At a gallery in Largo, AI helps create images of Blackness
LARGO: They beckon from the walls in the galleries at Creative Pinellas: beautiful Black men, women and children, intertwined with plants and flowers as if they are morphing together. And although they look photorealistic, they were created with artificial intelligence. “Imagine Blackness: Alternate Realities and Collective Dreaming” is the brainchild of husband-andwife duo Mcarthur Freeman II and Elizabeth Hordge-freeman. Inspired by Afrofuturism and Black speculative fiction, the art is intended to create alternate realities as a way to retell Black stories, a form of social intervention. Sometimes they look to the future, but they can also be reimagined from the past or even the present, Mcarthur said.
“Afrofuturism at its core is about hope,”
Elizabeth said. “So the images that Afrofuturists tend to produce ... respond to some of the problems of today by imagining what Blackness or the experiences of Black people could look like in the future, in these alternate worlds or alternate universes.” Mcarthur is an artist with a master’s of fine art in painting from Cornell University. He is an associate professor of video, animation and digital arts at the University of South Florida. Recently, he’s been exploring digital sculpting, 3D scanning and 3D printing.
Elizabeth is a sociologist whose work explores systems of racial trauma, racism and sexism that affect Black women in the US and Brazil, a topic she has writen several books on. She has a PH.D. in sociology from Duke University and is an associate professor of sociology and interim associate vice provost at USF.
In an interview before the exhibit opened, Elizabeth described the collective trauma for Black people that came as a reaction to George Floyd’s murder and police brutality. While discussing these issues, she and Mcarthur wanted to address them in a more positive way that was “still in dialogue with the realities we’re facing,” she said.
They are also responding to the limited range of Black representation in the mainstream by creating images of people with features they see in themselves and their community.
“(It) is really about affirmation,” Mcarthur said. “There’s an aspect of escape, which was also needed during the past few years. So, it’s also about positively envisioning and still reflecting on this idea of that need for more diverse representation.”
The images are created with text prompts, and the words play a vital role. Mcarthur said they view the words as seeds that create possibilities beyond current constraints. Some were created with specific narratives, while others are let open for interpretation.
Existing sotware is used to help generate the images, but the artists are able to create unique images based on the ideas. As for the ongoing debate about artificial intelligence in art, Mcarthur is excited about the technology’s accessibility. “It offers some very, very powerful tools. It is a disruptive technology and we can expect to see a lot more from AI in that space,” he said. “I think that what happens when you have disruptive technologies like that is they get us to question and sort of reevaluate the values of the ways that we have been doing things all along. There are certainly some ethical concerns about how some of the AI systems are trained and to what extent individuals have been included. But then there are also questions about how much of that is actually just fair use. AI really has amazing potential to be able to create and generate images.”
Elizabeth said the next step for users of artificial intelligence — especially for her as a professor — is to cultivate the skills, abilities and contributions that are not easily produced by a computer.
A video loop playing on a screen in the gallery at Creative Pinellas shows even more images the pair has created. The influence of science fiction comes through on many of these futuristic visions.
“Postcards from the Future” is a series of snapshot-sized images of people enjoying the beach, but maybe it’s a beach on another planet or even in another universe.
In that section is an activity that lets people imagine their own postcards by filling out forms that ask detailed questions about place, time, people and change. The Freemans will create images that will stream on a screen in the gallery. It’s a cool glimpse into their creation process.
But the couple’s intention for the exhibit is much more meaningful than the technology it uses.0
“We were really interested in people walking away feeling energized about the future,” Elizabeth said. “There’s a lot for us to be concerned about if we only focus on today. We hope people walk away remembering that not only is the future in store for us, but what we do and how we think in the present is directly related to what we can achieve in the future. We have to maintain that hope in order to be able to cultivate and ultimately construct the future where everybody feels represented.” “Imagine Blackness: Alternate Realities and Collective Dreaming.” On view through Feb. 26.
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NEW YORK: When asked in a recent interview if he’ll always want to do stand-up, Colin Quinn joked that he’s tired and can’t do it forever. Then the 63-year-old comedian launched into the “magic” he feels onstage when geting a laugh, and sheepishly admited he’ll probably never give it up. Quinn has embarked on his eighth one-man show, “Colin Quinn: Small Talk,” playing now through Feb. 11 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York.
He’s previously performed on TV, including “Saturday Night Live” and “Girls” and in movies like “Trainwreck,” and is the author of several books, but stand-up keeps pulling him back. Known for his observational humor, Quinn shines a light in his new show on the way we communicate in person and online, and spoiler alert: It’s not always prety. In a recent interview the comic explains his process, his advice for younger comedians and how so-called woke culture has changed comedy.
You connect how sm all talk has evolved into people posting online. What does that say about us?
The internet is obviously our life. I’m always thinking about ‘What does it mean? What is so important?’ For most people, it’s atention and opinion. You know, like those are the big things that mater on the internet — you’re giving your opinion and geting atention. I’m always looking for litle definitions of everything because I feel like that’s another thing in comedy, when
I’m defining things. If you’re having a conversation, in the middle of it, just stop and go, ‘Wait a minute. What is a conversation?’
Many fellow comedians revere you, do you ever give them advice?
I couldn’t give advice. They know beter than me what they need to do. They’re the ones that are… cuting up clips and throwing it out. Like, I’d be like ‘Hey, try to get on Leterman.’ They’re like, ‘What? He doesn’t have a show anymore.’ Or, ‘Hey, try to get a sitcom,’ (laughs). The only advice I could ever give is if you’re not writing new stuff a lot, you’re going to stagnate. It’s almost like the opposite of musicians. Musicians, with a few exceptions, the first couple of albums are their best, and then they just kind of can’t really capture that magic.
How has woke culture affected your comedy?
There’s so many subjects that people will not laugh at. So if you even identify — not just make a stereotype — if you identify anyone’s ethnicity, the room tightens up. There’s a lot of litle subtle areas, some good, most bad, in my opinion, that it affects… It’s not all of comedy, but it’s definitely it has a big effect, you know?
You’re friends with Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schum er. What’s it like when you go to dinner?
Nobody’s really fighting for atention, but everybody’s being funny the whole time, of course. I mean, that’s our thing, you know what I mean? Like, that’s what we do. It’s hard to really say what it looks like, but… we did a few weeks ago and it was just hilarious. And Amy’s baby son was there, Gene. It’s just like throwaway lines, but it’s not big and gregarious laughs. It’s more like a series of sarcastic or snoty remarks to each other.
You have other gigs but keep coming back to stand-up. Will you do it forever?
It’s not what I want to do forever, I’m tired. I say that because I have all these other projects I write and stuff. But I have to say, when I’m on stage and I’m talking to some crowd… when there’s something going on, you’re like ‘I can never have this in other parts of showbiz I’m so lucky.’ Or something happens in the news and I make a litle joke and then everyone laughs. You just you feel so grateful — especially ater COVID when we didn’t do it — you feel just gratitude.
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