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Post MA: The developments of GAN, AI and it’s implications

“Computers can now create but they are not creative.
To be creative, you need to have some awareness, some understanding of what you’ve done.
AIs know nothing whatsoever about the images and words they generate. “

Ferguson, K. (2023)

2022 and 2023 brought about quite a few evolutions in regards to Artificial Intelligence, specifically GAN products to the point where by the time I had access to one new development, another had cropped up more advanced the one previous and I got quite a bit overwhelmed when it came to writing about what I had found out, as things got out of date relatively quickly. (To the point I began writing this particular post back in March of 2022 and found that I had to keep adding and changing, so it’s been quite the wait and a lengthy one).


2022


When I first began writing this post I set about reading about how one would set up their own GAN looking at guides and research produced by individuals working in this field, and more importantly where a lot of the model training data was being gathered from, the aspect referred to as ‘datasets’. A lot of the academic papers and research articles available at the time seemed to draw upon a dataset called ‘CelebA’ (which is interesting given developments as of January 2024, which I will unpack later in this post).

Figure 1 Zhu, J. et al (2016) Generative Visual Manipulation on the Natural Image Manifold

The most in-depth on the topic, was unsurprisingly by Ian Goodfellow – one of the pioneers and inventors behind OpenAI’s GAN technology that have developed Dall-E and ChatGPT as products (which are now integrated into Bing). His NIPS 2016 Tutorial on the subject of Generative Adversarial Networks provided me with a real primer in understanding that GAN is not just a sub-category of AI, but has it’s own sub-categories like iGAN (Figure 1) and IAN (Figure 2). Sub-categories whose projects have focused not just on generating an image, but aiding the user into producing what they imagine in a controlled manner (Goodfellow suggests that these projects are aimed at creating ‘art’, which is interesting given subsequent developments – particularly talks hosted by the Royal Photographic Society on the topic of GAN and whether or not it is an approved method of Art/Photography). GAN itself can be best described as functioning as a 2-player game, with one being dubbed the ‘generator’ and the other ‘ the discriminator’. The generator is the player or perhaps more aptly a counterfeiter who creates the samples using the supplied training data (the dataset) with the aim of fooling the discriminator into thinking it is a legitimate real output that is indistinguishable from the genuine input, whilst the discriminator examines the samples and determines if they are real or fake.

Figure 2 Brock, A. et al. (2016) Neural Photo Editing with Introspective Adversarial Networks

Back when I was studying my Masters I stated that hallmarks for noticing GAN images were strange flaws like peculiar smudges and strange, peculiar ears and whilst this hasn’t totally changed it has certainly become a lot harder to distinguish between what is a genuine photograph and what is an artificial one. This is especially true after the public releases of ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney amongst others, during the latter half of 2022 that some have dubbed as being the start of the AI Spring. Due to this drastic evolution, I’ve found my interest has changed somewhat – instead of wanting to create my own GAN I’ve become more fascinated by the datasets driving both the popular options as well as those which are decidedly more niche, and just how ethical these datasets are in the imagery gathered, given just how quickly GAN generation went from a more surreal painterly approach to hyper-real almost indistinguishable from a photo in output.

Figure 3 Murray, J. & Pixray Genesis (2021) Prompt: Stairway to Heaven Outcomes 1 & 2

Back in late 2021, I came across Pixray Genesis, which was one of the first GAN text to image generators to become available to the general public without a waiting list that was also free. Much like the early outcomes produced by Nvidia’s StyleGAN, pixray had a lot of interesting distortions and produced outcomes which were considered to be more painterly and in my opinion highly surrealist. Whilst it had no issue with depicting or suggesting structural architecture like stairs (Figure 3), it really struggled when it came to human depictions, creating only very simplistic abstract suggestions, lacking facial features and distinct limbs (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Murray, J. & Pixray Genesis (2021) Prompt: Migrant Mother

Shortly after finding out about Pixray I found out about Wombo Dream (Figure 5), a phone application by a Canadian AI firm which much like Pixray offered text-to-image creations in a variety of ‘styles’ such as ukiyoe, dark fantasy, steampunk, Baroque or Synthwave to name but a few. Much like Pixray, Wombo Dream really struggled with depicting a human form, although you could tell that a fair amount of training had been taken from something similar to the CelebA dataset, in that it kept depicting albeit in Abstract ‘my name’ as a black woman (I share my name with an American Idol singer) and perhaps old film posters or promotional photos as ‘The Lovers’ prompt produced an outcome that replicated and mimicked the poses common in old school 1930s and 1940s posters for romance films (e.g. The Cuban Love Song, Anna Karenina).

