Deserving to Exist and Artificial Intelligence
“Each time it gets harder to remember… that you still deserve to exist! That this part of yourself (your older self) still has value! That it is still important!” (The Substance, 2024, Fargeat).
This line from the film The Substance has led many people to reflect on old age, beauty standards, and bodily decay. But in my mind, these sentences triggered a very different fear: the existential crisis of our creative self and our humanity in the face of flawless algorithms rising from the Silicon Valleys.
Today, I believe that in the world of visual arts we are going through exactly this kind of crisis of “deserving to exist.”
With our limited and flawed human state, is it really possible for us to compete with a new “substance” that processes millions of pixels flawlessly within seconds—a young, fresh, and frighteningly talented new “prodigy”?… continue to read
A Child at the Diner’s Door: Entering Hopper’s Night
It was 1991.
One of the books I read at school was The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.
If you ask me what I remember most about that book, I’d answer with a single word: the cover. They had used Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks (1942, oil on canvas) as the cover image. I was instantly struck by it—the kind of image you can’t stop looking at. Nighthawks… continue to read
Poseidon, Please Forgive Us, Triton Dive Mag, 2022.
I feel sorrow for the fact that we are destroying all the beauty created alongside us. Yet, very few of us truly recognize the destructive impact of our actions. On the other hand, there is a noticeable number of people who, while aware of this devastation, act sensitively only within the limits of their own comfort zones. continue to read (in Turkish).
To Be or to Be Born an Artist: That Is the Whole Question! Istanbul Art Magazine, 2021.
Naturally, we expect an artist to possess the imagination necessary for creation—that is, creative ability. However, what truly moves us is the artist’s capacity to transform creativity into artistic skill. In other words, the ability to express creativity through painting, drawing, sculpture, music, or other artistic forms; the ability to create structure, form, or meaning. But does everyone with creative potential also possess true artistic skill?
continue to read (in Turkish).
For Whom Does Art Exist? Kadıköy Art Magazine, 2020.
What defines the value of an artwork? The artist? The work itself? Its contribution to art world or society? The marketing and promotion carried out by intermediaries? Or perhaps the social network in which one exists?
…
Is contemporary art entirely driven by advertising? Are talent, education, and aesthetic concerns disregarded? Certainly not—but the real question is, how many can continue their artistic path with originality, integrity, and independence? continue to read (in Turkish).
Art in the Digital Realm, BrandMap Magazine, 2018.
In art markets, absolute power rests with intermediaries, who influence and guide both artists and art buyers. In other words, those who shape the market are the intermediaries themselves. Most interviewees pointed out that, when a gallery decides to work with an artist, factors such as the artist’s education, prior experiences, previous representation, past exhibitions, past prices, the dimensions of the work, and materials used often outweigh raw talent and creativity. These are precisely the characteristics a marketer can use to build a brand. Consequently, it seems unlikely for galleries to collaborate with unknown or newly graduated artists. continue to read (in Turkish).
Dilara Dolu Köksal 