off what is essentially stolen artwork from millions of artists on the internet--and that is the best case scenario where this art isn't specifically mimicking a real artist's style.

This is because most people understand "Death of the Author" less as a lens or approach to analysis and more as a selective philosophy for media. One interesting example is how some people came to adore JK Rowling more when they found that she supported the Dumbledore/Grindelwald (Hooray the Author is Alive) and then pivoted to trying to ignore her altogether when we found out she was transphobic (Let's Kill the Author).

Lindsey Ellis on Youtube has a great video on this in the context of JK Rowling, and I am kind of stealing her thesis here but the point of all this is that we should avoid conflating analysis with personal moral opinions. Claiming that you take a "Death of the Author" approach to consuming media doesn't mean anything. It lends willfully ignorant consumption false credibility and legitimacy, both to yourself and others.

--

Most people do not give a flying fuck about any of this. Most people are shallow idiots and like pretty pictures. But if someone has the depth to recognize that the creation of media you like is potentially problematic, I just find it really irresponsible to write off that small feeling with this heavy-handed, misused brush of "Death of the Author."

#death of the author #ai artwork

[lzmunch]

Let's Fix Evermore Park

I am a crazy person and wrote out my thoughts on Evermore park's questing system. Obviously there are larger overarching problems than this but when you have thoughts you have thoughts what can I say.

I wanted to focus on things that only required changing the strategy towards writing stories (if they still have writers...) and briefing actors.

#jenny nicholson #evermore park

[lzmunch]

Building the Titans as a DnD Party

A typical DnD party is best off being a 5-man band, with roughly five main roles to fill: the Tank, the Blaster (ranged damage), Healer, Stealth, and DPS roles, and the Teen Titans fit this very very nicely. So, I want to approach building the team as a cohesive unit. I’ve tackled building the characters independently, but some fall into a build in relation to other characters’ builds. The challenge here is to build the team to function nicely together as a unit.

ROBIN ( Party Role: Leader, Stealth, melee combatant)

Race: Human Background: Entertainer (Acrobatics, Performance) Classes:    Mastermind Rogue (12)    Battle Master Fighter (7)    Monk (1) Stats:    (SA) STR 11 DEX 20 CON 16 INT 14 WIS 20 CHA 9    (PB) STR 11 DEX 20 CON 16 INT 12 WIS 20 CHA 10 Skills:    Acrobatics    Deception    Investigation    Perception    Performance    Stealth Fighting Style: Dueling Battle Master Maneuvers:    Disarming Attack    Feinting Attack    Maneuvering Attack    Parry    Reposte Tools: Thieves’ Tools, Tinkerer’s Tools

With Robin’s subclasses, he can study an opponent and discern their HP, Level, AC, and any stat compared to his own, allowing Robin to be an expert in deducing the weaknesses of his adversaries. He also has the ability to give himself advantage, allowing Robin to make use of Sneak Attack damage even in a one-on-one fight. Robin’s 1 level in Monk is only there for the AC, and if you feel it’s unnecessary, he can drop it for another level in Fighter and another ASI or feat. This Robin excels at infiltration and finding clues like a classic detective, and with his maneuvering attack can reposition his party around the battlefield, moving injured allies toward Raven for healing, or helping melee fighters close the gap with enemies. Robin’s other maneuvers make him adept at creating openings in his enemies’ combat, such as making mages drop their spellcasting focus. If the DM is willing to rework Commander’s Strike maneuver to not be exclusively for melee attacks, letting Robin tell his party to attack instead of him can allow party members to exploit an enemy’s weaknesses that he can’t bypass himself, which is a good quality for a leader.