Figure 5 Murray, J. & Wombo Dream (2021) Prompts: Various

The outcomes produced by Pixray and Wombo Dream were not significantly different to the outcomes I got in the Spring of 2022, when I got access to DALL-E Mini by Craiyon (Figure 6) in that it appeared to handle inanimate objects or flowers better than it did humans, producing a simplistic abstraction, albeit in a square format grid of 9 outputs, often within a minimalistic colour palette.

Figure 6 Murray, J. & DALL-E Mini (2022) Prompt: Jasmine

Now admittedly the prompts I used in both DALL-E Mini, Wombo Dream and Pixray were relatively broad, and very basic in description, yet despite this fact both generators managed to produce imagery that clearly showed that it’s datasets had been trained to associate the phrases to a very narrow definition – e.g. heaven = clouds, jasmine = flower or woman. Though it was noted that around the time of me generating the outcomes on DALL-E Mini that it did strangely seem to favour inserting abstract women in saris, which an article in Rest of World seemed to think may have been down to the fact the images may have been tagged only in a language the GAN generator did not understand. (Christopher, N. 2022).

Figure 7 Murray, J. & Stable Diffusion 1.5 (2022) Prompt: A photo-realistic image of a woman with curly brown hair, blue eyes and glasses

Shortly after DALL-E Mini (Craiyon) became available, the Summer of 2022 brought about the arrival of Stable Diffusion (Figure 7), Midjourney (Figure 8) and OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 (Figure 9) in short succession. Unlike prior available to the public GAN text-to-image creators these newcomers produced outcomes that were broaching photo-realistic and had no difficulty in creating an image of a ‘human’, and this has only become easier and easier as time has gone on, to the point that some generated images have been used to manipulate the general public as a form of propaganda in regards to the ongoing wars globally (Klepper, D. 2023).

Figure 8 Murray, J. & Midjourney (2022) Prompt: Feminist breaking free from societal shackles

2023


Being used as propaganda is not the sole bad side of this rapid evolution of GAN image-to-text services, over the course of 2023, several court cases have gone ahead with both artists and Getty taking the Big 3 (Stable Diffusion, Midjourney & DALL-E) to court for using and creating datasets which have been trained on their scraped art data without permission (Mattei, S.E. 2023 & O’Brien, M. 2023).

Figure 9 Murray, J & DALL-E (2022) Prompts: Woman with a Camera


Talks


Throughout 2023, I attended several talks hosted by the RPS on the topic of AI. The first I attended was in April and was hosted in partnership with Shutterstock, whilst a lot of the talk seemed to be focused on selling Shutterstock’s promptography product, it did make me think the following – at what point does a photo become machine generated and stop being a photograph? After all the majority of photography these days is digitally made, using pixels which is often then taken into a editing suite such as Photoshop.

Figure 10 Eldagsen, B. (2023) The Electrician

The second talk in June was hosted in partnership with Adobe, and remains available to watch on the RPS’s YouTube. Much as with Shutterstock it did feel a bit like a selling pitch to me at least, but it did add further to my thoughts of where the line is drawn, given Adobe Firefly is really just a step more than some of the products found within the current Adobe Creative Cloud suite such as face detection in Lightroom. The Adobe talk did pose some interesting developments though, as it seems like they want to make GAN created works show the credentials within the metadata in the form of Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) as a means of showing provenance of the work, however given Adobe’s AI images have been used in the Gaza-Israel conflict as though they are photojournalist images without attribution it does lead a question of whether such inclusions within the metadata changes anything if people get duped? One only has to look at the 2023 Sony’s to see how even professional judges can be mislead over GAN imagery, with Eldagsen’s award-winning photo (Figure 10) being highlighted by the artist himself as being GAN created when refusing the prize.

A third talk was held in July with the RPS Digital Imaging, which was a more broad discussion with polling that asked about where do people draw the line and what impact if any Generative AI will have on photography. Much like the second talk, the third talk remains available for the general public to watch on the RPS’ Youtube. My main takeaway from this particular talk, was that as a bit of a purist when it comes to Adobe Software (I to this day use CS6, as I dislike the subscription based model of Creative Cloud) – I had become somewhat out of touch in how automated some people were when it came to editing, thinking little to nothing of using AI to aid with masking, facial retouching or generative fill to replace the sky.


Dawn Woolley #RebelSelves App


Due to needing PL Insurance for a pop-up exhibition of my work in Bedford, I joined AXIS and subsequently came across in one of their newsletters that Dawn Woolley was hosting an online workshop in July on her project Rebel Selves specifically an online application/website, a virtual rendition of an in-person selfie booth created by Woolley of the same name. Woolley states on her project specific instagram that Rebel Selves is a project that “… examines gender and other stereotypes in selfies and aims to use creative methods to queer selfies.” (Woolley, D. 2023)

Figure 11 Murray, J. & Woolley, D. #Rebelselves App (2023) Glitched Outputs

When it came to using the application (Figure 11), as someone who has become increasingly aware of how selfies can be abused for nefarious purposes such as deep fake porn, I wanted to see just how glitched and distorted I could go, that meant a semblance of myself (or my great-nan) remained within the photograph, but was equally far too distorted to be used in a nefarious manner.

