Personal Note:

The common co-creating theme I chose to focus on for my next body of artwork emphasizes the characteristics of “healing.”  During my seven years as a public school teacher so much had progressed in the digital art field.  My students and even my own children were using chatgpt to write papers, and AI had become a subject in every curricular field.  I left teaching to go back to creating my own work and spent months researching and creating work and I wasn’t really creating anything new.  I realized that to push beyond what has already been done I needed innovation.  As a school teacher I was a facilitator for teaching skills using collaborative/co-creating techniques.  Then it hit me how I could do this with my own work. I can build on my skills as an artist, someone elses in a different medium, and come up with something no computer or algorithm could do by adding an intentional relationship and a common life theme.

Relevance:

In our present society where AI and computers are replacing the human workforce, this problem is now invading the art profession.  Illustrators are losing work through AI generated art that is created quickly at almost no cost.  Paintings styles can be replicated using algorithms and filters with photographs and other reference paintings.  What people do not realize is that this art misses something.  Art is visual communication.  The definition of art in the dictionary: “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”  Artist as professionals are trained in creativity, communication, theory, and history.  Artist have feelings, true life experiences, memories, passions, tragedies, personalities, and people in their life that matter.  This is one of the ways artists get the inspiration and subjectmatter for their work.  Artwork has helped change the course of history by the passion of artists and the messages that were made by their work.  This cannot be recreated by an algorithm.  Computers cannot mimic true feelings and real life. 

“AI has given the public the means to instantly create an image, or piece of writing, that looks as though it took time and effort. Art can now be manifested via the touch of a button, a prompt or two, as effortless as ordering fast food.

The technology is a solution to a problem that never existed. Artists, as much as they like to complain about the struggle of the creative process, enjoy making things. The creative process is incredibly rewarding, even if the final piece doesn’t match up to the original vision.

One of the main arguments against AI-generated art is the question of authenticity. Critics argue that true creativity requires human experience, emotion, and intention—elements that AI lacks. AI can mimic styles and patterns but does not possess the subjective experience that drives human creativity.”

• 22 May 2024 by Datacenters.com Artificial Intelligence

Why Co-Creation and Collaboration:

It is a foundational process of participation that enables people of different backgrounds (knowledge, skills, perspectives) to build something together using arts-based processes. Key to this process is the intentionality of the relationships involved, in which power is shared and communication is open. A prerequisite for co-creation is a group of people who are able to cooperate with one another. While co-creators need not know one another prior to working together, the process of becoming familiar with each other and connecting on a deeper level.