Ain’t No A.I.
“Ain’t No A.I.” a group exhibition by Jadon Kilayko, Dan Ivan Sepelagio, Kean Larrazabal, Doods Campos, Paulo Amparo and Red Santillan.
Text and images courtesy of Modeka Creative Space
Curated by JT Gonzales
February 17, 2023
The science fiction future is upon us. Artificial intelligence can write college essays and pass entrance exams. It can drive EV’s, polish floors and crack codes. It’s not a surprise, therefore, that AI can plumb the entire history of human art, and generate infinite images.
We are in a competition.
We know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and as humankind evolves (and with it, the definition of beauty), what is traditionally beautiful may become ugly. What is fashionable in the art world may quickly become passé, to be replaced with the new “it” artist.
Paulo Amparo “Deus Ex Machina”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "Terpsichore in Distress”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "The Fall of a Muse”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas, Paulo Amparo (artist photo)
New ideas bloom. New visions unfold. New art forms explode. Humanity is unstoppable. Can AI keep up? Can it match human evolution? Can it surpass human capability?
Computing power is at all-time highs. Equations can be solved in the blink of an eye. Calculations can be made quicker than synapses can fire. But who would have thought art would find itself in this pickle.
Kean Larrazabal "Water is life”, 2022, 24 x 24 inches, Mix media on Canvas (Serigraphy); "Artificial Love”, 2022, 24 x 24 inches, Mix media on Canvas (Serigraphy); "You think you’re cute?”, 2022, 24 x 24 inches, Mix media on Canvas (Serigraphy), Kean Larrazabal (artist photo)
Artists are agitated. Their ideas are swiped. Their names are discarded. The cash flows to the tech guys. Meanwhile, computers churn out countless images that assimilate, regurgitate, or even elevate physical works that take months, if not years, to complete.
Hilario Campos III "An Artist Without A Heart Is Not An Artist”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "Construction Of Stonehenge By Al from History Channel", 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; “The Age of Brain Death”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; Hilario Campos III (artist photo)
This is the future of these artists. They will confront works that mimic, or even surpass their own. They will be compared, rightly or wrongly, with machine made, created in a twinkling without the technical skill, the painstaking craftsmanship, the diligence and the passion, that are poured into the hours and minutes of art.
Red Santillan “Soldier Robot”, 2022, 24 x 26 inches, Mixed Media; “Robot Like Alien”, 2022, 24 x 26 inches, Mixed Media; “Unique R.”, 2022, 24 x 26 inches, Mixed Media, Red Santillan (artist photo)
And so, we ask Jadon Kilayko, Dan Ivan Sepelagio, Kean Larrazabal, Doods Campos, Paulo Amparo and Red Santillan to stare, without flinching, at AI.
Jaydon Kilayko "HUMAN MADE I”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "HUMAN MADE II”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "HUMAN MADE III”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches Acrylic on Canvas; Jaydon Kilayko (artist photo)
Call it a dare. Call it one-upsmanship. Call it a face-off, with no certain outcome.
“This is what we think of you, AI. You take from us and ours. You pilfer and filch. And so, we are here, looking at you. Today.”
Dan Ivan Sepelagio "The Instigator”, 2023, 24 x 24 x 2 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "The Remover”, 2023, 24 x 24 x 2 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; "Embrace your Faith”, 2023, 24 x 24 x 2 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; Dan Ivan Sepelagio (artist photo)
