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Inspired by Roy Cranston

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Transhumanism and Artists

Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EzqKWfOfRZ8-2oBX1Kl1Lfa78kIlgGFfV6JgNWg2L54/edit?usp=sharing

Transhumanists and Artists

Creatively, transhumanism has a growing popularity especially within illustration and graphic design. Ethical controversy can help fuel an artist’s process, and add wider world influence; art is very commonly used as a form of education, along with aesthetic purposes. The discussion of whether posthuman technology is a positive or negative change has existed since the industrial revolution, especially regarding medical development. This sparks discussion not only amongst scientists and medical professionals, but also in the creative community. Ethical and political messages are found throughout art - promotional design, advertising, posters held at protests, etc. The ideas and passion behind a subject can be the main source of drive for an artist, and they can be vital for helping educate and insight others into a movement. For example, when someone is running for president (whether it be of a high school or an entire country) do they type their beliefs and promises onto a word document, print it, stick it to a wall and call it a day? No, they create flyers, posters, even merchandise to promote themselves. This can only be done with an artist's input. Outside of industry, political art is very popular for expressing emotion, and evoking specific thoughts - e.g. Banksy, using imagery to their advantage to make the public interested in what it means, usually relating to current issues. This sparks more interest in audiences; making it easier to tailor to an audience and profit from the work - which can sometimes be a challenge in more niche artistic communities. 

Transhumanism and cyberpunk culture can contribute towards general artistic creation, outside of industry based outcomes. Many forms of media, including film, video, design, cosplay, and illustration have used the theme of transhumanism to direct the aesthetics. I think especially cyberpunk ideas are used so commonly due to the flexibility of what can be created - it can be utopian or dystopian, historical or modern, realistic or abstract. The creative freedom gives many artists the ideal opportunity to combine scientific law and mathematical concepts into the designs, or the opportunity to create an entirely new concept. An example of this is Razer’s ‘Project Hazel’ Mask, released around a month ago that was the centre of media attention for a while. The mask is a more sustainable alternative to surgical masks and uses tech to regulate air flow, kill bacteria and viruses, and protect against fluid and droplets. The mask also has customizable RGB colours, and has an extremely sleek design, that is obviously inspired by dystopian techwear art. This just shows the influence of the artistic community, and how a personal project can stem into an entire product. Because the concept of cyberpunk can stem into maths and science, it can spark interest in more than just illustrative artists; the community will continue to grow with more diverse groups coming together, including model makers, game designers, geometric artists and graphic designers - along with traditional illustrators and filmmakers. Using a more vague and widespread idea for personal projects can drive more experimentation. 

The future of human life and technology can appear very bleak - especially to those with less creative minds. Especially as some transhumanists feel that the goal of post-human tech is to become completely immortal, and go beyond natural human capacity. Obviously this can be a very negative influence on our future as a species, and therefore can create an image of a dystopian future, filled with corrupted cyborgs full of trauma and sickness from living through so many years. Despite the more negative tone, this also can really inspire an artist to explore darker themes. Creating a corrupted piece of machinery, exploring the twisted and disturbing imagery that can come with it. Dystopian ideas have become very common amongst film, too: e.g. Hunger Games, Maze Runner, 9, etc. It is quite common for artists to find inspiration in ‘negative’ forms of an idea, because it challenges the idea that art must be beautiful and pleasing to the eye - meaning an artist can push themselves to produce a piece that could create a negative reaction from an audience. The exploration of evoking ‘negative’ reactions can be much harder than a positive one. 

Both positive and negative outcomes of transhumanism can heavily influence an artist's response depending on their personal style. The industry design of various tech that can cure illnesses and aid disabilities or a personal project of character design and film - transhumanism is becoming one of the most popular forms of artistic communication.

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‘PenUser’ on DeviantArt

Transhumanism inspired profile illustration, tonal. [mechanical pencil]

This was my main inspiration for the cyborg illustration. The in-depth shading and contrast between light and dark struck my attention, the piece overall just appears really professional and sleek. I wanted to recreate the same detail, but found myself loosing motivation. Plus, to create this detail digitally I would need to use a pencil brush on Photoshop, rather than my usual pixel brush. 

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Oliver Hischier

Blue background, black foreground with white typography - inspired the 2nd half of zine pages.

I struggle usually with colour, especially with backgrounds. I felt this was a really good piece to use as inspiration for starting out with colour experimentation, especially as the simplicity is easier to recreate without getting caught up in complex bits I would usually explore in black and white. The darker imagery with stark white text also brings more attention from the colour, making it easier to concentrate on the structure of the piece.

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ZINE MOCKUP 2/2

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ZINE PAGES 2/2

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ZINE MOCKUPS, 1/2

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ZINE PAGES, ½

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750 word essay: planning

Topic: How transhumanism and art interact

Points to discuss: - Artists usually use political/ethical subjects as inspiration - Able to explore the design of these developments - The future, how our world will change (utopia/dystopia)

250 words per point, looking into the creative idea behind the movement.

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‘CYBORG’ Digital illustration, completed.

