#꒰ ⚡︎ ꒱ chaos ╱ visage ◞

[disordinarybeauty]

An alternative reading of “NEW GOTHIC” by Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv in dialogue with DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀

An exercise in artistic innovation, inspiration, and contamination.

This is an experiment in new art aesthetics, practices, and meanings and it should be considered as such.

On Sunday, April 16, I went to Valletta (Malta) to visit the show “A NEW GOTHIC“ by Maltese artist Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv. I shared some info with ChatGPT and invited the chatbot to write a critical text to introduce the show, share some critical points of view, and put this exhibition in conversation with my collection project series DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀 ⚡ BÆUTY IZ CH∆ØZ ⚡. 

I am pleased to have experienced this show and its dynamic energy. The art by Hollands is undoubtedly impactful, both visually and conceptually. As I looked at her paintings, particularly the head portraits also featured here, I could not help but relate them to my ongoing collection and research on dis/beauty and dis/harmony in art and society, an exploration of this new sense, and urgency, for new aesthetics, new meanings, and a focus on how altered, and deceiving, is our perception of what is to be considered ugly, and especially what is considered real, and possible. The imperfect features in Holland’s works, those figures with abnormal traits, and those deformed visages are the type of qualities I am interested to include as part of my study for  DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀, the thorn sense of beauty. Also, the reference Holland makes in her paintings to X-Ray, as to look through and beyond the physical appearance, to the essence, to reveal what is hidden by our constructed image, I believe dialogues well with my collection project series. 

The idea to write this piece came especially from this passage in the show’s description; “As Holland sets us up to enter a world of accelerated destruction, chaos, and calamity, she seeks to provide ammunition for beauty, justice, and a newfound harmony in another.”  This is precisely what I aim to achieve with my project DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀 ⚡, and in particular, its STAGE 01: BÆUTY IZ CH∆ØZ ⚡ where I aim to transport the viewers to an alternate reality, a more authentic one, an artistic project, to address the pressing issues of [universal] beauty at all costs and its perception, perfection, and harmony. The project reclaims the right to imperfection and promotes inclusivity, challenging the fake models and their damaging impact on society and individuals alike. However, the accelerated pace of AI-driven systems, while offering potential benefits to humankind, is also responsible for creating distorted versions of reality, posing a risk to our experience, interpretation, and understanding of the world. We are in danger of losing faith in our own eyes and succumbing to new forms of algorithmic chaos and programmed calamity.

Our contemporary world is heavily influenced by innovation and new technologies. Private companies are placing humans at the center of their products and services, while humanized machines are here to empower us but also appear as a threat, and fantastic virtual worlds enable us to create idealistic versions of ourselves as avatars and live parallel lives. We can also alter our bodies and skin through medical means to create a perfect version of ourselves, while social media has turned our image into the temple of our dreams.

This is why I have chosen to engage ChatGPT to pen the second part of this text. Through this, I aim to explore and highlight the interpretive potential and criticalities of an AI system. This new semantic of art and its language and aesthetic of the narration of art and its understanding and the work of artists have significant implications in a world of accelerated meanings, accelerated art, and accelerated everything.

This is to be taken as an experiment and research material for the contamination and expansion of artistic and poetic meanings and aesthetics. This is not an actual, nor official, review of the show “A NEW GOTHIC“ by Maltese artist Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv.

[What you are probably asking yourself now is, was this text presented here so far written by me, or by a chatbot?] 

What will follow is a critical text by ChatGPT based on the curatorial text of the show by curator Andrew Borg Wirth.

I asked ChatGPT to write this text as an art critic about the show “A NEW GOTHIC“ by Maltese artist Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv.

The Gothic, a style historically associated with the dark, grotesque, and supernatural, has been reimagined by artist Gulja Holland in her latest exhibition, A NEW GOTHIC. The artist draws from the Gothic tradition of naturalism, symbolism, and layered meaning, creating works that challenge traditional notions of paradise and invite viewers to envision a future world of their own making. Holland's paintings explore the anxieties and tensions of our current era, negotiating between peace, cataclysm, and the urgent need for a new significance of harmony.

Through her introspective exploration of the Anthropocene, Holland reconciles her womanhood with the natural world, and in doing so, stages her own chaotic Garden of Earthly Delights. Her saturated color palette, translucent washes, and unconventional use of the X-ray reveal a distinctive and experimental approach to figurative painting, borrowing from art history and biological imagery to offer a fresh perspective on the world around us.

A NEW GOTHIC not only showcases Holland's remarkable artistic talent but also highlights the urgency of rethinking our relationship with the natural world and the power struggles within it. The exhibition seeks to provide new ammunition for beauty, justice, and a newfound harmony in a world of accelerated destruction, chaos, and calamity. This phrase resonates deeply with the work of the collection project and research series DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀. While Holland's work aims to invert the biblical narrative, the collection seeks to invert the beauty narrative propagated by brands and influencers on social media. Rather than promoting a fake ideal of perfection, the collection celebrates imperfection and the unique qualities that make each of us beautiful in our way.