STARFIRE (Party Roles: Blaster, Tank, Talker)

Race: Protector Aasimar Background: Soldier (Athletics, Intimidation) Class:    Phoenix Sorcerer (20) Stats:    (SA) STR: 14, DEX: 12, CON: 18, INT: 10, WIS: 9, CHA: 20    (PB) STR: 14, DEX: 12, CON: 18, INT: 8, WIS: 10, CHA: 20 Skills:    Arcana    Athletics    Intimidation    Persuasion Feats:    Elemental Adept (Fire) Metamagic:    Empowered Spell    Heightened Spell    Quickened Spell    Twinned Spell

Between the boys who are all mostly melee combatants and Raven who is more of a support role, Starfire is the long-range magical powerhouse whose spell list is exclusively Fire and Radiant damaging spells. While Starfire lacks the superhuman strength she really should have, I figured her alien endurance was more valuable, as it made her able to get up and keep fighting harder. While I did in earnest consider a build where she’s an aasimar Brute Fighter or Zealot Barbarian (both of which would prioritize her super strength) while reducing her starbolts to the Firebolt cantrips she’d pick up with magic initiate, when it comes to party composition, the party already has Cyborg who tends to use physical combat more often than Starfire, despite her being stronger than him, as well as Robin and Beast Boy who are also close-range fighters. The party is better aided by her making use of immense magical power.

BEAST BOY (Party Roles: Utility, Wildcard)

Race: Longtooth Shifter Background: Folk Hero (Animal Handling, Survival) Class: Circle of the Moon Druid (20) Stats:    (SA) STR: 18, DEX: 20, CON: 12, INT: 8, WIS: 13, CHA: 14    (PB) STR: 18, DEX: 20, CON: 10, INT: 8, WIS: 14, CHA: 14  Skills:    Animal Handling    Nature    Perception    Survival

This one’s pretty straightforward. We need to turn into animals, a druid is the only way to do that. If you want to channel your Beast Within, feel free to do a 16/4 split and add some Barbarian levels with the Path of the Beast, but for standard Beast Boy, focus on wildshaping into the highest CR monsters that you can.

RAVEN ( Party Roles: Healer, Magic Utility, Diplomat)

Race: Asmodeus Tiefling (Variant: Winged Bloodline Tiefling) Background: Far Traveler (Insight, Perception) Classes:    Theurgy Wizard (Knowledge Domain) (19)    Rogue (1) STATS    (SA) STR: 8, DEX: 13, CON: 16, INT: 20, WIS: 16, CHA: 10    (PB) STR: 8, DEX: 14, CON: 16, INT: 20, WIS: 16, CHA: 10 Skills:    Arcana    History    Insight    Medicine    Perception    Religion

While the single level in rogue is not mandatory, it gives Raven the ability to have Expertise in two skills, letting her super charge her Insight and Perception. As Raven is an empath who can sense people’s emotions, read people like an open book, and even sense how many people are in a city on the other side of a bay, Raven’s extrasensory powers should be extremely impressive. So despite Raven not being much of a people person, her ability to sense emotions makes her invaluable as a negotiator and lie detector for her party, as well as scouting for lost children and fugitives. With her Wizard levels, Raven can have a truly staggering amount of spells, including abjuration shields, telekinetic spells to move objects, psionic blasts, messing with the senses or emotions of other creatures, and bypassing environmental hazards. With this extensive list of abilities, Raven becomes a veritable swiss army knife of dealing with problems. Between healing, defensive, offensive, and utility spells, Raven becomes insanely adaptable. While Psychic Soul Sorcerer and Fiend Warlock could work for Raven, those are CHA casters which steps on Starfire’s toes as a Sorcerer. So, Theurgy is the best way for Raven to be a healer, and makes her an INT caster. Knowledge not only gives her extra expertise skills, but it fits her character as the wise scholar of the party. Asmodeus, the Greater Deity of the Nine Hells, has Knowledge as one of his domains, allowing Raven to pray to him while fitting her character. Arcana is another good option, as it adds to her Wizard spell list and helps her break spell effects on her party, but at the loss of her extra expertise. Life Domain can also work if you’re leaning toward White Raven and making her a dedicated healer. Making Raven a Winged Bloodline Tiefling gives her the ability to fly endlessly, a good answer for her floating in the show, but not all DMs will allow it. Her WIS score can be lower, I used 16 to super charge her Insight and Perception checks, but if concentration and health matters more, she can easily get by with a WIS score of 14 or even 12.