It was interesting to hear Woolley’s perspectives on the topic of social media in relation to commodification specifically of the body within a restrictive boundary of societal expectations and gender ideals, as it is something I began to notice and recognise more after deep-diving into forums within the manosphere, that a lot of high-profile influencer types lean into accepted norms and stereotypes, a curated ideation that on reflection would not go that amiss in early 20th century marketing and advertorials.


Gender Norms


Figure 12 Anya, U. (2024) Twitter Post comparing marketing photos from the mid-century (left) against Tiktok influencer Nara Smith (right)

In fact in recent weeks this discourse has popped up on X (Twitter) in relation to TikTok creator Nara Smith (Figure 12), who is marketing her and her husband’s Mormon lifestyle, that appears to revolve around a lot of her videos being made in the kitchen in evening gowns. However Smith is far from alone in pushing the movement dubbed ‘tradwifes’, a term which surged in popularity around the outbreak of the pandemic and for some creators seems to link into far-right politics particularly those based in the States. This rise in content combined with the pre-existing biases within the newly developing and ever-changing world of AI, proves an interesting time for women as the ramifications of such stereotypical beliefs could set women’s right back a century, if left to brew unchecked.


Estampa


Figure 13 Estampa (2018) Cropped Still from Sherman/Fontcuberta

In October I caught The Photographers’ Gallery’s Screen Walks talk with Estampa (available here), a collective of programmers, artists and researchers that have been, since 2017, working with AI with a focus on neural networks and deep learning tools, starting with a series called ‘The Bad Pupil’. Subsequently they have amassed a significant body of work that focuses on the ideologies and uses of Artificial Intelligence technology.

A lot of their early work particularly those within ‘The Bad Pupil’ like Sherman/Fontcuberta use a ImageNet style generator to label or rather mislabel footage they run through it. In the case of Sherman/Fontcuberta, the two artist names pop up on faces and heads within a mid-century Chinese street video that clearly are neither Sherman nor Fontcuberta. Estampa are ultimately highlighting that Artificial Intelligence is a misnomer, as all AI is only as good as what they are trained upon – how large and diverse the dataset is in regards to it’s labelled classification as the computer can not actually see ‘visually’ like humans do.


Boris Eldagsen


Figure 14 Eldagsen, B. (2023) Psychoanalysis Gone Wrong

In November the RPS hosted a talk with Boris Eldagsen, the artist who won the Sony’s with The Electrician, a GAN image. In the talk he mentions realising that 1990s digitalisation has ultimately become the base, the foundations of 2020s AI boom, with the data of the former, now material for training data. This is an interesting perspective and not something I had considered as 1990s digitalisation movement and early internet happened when I was a child and for the most part I have taken for granted, as being accessible at a click of the button.

So why did Eldagsen enter the image The Electrician (Figure 10) into a photo contest despite the fact he considers promptography it’s own category? In the talk he mentioned that he realized in the Autumn of 2022 that many photo competitions had not changed guidelines or rules to take into account AI being more widely used despite the AI Spring of GAN text-to-image generators. As the talk, at this point in time, isn’t accessible to the wider public, I’ve provided a quote made by Eldagsen in an interview with Foster that isn’t dissimilar to what was stated in the RPS talk:

“AI image generators enable people without photographic training to produce photo-like images that they could never have made otherwise. Inevitably, competitions are going to be flooded with AI-generated images. In my view, these competitions should have already changed their rules before October. But they didn’t. That’s why I submitted my picture to three different competitions, to hack the system and see how far I could get. All three times I was among the finalists, and now I won…”

Eldagsen, B. [in] Foster, A.(2023)

Learning that a lot of these photo contests seemed to be woefully unprepared for the arrival of GAN images was quite a surprise, more still learning the fact that the organisations didn’t particularly twig despite Eldagsen being very transparent in the process of how he made The Electrician and the companion images, only bothering to take action after he turned down the prize in person. This knowledge has really made me question all the more the ethical stand point of AI, and where individuals or big internationally renowned companies view the line to be drawn.


2024



Ethics


The past few years have brought up a lot of topics surrounding AI & Ethics, from claims that Google’s LAMBDA is sentient (Johnson, K. 2022), outright discrimination by hiring bots (Dastin, J. 2018), to Taylor Swift (Yousif, N. 2024) becoming a victim of deep fake porn with the twist that the images were made by Dall-E. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these kind of issues with AI, keep cropping up like a whack-a-mole game on steroids, have made politicians and world leaders concerned about AI being left unchecked. This has lead to attempts at regulating AI via new specific laws, and the introduction in Autumn 2023, of the world’s first AI Safety summit. This summit lead to a declaration agreed by over 20 nations to work together to identify, evaluate and regulate the risks of using AI, but it remains to be seen if this declaration will last or change anything currently considered an issue.