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‘Transhumanism - the world’s most dangerous idea’ - Francis Fukuyama

‘ For the last several decades, a strange liberation movement has grown within the developed world. Its crusaders aim much higher than civil rights campaigners, feminists, or gay-rights advocates. They want nothing less than to liberate the human race from its biological constraints. As "transhumanists" see it, humans must wrest their biological destiny from evolution's blind process of random variation and adaptation and move to the next stage as a species. ‘

Transhumanism, like any other set of ideas and beliefs, contains positives and negatives. Obviously, depending on ones opinion the balance can tilt either way. Personally I feel that introducing technology into our natural evolution as a species would be beneficial to avoiding natural ‘hiccups’ in our development. Think about it: millions are suffering from diabetes, if technology could create a form of AI that could be inserted into the body it could secrete insulin as and when its required, rather than manual. There is already insulin pumps that do this that are external, so if it could be an internal and effective piece it could change peoples lives.

‘If we start transforming ourselves into something superior, what rights will these enhanced creatures claim, and what rights will they possess when compared to those left behind? If some move ahead, can anyone afford not to follow? These questions are troubling enough within rich, developed societies. Add in the implications for citizens of the world's poorest countries -- for whom biotechnology's marvels likely will be out of reach -- and the threat to the idea of equality becomes even more menacing’

I agree with the point Fukuyama makes here. Naturally, humans have a hive mindset - we are creatures of habit and find ourselves desperate to catch up and ‘fit’ in our own little boxes. This is where I believe technological advancements will have a negative affect - no two human beings are the same, despite both being the same species. If technology benefits one, it may deter the other - this can then cause splits in society. Others also may believe that ‘tech could never do a humans job’ - for example, even in something small like coffee making: a latte made from the hands of a trained barista is usually favoured over a latte from an express machine - even if they're made from the same ingredients, at the same temperature, using the same method. Preferences and opinions will always exist - even if some are easily manipulated (e.g. placebos)

‘Transhumanism's advocates think they understand what constitutes a good human being, and they are happy to leave behind the limited, mortal, natural beings they see around them in favor of something better. But do they really comprehend ultimate human goods? For all our obvious faults, we humans are miraculously complex products of a long evolutionary process -- products whose whole is much more than the sum of our parts. Our good characteristics are intimately connected to our bad ones: If we weren't violent and aggressive, we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves; if we didn't have feelings of exclusivity, we wouldn't be loyal to those close to us; if we never felt jealousy, we would also never feel love. Even our mortality plays a critical function in allowing our species as a whole to survive and adapt (and transhumanists are just about the last group I'd like to see live forever). Modifying any one of our key characteristics inevitably entails modifying a complex, interlinked package of traits, and we will never be able to anticipate the ultimate outcome.’

This is where I disagree somewhat - I personally feel that this generalises the community of transhumanists. In an extremists mind, yes this makes sense. But I don’t believe that this is what transhumanism is for. Using technology to correct human issues? Yes. Using technology to completely eradicate all ‘negative’ or ‘wrong’ feelings (i.e. jealousy, aggression)? No. The idea isn’t to make all humans soulless cyborgs - it is to aid in developing our evolution which appears to be currently going downhill. Survival instincts, defensiveness and totally ‘human’ emotions won’t disappear, but physical illness may be healed. 

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CYBERPUNK MASK DESIGNS

Designing masks to suit advanced humans from transhumanism, e.i. blood transfusion, blindness, extended vision (evolution)

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CODED PLUGINS - VIDEO GAMES

Notes on the video ‘Minecraft Speedrunners VS Terminator’:

Cyberpunk Ideologies -

-Challenge: beat the game whilst being hunted down -Coded into the game using ‘Baritone’, and a custom made server plugin Baritone: open source Minecraft pathfinding bot, created by ‘Leijurv’ . It uses A* search algorithm to find the fastest and most efficient path to complete a task set by the server plugin (in this video, the task is to kill the Speedrunners). -The ‘Terminator’ bot has infinite health, and places blocks perfectly in every way. Uses technology to complete it with no mistakes whatsoever - a perfected AI - an undefeatable boss -Taking manipulated technology and making it a form of entertainment -The bot cannot be outsmarted, in any way - Brings interest to coding - for entertainment purposes - How easily tech can be manipulated, plugins to video games can change entire direction of the traditional plot - Using technology to change what you already know

Video Source:

https://youtu.be/O60zJzhYGEA 

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TSHIRT MOCKUPS

Applying the zine pages to more industry related ideas - creating merchandise from the pages created. I feel that the white tshirt works best as a realistic perspective on creating a marketable piece from the project. The symmetrical front cover design works well on a tshirt, filling the area well and looking professional - whereas the blue design is made rectangular, leaving hard edges against the white space. 

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UPDATED PROGRESS - CYBORG FINAL ILLUSTRATION

One of the final pieces of work still updating - an in-depth digital illustration pushing my ability to create intricate work in digital form. Adding lightning forms from the human eye, to give the impression of veins being taken over by the technological energy. 

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A post shared by Roy Cranston (@roycranston)

Roy Cranston - Typography Animation

Minimalist animation flicking between typography, repeated. 

I think this makes a really professional perspective on using typography in animation, but is much easier than a complex piece of animation. This means there can be more concentration on the type itself, giving it far more emphasis on what you can see in each frame, rather than the movement. It entices the audience to look closer and attempt to read the hidden(?) message.

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Using Coloured Backgrounds

Pushing my minimalist comfort zone - using the feature colour as the background, and the text as the foreground with the usual foundation colours. This really helped bring light and emphasis to the typeface, and appears more like an advertisement. ADs usually use backgrounds in this way to bring immediate attention to the product they are selling - especially to have the imagery stand out against it. Using the white for the texture and black for the imagery really ties the piece together, making it more dynamic and interesting - rather than a white background, that looks similar to a book page for example.

Artist Inspiration: David Błażewicz