CYBORG (Party Roles: Tank, DPS, Blaster)

Race: Variant Human (PB: +1 CON, +1 INT) (SA: +1 STR, +1 CON) Background: Athlete (Athletics, Acrobatics) Classes:    Brute Fighter (16)    Artillerist Artificer (4) Stats:    (SA) STR: 20, DEX: 11, CON: 20, INT: 18, WIS: 8, CHA: 12    (PB) STR: 20, DEX: 10, CON: 20, INT: 18, WIS: 8, CHA: 10 Skills:    Acrobatics    Athletics    Intimidation    Investigation    Perception Fighting Style: Unarmed Combat Feats:    Heavy Armor Mastery (V. Human) (+1 STR) Items:    Molten Bronze Skin (Plate)    Force Ballista (Tiny)

Some may cry foul that Cyborg is neither a Warforged nor a 100% Artificer, but Cyborg was born Human, that is is his racial identity. And with the Molten Bronze Skin from Theros, the metal can coat Cyborg’s skin so skin-tight that it can’t be removed, like having metal skin, making it a perfect parallel to Cyborg’s lore and character. While Starfire is physically the strongest Titan, she doesn’t tend to prefer physical combat, opting mostly for ranged combat with her starbolts, opening a spot on the team for the heavy-hitting melee combatant, where Cyborg comes in clutch. Between multiple attacks per round, and being able to fire his Force Ballista every bonus action, Cyborg walks away with about the same number of attacks per turn as a full level 20 Fighter as early as level 14. As a Brute, he’ll also add to the damage he deals with each punch, making Cyborg a serious bringer of pain. If your DM hates UA though, Champion works fine for him, it just doesn’t deal as much damage.

This party composition makes the Teen Titans extremely well-balanced, as every member of the party has a primary role, but also cover a wide variety of skills, play styles, and abilities. They’re diverse enough to be able to handle most anything as a unit, and can handle just about anything thrown at them in combat. There may be some shortcomings like that many creatures resist Starfire’s Fire magic, but her Elemental Adept can help with that, and her other party members can make up for her shortcomings in such fights.

[lzmunch]

Wrote a silly little pirate themed DnD one shot

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #dnd one shot

[lzmunch]

If she had asked (a poem)

I wished she had asked me: What are you afraid of?

I would have said: I am afraid of my fire going out.

She could have said: Don't worry child, that will never die.

And I would not have spent my years watching the flames instead of chasing the breeze that promised running and shouting and laughing and living.

And I would have known that loving her felt safe.

I would know that even after I found the courage to look at the wick and see that it was never lit,

I would still have the wind on my skin, the sun in my eyes, and the gentle gaze of a life worth holding.

If only she had asked.

#poetry

[lzmunch]

Raine Nightshade - OC from my HP fanfic

Groundskeeper (after Hagrid retires). Bit of an unexpected person for a groundskeeper, in terms of size and background, but they get the job done. Non-binary muggle-born from America. Difficult accent to place, having moved around a lot. Expert in ancient forms of magic present in nature, in addition to other assorted knowledge. Alumnus of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from the Thunderbird house.

#harry potter oc

[lzmunch]

Halloween Tattoo Designs

Inspired by a tattoo I got last year.

#halloween #spooky season #spooky art #halloween art #tattoo design

[lzmunch]

#halloween #spooky art #adobe fresco #spider boi

[lzmunch]

From the Collection of Canelli Grapes  - Part 4

Part 1

Note from Canelli:

He's done it again! I got Dad to take me to the Cup that year, and what a game that was. Truthfully, I was actually rooting for Sorcha to win. She's really showing the Quidditch world that girls are worth their salt in the sport too. But anyway, I'm so glad we got to see Alador do something crazy again! So, I'm not too bummed.

#harrypotterfanfic #quidditch #harrypotteroc #hogwarts

[lzmunch]

From the Collection of Canelli Grapes - Part 3

Part 1

Note from Canelli: Uncle Obert works for the Owler so he got me a copy of this photo from their archives. It's the moment Alador caught the Snitch with his flashy move! You get the sense he was surprised too, although probably not as much as the rest of us.

Part 4

#harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts #original character #quidditch

[lzmunch]

From the Collection of Canelli Grapes - Part 2

Canelli Grapes is a young witch attending Hogwarts. She has a deep obsession for Quidditch seeker turned professor, Alador Evergreen. These are items from her collection. Part 1

Note from Canelli:

This is how I first found out about Alador! What a brilliant move that was. I want to try it but Mum won’t let me go that fast in the backyard. He looks very cute in this photo :)

Part 3

#yes i did steal the owl house logo sorry #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanart #quidditch #hogwarts

[lzmunch]

From the Collection of Canelli Grapes  - Part 1

I’ve decided to start a series of “found” items as a medium for telling a Harry Potter fanfiction story. Canelli Grapes is a young witch attending Hogwarts with a deep obsession for Quidditch seeker turned professor, Alador Evergreen. The idea is to have her collection of newspaper snippets, rare photos, and other items hint at things going on in the background.