Figure 15 Roser, M. & Giattino, C. (2023) Timeline of images generated by artificial intelligence

As one can observe from Figure 15 the developments of GAN images have improved in leaps and bounds since I was studying my MA, in a mere few years, with worries no longer being focused on the authenticity of a close-cropped headshot, but on photography and art as a whole. This has certainly become somewhat of an issue on Facebook in recent months with people being duped by img-to-img generated images, two big examples noticed have been ‘the dog sculptor’ and ‘my child drew this’ (Figure 16) as engagement-baits.

Figure 16 Koebler, J. (2023) Screenshots from Facebook

In the case of the dog sculptor, the sculpture was originally reality and appears to be sourced from a series of videos and photographs by chainsaw sculptor Michael Jones. Facebook isn’t the only host to have an issue with GAN images, Pinterest for example seems to have an issue with crochet, or more specifically amigurumi patterns that includes images that show the final item has been made using AI and not crocheted (Chapman, A. 2023).

Figure 17 Beau (2023) X Screenshot Ad

More concerning, is the rapid increase of ‘undressing’ apps (Figure 17), AI painter apps that claim to turn real life images into ‘works of art’ yet marketing something more akin to ‘undressing’ (Figure 18) and AI ‘companion’ apps (Figure 19) which have in recent months been allowed to advertise as promoted posts on X (Twitter), with visuals that are stereotypical pornified imagery of women that is designed for the male gaze to objectify.

Figure 18 Murray, J. (2023) Screenshots of Promoted tweets of an AI painter

However even without arguably questionable in-motive apps, nefarious users can circumvent round apps such as Microsoft Designer (the app responsible for the viral Swift images) and make explicit images or images of celebrities by changing the prompts with mis-spellings, and instead of writing explicit sexual acts describing instead objects, colours and compositions that are suggestive of sexual acts.

Figure 19 Murray, J. (2023) Screenshots of Promoted Tweets of AI Companion Apps

Other examples recreate 9/11 or jailbreak LLM models such as ChatGPT to be sexually suggestive or repeat itself to the point training data is leaked. The latest in the long line of leaks comes from a claim by ArsTechnica who have claimed that ChatGPT is leaking passwords from private conversations it has had with other users. It does make you wonder if the leak is not so much a leak as what Shumailov, I. et al (2023) theorised as model collapse.

Figure 20 Murray, J. (2024) Screenshots of the account responsible for Taylor Swift Images

In regards to Swiftgate I managed to do a bit of digging when the images first went viral and found out a user going by the handle @xCharlotteAI (Figure 20) appeared to be the origin source for NSFW AI Images. The X accounts for this user and their website have since been removed, but they still have a presence on Youtube, and on Instagram, the latter of which they appear to have two accounts, both marketing the content they were peddling on their website, which interestingly enough appeared to only charge in GBP. Given my previous research finding a link with a deep nude generator being designed and platformed by someone based in the UK, I have to wonder if the individual behind this account is one and same. Sadly one of the blue tick users who reposted the images has simply gone private and doesn’t appear to have faced any ramifications for sharing the deep fake nudes.

Another concern is Thiel’s research for Stanford’s Internet Observatory, which uncovered that some training data for the likes of Stable Diffusion like LAION-5B had thousands of images of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) due to the nature of how the data was obtained something he had previously highlighted as being an issue with generative ML models (unlike early AI which relied on ImageNet, which was trained by humans manually uploading training material, LAION-5B simply trawled and scraped the web meaning a fair amount of it’s training data was not obtained legally).

References

Figures

Figure 1 Zhu, J. et al (2016) Generative Visual Manipulation on the Natural Image Manifold. [Online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c4z6YsBGQ0 [Accessed 16/03/2022]

Figure 2 Brock, A. et al. (2016) Neural Photo Editing with Introspective Adversarial Networks. [Online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDELBFSeqQs [Accessed 18/03/2022]

Figure 3 Murray, J. & Pixray Genesis (2021) Prompt: Stairway to Heaven Outcomes 1 & 2

Figure 4 Murray, J. & Pixray Genesis (2021) Prompt: Migrant Mother

Figure 5 Murray, J. & Wombo Dream (2021) Prompts: Various

Figure 6 Murray, J. & DALL-E Mini (2022) Prompt: Jasmine

Figure 7 Murray, J. & Stable Diffusion 1.5 (2022) Prompt: A photo-realistic image of a woman with curly brown hair, blue eyes and glasses