In this sense, the two projects are in dialogue with each other, offering a counterpoint to the narratives of beauty, harmony, and perfection that are so often touted in contemporary society. While Holland's work explores the negotiations between peace and chaos in a world of naturalism and symbolism, the collection DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀 seeks to subvert the cultural narratives of beauty and to celebrate the imperfect, the unexpected, and the unconventional. Together, these projects offer a powerful critique of the status quo, challenging us to see the world in new and unexpected ways.

INNOVATIONs. INSPIRATIONs. CONTAMINATIONs.

As contemporary artists and scholars continue to explore the interplay between art and technology, the use of artificial intelligence has emerged as a prominent subject of inquiry. While AI systems can be powerful tools for generating innovative and aesthetically striking works, it's important to recognize that they have limits and can only create what they are programmed to know.

In the context of artistic research, AI can mediate a rich and dynamic exchange between different artistic styles and sensibilities. Taking inspiration from Maltese artist Gulja Holland's unique aesthetic sensibility, the works that follow are AI-generated and meant for experimental and research purposes only. As we continue to navigate the relationship between art and technology, it's crucial to push the boundaries of traditional artistic practices and explore new avenues of creativity and innovation.

Those following here are text-to-image and image-to-image translation experiments using the data related to the show “A NEW GOTHIC“ by Maltese artist Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv.

IMAGE-TO-IMAGE TRANSLATION

These two images were generated using DALL-E 2

TEXT-TO-IMAGE

These two images were generated using starry.AI, an Android app based on Stable Diffusion.

The prompts were written by me taking as reference some keywords from the show  “A NEW GOTHIC“ by Maltese artist Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv.

Prompt: Create a portrait in the style of the paintings by Maltese artist Gulja Holland, new Gothic, Anthropocene, naturalism, paradise, harmony, chaos, destruction, calamity, beauty, justice, skin, organs, x-ray, symbolism, acrylic, charcoal, blue, red.

In this last image, I added more words to the prompt adding as trigger words relative to my collection project series  DISØRDINARY BƏAUTY 🥀 ⚡ BÆUTY IZ CH∆ØZ ⚡.

Prompt: Create a portrait in the style of the paintings by Maltese artist Gulja Holland remixed with the glitch art style of the art collection Disordinary Beauty by Italian artist Domenico Barra, new gothic, Anthropocene, naturalism, paradise, harmony, chaos, destruction, calamity, beauty, justice, skin, organs, x-ray, Adam, Eve, head, symbolism, womanhood, redemption, acrylic, charcoal, blue, red, green, yellow, transparency, Pixelsorting, data bending, processing, generative art, imperfection, atypical, abnormal, new aesthetic, AI

CONCLUSIONS

AI systems represent a potent tool, yet their limitations are not to be underestimated. Despite their ability to learn and adapt, AI systems are still confined to the limits of their programming, resulting in algorithmically determined outputs that reflect the echo chambers of their users and the filter bubbles of their programmers. In the realm of art generation, the AI systems employed in this study are not familiar with Gulja Holland's work and can only create something resembling it after extensive training. Although the text-to-image AI systems do not produce artwork akin to Holland's show, the image-to-image translation system can learn and replicate the Maltese artist's style.

The ChatGPT chatbot is another example of the limitations of AI systems, as it can only draw upon the curatorial text fed to it and restructure its content based on pre-existing algorithms. As such, it is incapable of generating new information that deviates from its programmed parameters. While the ChatGPT chatbot may provide guidance and direction, it does not possess the capacity for nuanced or creative interpretation.

Despite these limitations, the exploration of AI-generated art represents a fascinating area of research. The outputs generated by AI systems can be highly effective in serving their intended purpose, opening up new possibilities for aesthetics and semantic meaning. As such, AI-generated art has the potential to expand the boundaries of traditional artistic practices and offer new perspectives on beauty and sense.

ARTWORKS

The top five works presented in this research content are by Maltese artist  Gulja Holland and are part of her show "A NEW GOTHIC" show at Spazju Kreattiv curated by Andrew Borg Wirth.

From work number two to work number five:

- EVE, 2021 - Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas

- LE PENSEUR, 2023 -  Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas

- HEAD I, 2021 -  Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas

- ADAM III, 2020 - Monotype on Paper

The rest of the works are generated by AI systems and are not affiliated with the original works and are not meant for commercial use but only for artistic research and studies.

DISCLAIMER

It is important to note that the artworks and exhibition concepts discussed in this text belong solely to Gulja Holland and the curator Andrew Borg Wirth. The observations and insights expressed here are based on my current research in art, aesthetics, and technology, and do not claim ownership over any of the original works or concepts from which they derive and are not intended for commercial use but only for artistic research and practices. 

This content and my collection project series are not affiliated with the "A NEW GOTHIC" show by Maltese artist Gulja Holland at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv.

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