When was the last time you bought art?

Um, I’m disabled and impoverished. I’ve relied on piracy all my life.

Thankfully there is an archived version and it’s every bit as pretentious and dumb as its thumbnail and its title suggest. And then they have the nerve to sign as if they were speaking for Artists writ large.

As I look around my living room and see the various local artists I support, see my kitchen decorated with hand made utensils, I look into my dining room and see the art purchased from an artist selling his works on the Charles Bridge, all while my children practice their instruments in the basement, the day after attending a family jam session; the basement I built myself after a flood, using reclaimed materials from a local vendor.

I get to hate AI, and I get to complain about it.

Fuck the adtech industry, too. It’s absolutely destroying anyone but clickbait farmers, arguably more than generative ML is.

I’ve been throwing more money at Patreon or similar artist subscriptions recently, even if in short bursts.

Buying art is for “good times”. Most of the people I know barely pursue their livelihood. When you can barely pay your rent, barely buy your groceries, buying art is way below on that bare necessities list. Because you cannot feed your soul before feeding your flesh first.

And this has been on a downhill before “AI” was a thing.

I’m sorry the economy is fucking you like everyone else, but you’re childishly lashing out at the wrong people.

I buy art directly from artists all the time. It may not be expensive one of a kind paintings, but a shirt directly from the designer of the print is something I’ve done several times this year. A record directly from the band who recorded it is something I’ve done probably a couple dozen times this year. Prints of paintings, posters directly from the artist. These are all things I get fairly regularly.

Am I allowed to complain now?

Really? So what?

A lot of people are either poor or simply don’t have a need for art, which is why they don’t buy it. The buyers are the appreciative, non-poor individuals. Before GenAI, artists had a market, they produced work for these buyers, whether for legitimate use or pure appreciation.

Now, GenAI is eroding that market. Legitimate users just use GenAI for “good enough” results, and appreciative buyers lower their standards by flooding themselves with GenAI content.

Meanwhile, the poor folk push back against the normalization of such art which wrecks the art industry. They’re doing what they can.

I am very much on the anti-genAI side, but this is stupid.

First there are other reasons to be against it.

Second that way to consume art directly from the artist is an exception since way longer than gen AI existed. No, most people never commissioned a freaking poet or oul-painting portraitist. Who are you, a Florentine patrician from the 17th century?

People do consume art though. They can be selective in what they get and hopefully support stuff actually made by people.

What the fuck are you doing about it—other than complaining?

He complained while doing nothing about it.

What an idiot! 🤮