Figure 8 Murray, J. & Midjourney (2022) Prompt: Feminist breaking free from societal shackles

Figure 9 Murray, J & DALL-E (2022) Prompts: Woman with a Camera

Figure 10 Eldagsen, B. (2023) The Electrician. [Online] Available from: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ai-generated-image-world-photography-organization-contest-artist-declines-award-1234664549/ [Accessed 28/01/2024]

Figure 11 Murray, J. & Woolley, D. #Rebelselves App (2023) Glitched Outputs

Figure 12 Anya, U. (2024) Twitter Post comparing marketing photos from the mid-century (left) against Tiktok influencer Nara Smith. [Online] Available from: https://twitter.com/UjuAnya/status/1749419531678720351 [Accessed 29/01/2024]

Figure 13 Estampa (2018) Sherman/Fontcuberta. [Online] Available from: https://tallerestampa.com/en/estampa/sherman-fontcuberta/ [Accessed 29/01/2024]

Figure 14 Eldagsen, B. (2023) Psychoanalysis Gone Wrong. [Online] Available from: https://www.eldagsen.com/pseudomnesia3/ [Accessed 29/01/2024]

Figure 15 Roser, M. & Giattino, C. (2023) Timeline of images generated by artificial intelligence. [Online] Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/brief-history-of-ai [Accessed 30/01/2024]

Figure 16 Koebler, J. (2023) Screenshots from Facebook. [Online] Available from: https://www.404media.co/facebook-is-being-overrun-with-stolen-ai-generated-images-that-people-think-are-real/ [Accessed 30/01/2024]

Figure 17 Beau (2023) X Screenshot Ad. [Online] Available from: https://twitter.com/beausecurity/status/1735424295638049035?s=20 [Accessed 30/01/2024]

Figure 18 Murray, J. (2023) Screenshots of Promoted tweets of an AI painter

Figure 19 Murray, J. (2023) Screenshots of Promoted Tweets of AI Companion Apps

Figure 20 Murray, J. (2024) Screenshots of the account responsible for Taylor Swift Images

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O’Brien, S. (2023) IEEE: AiArt: Why Some Artists Are Furious About AI-Produced Art. [Online] Available from: https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/artists-mad-at-ai [Accessed 04/01/2024]

Oremus, W. & Verma, P. (2023) The Washington Post: These look like prizewinning photos. They’re AI fakes. [Online] Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/23/stock-photos-ai-images-controversy/ [Accessed 28/01/2024]

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Post MA: An update on Artists, Python, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Figure 1 Pipeline Gallery’s Instagram (2021) Artist Talk: Jasmine Murray

I can’t quite believe it’s been nearly 6 months since my last post. A few months after my online residency with Transient, I did an artist talk with Pipeline Gallery’s Holly Richards, which is available to watch back on their website, alongside other fantastic artist talks. Some point next month (April 2022), one of my images from the series Transhumane: The Immortality of Self (2019) is set to be exhibited in Festival Pil’Ours, France, in an exhibition curated by Shutterhub called Your Body Belongs to You.

Figure 2 Pipeline Gallery (2022-) Listening to; Jasmine Murray

Last month I caught two virtual events, one organised by Natasha Caruana’s Work Show Grow Artist Talk Salon 9 which featured artists Anna-Tia Buss and Vera Hadzhiyska. The other was organised by Hundred Heroines in collaboration with Exposure 2022 an online talk called Women in STEAM which featured Falmouth Flexible’s Wendy McMurdo and Mónica Alcázar-Duarte. Both talks were incredibly interesting and informative, though Mónica Alcázar-Duarte’s practice in particular resonated with me, as it overlapped with my own research made during the MA on digital biases.


Anna-Tia Buss


Figure 3 Buss, A. (2018) I Never Realized exhibition

Buss’ series I Never Realised draws on the question of beauty ideals in society and the impact such ideals have on our identity and the broader notion of what it means to be a woman in the eyes of society and the lasting trauma such narrow ideal boundaries can cause to those subjected to it. Her work reminds me of the following passage from Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal which states: “In an era of technological intervention, shame attaches more to the body than its clothing; shame of wrinkles, shame of bumpy noses, and shame of sagging jowls, shame, in general of the imperfect and nonconforming body.” (Widdows, H. 2018; 33), albeit a visual rendition and representation. Her pairing of traditional studio portraiture with the more personal and intimate collaborative Polaroid print of her subject’s body and written testament of the area of the body they, the sitter, deems to be their ultimate flaw provokes the viewer of the work to reflect and think of just how restrictive humanity is on what beauty is. Whilst these narrow boundaries have always existed since time immemorial, I would argue that the rise of Web 2.0 – particularly social media has accelerated a global ideal as mentioned by Widdows in her book, but also brought about the notion of the unrealistic and artificial beauty only made possible through the lens of body modification apps and extreme cosmetic procedures.