To start off, this is Canelli’s favorite Quidditch trading card.

Part 2

#harrypotter #harrypotteroc #harrypotterfanfiction #harrypotterfanfic #quidditch #hogwarts

[lzmunch]

I wrote a thing

TW: suicide

One day I woke up and decided to kill my friends. I had come to the realization I’d rather just not bother with them and their disturbances to my life (if you could call it that). It was not hard to make this decision. We only see each other every week or two. The memories of the past are too far too sustain whatever love was there before, and the sparse memories of more recent times are too weak. I suppose they still love me, but not a me I know or understand anymore. As I see it, I would be a random stranger, an intrusive agent of the universe.

I started with Sally. We met way back in freshman year–in fact she may have been one of my first friends. However, I just don’t get the impression that she is the kind of person I want to keep being friends with. I had been quite charitable to her for her flaws for a very long time, but I don’t think I care to put in that work anymore. I believe in her as a person who will be good one day, but I’m too tired to stick around for it. I heard she moved out of our friends house, so it wasn’t too hard to push a heavy object from a high distance into the wrong spot at the wrong moment.

Then came Grace and Cara. As far as I could tell, they had really never done anything wrong to me. From them I felt a great comfort and warmth–how family should be. Still, I had made up my mind. Too much of a bother. By the simple act of existence and intersection with the lives of others, friction always follows. They make food together a lot, so a dose of poison did just the trick.

Last was Violet. We live together. She was actually my first friend in college. My first queer friend as well. We’ve been living together for the past 3 years pretty much. I notice her love most days, but I just let it hang. I don’t catch it and let it fall into a pile that’s been collecting outside of my room for the past 6 months. As roommates, petty arguments arise but we manage. I knocked her out while she was in Zoom class and rolled her out of our 10th floor window.

I used to have such strong feelings for them. Of love (romantic and platonic), of joy, of connection, or family. But the riverbed has been dry for too long, and nothing could stop the raging fire that came through.

The morning after I killed all of my friends, I took a bus down to the river and sat on the banks with a cup of coffee and a bottle of water. I listened to the sound of the city and the water, and when I became bored of that put my headphones on and listened to some music. A toddler in a little blue mask walked by and tried to pat my head before their mom pulled them back. 

The street lights turn on as the sky darkens. I look out toward horizon and let my eyes wander across the interlacing shapes of the bridges.

I am alone. It is quiet. It’s what I wanted right? And pretty much what I expected.

I take one last sip of coffee and a swig of water, and I put my headphones back in my backpack. I check that the note is in a conspicuous place and send my friends a text that they should check the river, and I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry. I say it twice more for my little sister.

With an indifferent motion, I slide into the river, face down, and wait.

--

Not suicidal, dw

#suicide #friendship #narrative #poem story #i don't know why i wrote this #friend drama sucks

[lzmunch]

A poem about now.

I hide in the now (not the present),

because I am afraid of knowing who I was in the moments before--

an acknowledgement of some promise, some responsibility, obligation.

I am safe in the now,

for it is too fleeting to close me in.

It's where I can enjoy the knowing

without the what--

the act itself, pure and simple.

I flit from moment to moment to moment,

free in each sliver of existence,

but trapped in the whole.

#poetry #time poem #existential crisis #braindead #burnout

[lzmunch]

People talk about the “fabric of reality” but what if it’s like a cloud? And you’re just sitting in it, breathing it in, letting it sit inside you. Spooky.

[lzmunch]

Why we like shitty 3D art

I’m really out here writing essays for fun. I was about to begin writing this when I decided to look for some references and had to go write a whole other post about my thoughts. But we are here now.

So I was thinking about why I love shitty 3D art so much. There’s some indescribable aesthetic pleasure to it.

