Amercian Gothic, The Wild West & Technology: Experiments With MidJourney

What I'm loving about Midjourney is that it's enabling me to create visual images when I have never been able to before. I'm able to explore a theme, borrowing from other artists, to hopefully provoke thought. This series was being created as I spoke to a friend about how fast technology works these days from the old dial up days, and how utterly crazy this tech is. We feel a little discombulated, truth be told. This is the feeling I wanted to get into this series, setting it in the Wild West with woman posing with modern technologies.

The first one is with a robot - the AI came up with some very old fashioned robots. I love her thin frame and determined look. The robot seems to be looking to her for guidance and it's uncertain whether she is leading the situation or unhappy with the robot's presence.

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It took a long time to get exactly what I wanted, and a lot of blurred, strange faces as the AI tried to conceptualise what I was saying. Some were freakish - blank, blurred faces and tall, imposing robot men when it was the female figure I wanted to lead the way, focussing on her interacting with technology in a landscape of the past.

The next photo I was pleasantly suprised and pleased with, despite not intending it, was the TV Woman. To me it seemed to echo what I was doing in front of a screen, melded with the AI. Note her feet, and the building capping. Strange things happen as you try to get the AI to bring your concepts to life, but there is still something delightful about this.

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I love the woman with the BOSE headphones. I'd asked the AI to create in the style of Grant Wood of American gothic fame, and the gaze has that intensity. She appears to be looking toward the future whist listening to whatever it is she is hearing on the headphones.

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After that I had really difficulty getting clarity in the faces. Does anyone have any tips for that? I was only making changes to the objects not the descriptions of the woman, the setting or style, so I'm not sure what was going on there. Perhaps the AI was discombobulated as well.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to adhere to the theme. I wonder if there are ways to change minor details without getting too crazy. However, some interesting images I liked did appear. This screaming lady was meant to be holding a vaccuum cleaner, however, appears to be wildly furious with some other tech.

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Try as I might, I could not get the AI to pose the woman with modern appliances. It seemed to want to get something to fit the theme. The television seemed to be most modern.

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Add 'screaming' to the mix and things started going a little wrong. But then that's what happens if you give a woman a vacuum cleaner.
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I love this one - she seems to be wondering what ahppened to her land, starting at us from the past as we watch her on a documentary.

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Changing the parameters a little, it gets spooky - same dress, but a young girl watching a house on the screen. The sand from previous images keeps occuring even though I haven't 'fed' it sand - the 'empty' street perhaps begged for sand.

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As I write this post, it's 37 degrees outside and I'm melting. I'm transported to another world, another time, lost in a melting of modern technology with the wild west, a long gone America where we could have only dream of AI art in our wildest imaginations.

Now, I find myself following themes and threads to create images that disturb, amuse, and amaze me. It's like painting with AI. I'll try to resist sharing too many with you but I thought you might enjoy this purposeful series and hopefully get something interesting out of it.

Which is your favourite image? Are you using Midjourney? What is your grandest experiment? Please share in the comments below.

With Love,

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This experiment was getting out of hand, I guess? From plain crazy to weird and scary :)

Great work and a food for thought too. Goal achieved, bravo!

@tipu curate

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Thanks so much!!! It's fun to experiment. I'm so glad you liked it.

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I really like these! I think these are some of the best AI generated art I've seen in fact

But I suspect that's your work and great mind coming through.

You could have shown these at the University I studied fine art at and got a really good mark.

No sh!t. Honestly.

The best one.. tough call.

The woman with the headphones.

Or the one with the robot head.

Or the girl in the desert in front of TV - conceptually nails it

But all of these images are really profound.

👍🏼👏🏻

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these are some of the best AI generated art I've seen in fact

Haha really???

But I suspect that's your work and great mind coming through.

They do say it's co - creation... The AI doesn't WORK without human input.

I'm leaning to the robot head. In fact that whole sequence when I did it was crazy!!!

See what I mean about human input? You have to keep working and altering the text til you get am image that works.

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You studied fine art?? That's so cool. How do you feel about the AI art thing? I think one of the most interesting ways for me to get some interesting work is to plug in the artist name, though I will only do the dead artists as the living ones might not appreciate it.

💚🍄

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Yep. I even graduated despite hating the institutionalization of art... and the politics. 👍🏼 :D

Have a Bachelors degree.

I'm torn with the AI thing.

I love tech and am fascinated with its evolution. I'm also threatened, jealous and miffed that anyone untrained in a particular medium could create something like these.

So its a tough one.

But I was also always more into the concept than the result.

Art wise.

Kandinsky is one of my faves but I don't like his paintings for example. Miro did one of my all time favorite paintings and it is totally abstract.

It's what the artists were saying really. Brilliant!

So concept before result. For me personally.

I guess that's my interest in the human mind and social constructs, and justice, coming through

I don't think AI can depict the human condition or experience (yet :)) and that's my area of interest

Alway felt that artists and writers are the real voice of the people and a more honest documentary and commentarty of our history than news and media

So...

I use AI to create my featured images around here now in fact

I don't see why we should use repetitive stock images when we can create our own

But what you've done here is pretty remarkable, my friend. I'd pursue this, if I were you, and look at putting a series of NFTs together. Honestly.

This is very relevant commentary on this exact discussion. And more. And it's superbly executed. I'm not flattering you. I'd buy one. My lecturers at UCT would have given you a 1st for this as an exhibition. One time 👍🏼

This series you've done. This just shows people what is possible

And that it's NOT just a program running. It's being driven by a good human mind. It wouldn't be as profound if it weren't.

If it were just thrown together without further thought and the development you've shown of the process right here...

It might be a design of sorts.

But it wouldn't be Art.

If that makes sense.

Bravo! 👏🏻💥

Tag me if you release the NFTs please

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Oh wow it's really great and it looks horrible. It's got a Westworld vibe to it. In the AI pictures, especially the combination with that inaccuracy in the faces and the faded colors add a very different tension.👏👏

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Yes! The face wierdness and the colours really work, don't they?

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Cool dystopian feel. But it does get a bit scary towards the end.

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It does yeah!!!! Hey I thought of you yesterday but have now forgotten why 🤣🤣

Oh! It was the scary kangaroo thing. Wait til you see my next Midjourney post. I'm thinking of #midjourneymonday 🤣

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Interesting as you explain what you were trying to do, but still not something I'd normally look at...

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You are sweet reading my posts even if it's not your thing 💕💕

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Nope, haven't used midjourney, I like the image with the headphones most of these above. Others are a bit scary..

Interesting experiment though!

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They are creepy huh! I was reading some programs run darker than others.... Maybe that's why I like this one ..

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I read your other post the other day and got reminded about something I wanted to write about AI art myself, mixed with some personal experience of training AI. Will see if I can manage to write it today or tomorrow.

It's interesting to say the least.. I was wondering what this is though:

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Seems like text/watermark? or is this coming from Midjourney?

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It's Midjourney. Drop me the link when you post it!!

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These are awesome

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Thanks! It was a blast creating them. I am suprised at my imagination sometimes. I usually write to express myself and it's the first time I've been able to do so adequately through visual art.

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And they do look freaking amazing Too!

So MidJourney is a new AI program then?

Have you heard of DDG? Deep Dream Generator.

Check it out, I think you would really like it if you haven't already and its free too!

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I never liked DDG as much as this one!!!! Happy New year CS!

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