Vera Hadzhiyska


Figure 4 Hadzhiyska, V. (2017-2019) With the Name of a Flower

Hadzhiyska’s practice is quite far removed from my own, however With the Name of a Flower (2017-2019) gave me a lot to think about on the notions of identity and belonging. Her series investigates and tackles a topic I was unfamiliar with – the forced name changes of those from the Bulgarian Muslim population during the era dubbed the ‘Revival Process’ between 1912-1989. Whilst I knew Bulgaria was at one point part of the Ottoman Empire, I had never really given thought to how this historical fact meant Bulgaria was and I suppose still is, a decidedly diverse culturally rich country. The story behind the images really tugged on my heartstrings and really made me reflect on just how much of your identity can be linked to a name, and how under an unjust society lack of freedom is ultimately a form of censorship.


Dr Wendy McMurdo


“All art is produced as a mirror to the technology of its time.”

McMurdo, W. (2011)
Figure 5 McMurdo, W. (2002) Anaesthetist John Bracken and Surgeon Marjorie Ritchie at The Roslin Institute

Despite being aware of Dr Wendy McMurdo’s work prior to the talk host by Hundred Heroines (in part because she was module leader of the Final Major Project module of my MA in Photography.) I wasn’t familiar with the fact she had documented the scientists who worked on the Dolly the Sheep project (Figure 5). Hearing McMurdo’s thoughts on photography was insightful and resonated with my own views on the future of photography, in that I see photography as a medium that now entwines with other art and tech practices to the point of indistinguishability of where photography itself begins or ends within an image. For example thinking on my own practice is the use of cinemagraphs truly photography or is it instead moving image, or is it both an uncanny hybrid between the moving and the still? McMurdo’s own practice depicts the rapid evolution of technology available to society and its impact on those growing up during these times.


Mónica Alcázar-Duarte


“How is the delegation of algorithmic filters capable of extracting the majority opinion, thus automatically becoming truth?”

Alcázar-Duarte, M. (2021)
Figure 6 Alcázar-Duarte, M. (2017-2020) Here to be caught.

Mónica Alcázar-Duarte’s practice, but particularly her series Second Nature revolves around the inherent pre-existing biases being fed into machine learning algorithms that further pre-existing discrimination and negative stereotypes faced by those who have historically been oppressed. Second Nature explicitly draws on Alcázar-Duarte’s own Mexican heritage and are an fusion of algorithmic search results on the Internet and testaments from women of the discrimination they face, which she collected during her travels in Mexico. During the talk Alcázar-Duarte showed some of her work in progress which I found very insightful, as she appears to have reached the same conclusion as I had during the duration of my MA – that GAN technology works on what is fed into the input and given most current GAN libraries rely on search engine results the outcome is inevitably biased, and tends to dehumanise women into the epitome of the male gaze (if going by deep-fake and deep-nude technology and what AI did when given a cropped photo of AOC).


Learning Python, Understanding AI & Machine Learning


Figure 7 Sketchplanations (2013-) Gif diagram of Boyd’s OODA Loop

During my MA I didn’t have time to explore in-depth how GAN worked in regards to coding, so since graduation I’ve been researching and learning Python and the fundamentals to AI and Machine Learning. Recently I attended a Code First Girls MOOC: An Introduction to Python which made me realise I had indirectly learnt a lot of the basics when experimenting in Ren’py last year (like knowing when to indent, when to print, and how to add a comment within the code). I did learn some helpful tips attending however in regards to formatted strings: instead of writing .format you can just use the letter f instead. This week I attended a tech talk hosted by Dr Joni Pelham at the Friendly Nettle Café on AI, which gave a fundamental overview of the various types of Machine Learning and that ultimately AI is not just Machine Learning, but all of Machine Learning is Artificial Intelligence. Whilst Boyd’s OODA loop was originally created as a military strategy, his theory works as a general predications loop and is a fundamental basis to all coding and programming, something which has been sped up and automated by the development of Machine Learning. However as I found during my MA, AI can only be as reliable as the data it is fed or has access to and in the case of GAN a lot could be improved as it is a method of supervised machine learning. Towards the end of my MA, I did find when researching that you could use Google Colab for some python applications but wasn’t sure whether it would be powerful enough to host any kind of GAN so was pleasantly surprised to find out it should work for a simplistic GAN.