For example: The video that got me thinking lol, good old Dog of Wisdom

Some explanations come to mind immediately:

1. Nostalgia for a familiar aesthetic or one that is associated with “simpler” or happier times.

2. A sense of authenticity. The way that amatuer crafts feel real and have charm. Under corporate capitalism, scruffiness is valued (the capitalists are already catching up though...)

3. It’s just funny and wonky. Makes me l o l. Like frogs.

I want to offer a fourth one though. There’s this concept in art theory (that I don’t know the name of because I did not do research for this lmao) that talks about noticing the medium that art is made with. The idea that art is not just the content delivered through the medium, but the medium itself. 

Compare ordinary movie to mockumentaries. The ordinary movie tries to get to you forget that you’re watching a movie, while the mockumentary wants you to remember that you’re watching someone’s home video. Another example might be an engraving on a locket--in some ways it’s like a painting in a frame. However, in this case, the frame is itself a part of the art. You wouldn’t just remove the lid of that locket and let that be its own art (usually). Removing the contents of the frame destroys the original form of the art.

You can go really deep into that line of thinking, but my point is to highlight that the medium of an art piece can be part of the art, not just a carrier or vessel for it. So this 3D stuff. It’s like the thing with the movie--noticing the flaws in the technology or medium lead to the 3 things I mentioned above, but the act of noticing is a process that we can talk about too.

There’s some dimension that is added to the artwork. It feels more whole somehow, more real, in ways not encompassed by the 3 things I listed. Art is usually a purely mental experience, but not all of it is intellectual or aesthetic. There’s some deeper, more visceral feeling that can be evoked. I think a big part of it is the assumption that you will not notice the medium of art. And then it’s like you’re simulating the breakdown of reality on a smaller scale--kind of like how children simulate reality with their toys.

Artists have already been intentionally using this concept (the MV for “Cry” by Ashnikko ft. Grimes is just one of the latest). But while this process has been explored in relation to many other mediums, its place in 3D CG art (and CG art in general) was completely ignored in my critical studies class (although we did spend some time on internet art). I understand it’s a very new medium and heavily corporatized with a huge barrier of entry, but I think my point in making this post is just to say that I really feel like those discussions should start including Dog of Wisdom. That’s all.

[lzmunch]

Some thoughts about Duchamp’s urinal

https://svenlutticken.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/lc3bctticken-art-and-thingness.pdf

I was going to make a post about why we like shitty 3D art, and I wanted to reference some concepts from an art theory/history class I took once, but this was the closest thing I could find. And then I had some Thoughts about it.

Honestly I think the “art” of his urinal was his insistence, genuine or not, that made it art. The act of placing it into the art context with intention. The reception of such an act. These all form the processes that made the urinal into art. I would say it only became more art as the  It’s art-ness comes from the friction its existence in our constructed reality. In Duchamp’s case, if you meme hard enough, it just might become art.

I think a lot of conservative push back on “modern art” comes from the inability to understand what really makes art, art. They simultaneously cheapen and overextend the term. On one hand it’s this untouchable concept that must be preserved--on the other hand, it’s only real worth is its aesthetic appeal in accordance to tradition. Literally what is that fuckery. I feel like a better way to look at art is to embrace its amorphous nature, because that lets everyone have a piece of the pie. Art is everything, until it isn’t--but no one can make it be that way. It simply becomes that. Art is a limited, human label for some indescribable force of our subjective reality.

I’m going to go on to defend the stuffines of art theory for a bit. Because I know I’m talking in this pretentious language, but I really do want to help other people see the beauty of thinking about art and theory. It’s like the intellectual equivalent of staring into the vastness of the Grand Canyon. Or like an opposite but equally intense feeling of encountering deep existential dread.

Obviously stuff like this article turn a lot of people off, and it just seems like the art world is circle-jerking itself. But I would like to use high fashion as an analogy. A lot of these designs never make their way into the rest of the world as they are, but bits and pieces do. And in order to come up with those bits and pieces, there needs to be some kind of internal discourse that helps people’s thinking and process move to new areas and gain new dimensions. The output may seem simple (like the Bauhaus designs are to us these days), but it takes a lot of time, people, and thinking to create that something from nothing.

Obviously there’s a lot wrong with the fashion and art worlds (mostly capitalism) but I think their role and value make sense in theory.