Can it be a self-portrait if it's of someone else? What if the subject of the image never existed in the first place? How about if that subject wasn't even created by a human?
AARON was a computer program started by Harold Cohen sometime in the late 1960's to make art. Through machine learning, the programs randomized information about how people look. Specifically, data like the distance between the eyes, or from knuckle to knuckle to elbow and shoulder were manipulated and outputted through a machine plotter to draw pictures. Such lovely pictures. I first stumbled into an exhibit at the Whitney when I happened to be in New York for a conference about AI in 2024. This happenstance turned me on my ear. I was witnessing the foundation of DALL-E, Craiyon, and any other current computer-based generative art program. Of course I was completely mesmerized and excited by the plotters zipping this way and that, rendering images of people that never existed. This machine had never seen a person, nor could it consider feelings, thoughts, sentiment, or passion, yet a human can read these aspects of humanity on the faces drawn by these machinations.
I wanted to take a crack at making something like this. I read as much as I could about the program and Harold Cohen's views on mechanized art. His thoughts on art and artists are truly inspiring. And although he portends that "programming the machine to simulate human art-making behavior is, in itself, primarily art- making behavior", programming a machine to make something is just not my jam. I work with my hands, with wool and burlap. I like that tactility. To make with the hands feels ultimately a human experience.
I chose to pay homage to "Theo". This is a painting created by AARON in 1992, deep in it's career. Theo looks forlorn and wistful. He wants what he cannot have, and his palette is exquisite! The stormy blue and black background force his yellow shirt to pop, and the pink, magenta, and orange shadows deepen the flat image. Since I was available to model, I borrowed Theo's pose and thought forlorn thoughts while hooking my piece. To reflect the flatness to the portrait, I imposed similar colour choices. The background is a heady combination of black cashmere with a greyed blue from an English coat that was somewhat punishing to repurpose because of its brill design. The coat inside was a well-worn grumpy plaid that you might see if you look close in spots. The yellow shirt and it's shadows were both from a thick wool blanket, the shadows enjoyed a quick one-shade dye job. The pinks for the skin just happened; an ill-fitting sweater and another sturdy blanket filled in the highlights and shadows. If you are wondering about what I hid in this piece, there is a little something in my hand that waves to Cohen's original anatomical studies. How did Cohen feed AARON all that data? And what implications arise when we reduce humans to data? I am pleased that AARON is being used for creating art in the world. I am also curious if the original datasets are the basis of human identification machine learning models.
I'm really pleased with my self-portrait, even though it's of Theo, as imagined by a computer. I don't think it really looks like me, but it also sort of does. Perhaps the only humanity in an image is what the artist puts into it.
Comments