References

Figures

Figure 1 Pipeline Gallery’s Instagram (2021) Artist Talk: Jasmine Murray. [Online] Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXIkTwEopXJ/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Figure 2 Pipeline Gallery (2022) Listening to; Jasmine Murray. [Online] Available from: https://www.pipelinegallery.org/post/listening-to-jasmine-murray [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Figure 3 Buss, A. (2018-) I Never Realized exhibition. [Online] Available from: https://www.flare-photoforum.com/post/183608095060/prix-photoforum-2018-part-2 [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Figure 4 Hadzhiyska, V. (2017-2019) With the Name of a Flower. [Online] Available from: https://museemagazine.com/culture/2021/1/18/photo-journal-monday-vera-hadzhiyska [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Figure 5 McMurdo, W. (2002) Anaesthetist John Bracken and Surgeon Marjorie Ritchie at The Roslin Institute. [Online] Available from: https://hundredheroines.org/brief-news/wendy-mcmurdo-ig-take-over/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Figure 6 Alcázar-Duarte, M. (2017-2020) Here to be caught (from the series Second Nature). [Online] Available from: https://www.1854.photography/2021/05/monica-alcazar-duarte/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Figure 7 Sketchplanations (2013-) Gif diagram of Boyd’s OODA Loop. [Online] Available from: https://sketchplanations.com/ooda-loop [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Bibliography

Alcázar-Duarte, M. [in] Vora, B. (2021) British Journal of Photography: Mónica Alcázar-Duarte explores the dangers hidden behind the algorithm. [Online] Available from: https://www.1854.photography/2021/05/monica-alcazar-duarte/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Buss, A. (2022-) [Online] Available from: https://www.annatiabuss.com/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Buss, A. [in] International Photography Magazine (2018) Anna-Tia Buss: I Never Realized. [Online] Available from: http://internationalphotomag.com/anna-tia-buss-i-never-realized/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Code First Girls (2021-) MOOC [Online] Available from: https://codefirstgirls.com/ and https://codefirstgirls.com/courses/moocs/ [Accessed 11/03/2022]

Hadzhiyska, V. (2022-) [Online] Available from: https://www.verahadzhiyska.com/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Hao, K. (2021) MIT Technology Review: An AI saw a cropped photo of AOC. It autocompleted her wearing a bikini. [Online] Available from: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/01/29/1017065/ai-image-generation-is-racist-sexist/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Hundred Heroines (26th February 2022) Women in STEAM Artist Talk: Mónica Alcázar-Duarte & Wendy McMurdo. [Online] Available from: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-steam-photography-talk-tickets-243629260677?keep_tld=1# and https://hundredheroines.org/event/women-in-steam-photography-talk-with-monica-alcazar-duarte-wendy-mcmurdo/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

McMurdo, W. (2022-) [Online] https://wendymcmurdo.com/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

McMurdo, W. [with] Boothroyd, S. (2011) PhotoParley: Wendy McMurdo Interview. [Online] Available from: https://photoparley.wordpress.com/tag/future/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Pelham, J. (2022-) LinkedIn Events: What is AI & How do I have a go? [Online] Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/events/whatisai-howdoihaveago6904522087541616640/ [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Pipeline Gallery (2021-) Pipeline Gallery: Listening to; Jasmine Murray. [Online] Available from: https://www.pipelinegallery.org/post/listening-to-jasmine-murray or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgd6KB6pXjA [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Transient (2020-) Residency Archives: September. [Online] Available from: https://www.transienttt.co.uk/2021/september [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Widdows, H. (2018) Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal. pg 33. Oxfordshire; Princeton University Press.

Work Show Grow (23rd February 2022) Artist Talk Salon 09: Anna-Tia Buss & Vera Hadzhiyska. [Online] Available from: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/work-show-grow-artist-talk-salon-09-tickets-261294397577?keep_tld=1# [Accessed 10/03/2022]

Post MA Musings

Can’t quite believe it’s been well over a month since I completed my MA in Photography. So what have I been up to since? The past week (20th-24th September 2021) I took part in an online residency programme via Instagram called Transient (founded by artist Lydia Griffiths), which seeks to support “…creatives who explore the relationship between Art & Technology.” (Transient, 2020-). I also made the online Shutterhub Yearbook 2021, with an image from The Mirror Hack’d (2020).

Figure 1 t.ransienttt (2021) Residency introduction

I’ve yet to produce any new work, though my research has persisted since my completion, especially on the topic of AI and deep fakes. Earlier in the month the MIT Technology Review published a piece, yet again (and unsurprisingly) on how simplistic click button deep fake generators seem to focus on the genre of deep fake pornography. Unlike the website I commented on at the beginning of my Final Major Project (my blog strangely went viral this August, around the time a Huffington Post article was published which reads remarkably similar to my blog post back in January and even mentions the now deleted medium post I found).

Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) I wondered at the time why I was receiving so many hits from the start of August for that post, but now it makes sense

The technology Hao comments about in the MIT Technology Review appears to go one step further, in that it takes the face of the victim and swaps them into pre-filmed pornographic content. From trawling the deep fake forums it appears Hao was referencing to a site known as YAPTY, which appeared to function similarly to reface, but appeared to have focused on using adult content, though this has since been disabled.

