There is nothing more to make me happy when someone laughs out loud while looking at one of my paintings. – Alan MacDonald
Alan, there is a universal sense of humor in your new work, not only in the elements, but in the title. “The Door of the Future” and “The King Without Money”. Do you want to discuss it? Does such a title become a secret joke between audiences and/or collectors?
Allen: There is nothing more to make me happy when someone laughs out loud while looking at one of my paintings. As comedians know, humor is a subversive thing that breaks down barriers and makes others more receptive to your message or perspective. A few years ago, a particularly tired world-tiring person attended my exhibition and expressed his face with “if you can”. He treks from painting to painting, without impressing himself…that is, until he came to a painting of a man covered in tattoos with a row of pins on his forehead called “masochism.” This made him laugh! Then he went back and looked at all the paintings he had almost ignored before, now taking the time to respond to all of them. It confirms for me the importance of humor in art.
Artificial intelligence technology has recently created otherworldly images (using Artists’ works without choice, permission or compensation), but has created unexpected surreal-like images. When the painter spends a lot of time creating a piece that is created with fantastic unexpected elements, we are curious to hear your use of this technology. We have heard and seen several artists feed their paintings into Midjourney to conceive their initial concepts and then portray them as the final painting, usually without transparency. What do you think of this technology, and when artists use it as a tool (or crutch), should they reveal it?
Allen: The AI images do look very impressive at first, but quickly become somewhat identical and cold. My paintings have been an exciting journey of discovery for me, so the idea of copying a computer-generated version onto the canvas would be daunting and tedious. But if it can be used to help produce something that was otherwise impossible, I can see that it is an exciting way to develop painting. Disclosure when artists use it…I think artists should do this, but I doubt very rarely!
Carolynda: I didn’t actually look into this conversation much, but at a recent UK conference, this is especially the subject! As an artist’s tool, what fascinates me is that if part of the creative process is handed over to computer software, it can easily become a crutch and can reduce the artist’s own imagination. Disclose its purpose, I think it will be an artist, and I’m not sure as long as the painting works, its importance.
See more “When Two Worlds Clash”, a newest exhibition of works by couple painters Carolynda MacDonald and Alan MacDonald on KP Projects by clicking their names.