Figure 3 Murray, J. (2019) original image from Unsocial Media_ processed through deepnude.gg

So what about deepsukebe? Well since all the mainstream journalists finally noticed it’s existence some 8 months on, it appears that to deep nude you now have to pay with free options on both their original site deepsukebe and sister site deepnude.gg (Figure 4) only offering blurred outcomes. Is it a success in limiting deep nudes? Well not really, paying members can still breach the ethical and moral grounds of AI generated technology and as one giant falls, often another quickly takes it’s place, as seen from the demise of the original deepnude site and the rise of deepsukebe earlier this year. I find it interesting that the sister site informs the user (Figure 4) what images work best, and compares its output to the original deepnude website, as this information matches the majority of the information I found on the now defunct medium article written by Nolan, a personwhodoesnotexist.

Figure 4 Deepnude.gg (2021)

On the deep fake forums I have been trawling I spotted under the 18+ sub-forum, a developer ‘kolessios’, in August mentioning they have also launched a ‘service’ called SukebeZone+ using the same AI dataset, which is interesting in itself that this development appears to have occurred after the mainstream news outlets had finally come across the site I reported on back in January. It almost seems to be the deep fake equivalent to the 00s Pirate Bay saga, in that much like deepsukebe originally, it takes standard card payments, not just cryptocurrencies.

Figure 5 Screenshot of mrdeepfakes forum (2021)

So who is ‘kolessios’? He appears to also go by the handle deep-man-yy as well as under the name of Iván Bravo Bravo, claiming to be based in Mexico, and seems to be behind several deep nude websites alongside an individual only know as deeppppp. It appears the duo originally created an application called PepeNude (presumably a reference to Pepe the frog meme) which claims to be “…an application that allows you to use the power of your CPU or GPU to transform photos of people and get free entertainment.” (PepeNude 2019)

Intriguingly a 4th August BBC article that discusses the MP Maria Miller wanting this tech banned, appears to have made contact with Bravo who suggests he is aware of the ethical and moral implications of his work, yet justifies the presence of his tech escapades by saying “However, we don’t live in a perfect world and people have always been looking for ways to do this, so it was only a matter of time before such a technology came into existence.” (Bravo, I. [in] Wakefield, J. 2021)

Figure 6 Screenshots of OpenDreamNets links (2021)

At some point in the past year or so, they rebranded to DreamTime (possibly linked to the fact PepeNude got banned from Twitter) and instead of posting under the handles of deeppppp and deep-man-yy, they appear to post under the branding of OpenDreamNet, which markets itself as offering “Decentralized applications to combat censorship” (OpenDreamNet, 2021). Much like the antics of Pirate Bay, in this time they have had at least two websites and several sub-websites that offer deepnuding, some of which like xxxpaint they pretend to not have personal dealings with on the main pages accessible on their site. Yet in hidden pages found via a search engine they admit to being responsible for it and claim that development is on hold indefinitely due to ‘moral conflicts’.

Figure 7 Screenshots of DreamTimeTech & OpenDreamNet website (2021)

Interestingly this hasn’t stopped them for continuing developments on other projects including teaming up with deepsukebe, or advising their users to not share any photos generated with their technology. They claim this is because they are against it being used to carry out malicious acts or harm, but I question if that is the true reasoning or whether they merely want to stay under the radar as long as they can. Whilst most of the mainstream media haven’t been able to contact the founders of deepsukebe or find out who they are, none of the deepnuding websites outright state who they owned by on the whois registries, however I did manage to find out who the registrar’s are (Figure 8). Deepsukebe for example appears to be under the registrar TLD Registrar Solutions an organisation based in the UK.

Figure 8 Screenshots of Who.is data (2021)

References

Figures

Figure 1 t.ransienttt (2021) Residency introduction. [Online] Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUCf59Po_L0/ [Accessed 25/09/2021]

Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) I wondered at the time why I was receiving so many hits from the start of August for that post, but now it makes sense

Figure 3 Murray, J. (2019) original image from Unsocial Media_ processed through deepnude.gg

Figure 4 Deepnude.gg (2021)

Figure 5 Screenshot of mrdeepfakes forum (2021)

Figure 6 Screenshots of OpenDreamNets links (2021)

Figure 7 Screenshots of DreamTimeTech & OpenDreamNet website (2021)

Figure 8 Screenshots of Who.is data (2021)

Bibliography

Bravo, I. [in] Wakefield, J. (2021) BBC News: MP Maria Miller wants AI ‘nudifying’ tool banned. [Online] Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57996910 [Accessed 26/09/2021]

Cook, J. (2021) The Huffington Post: A Powerful New Deepfake Tool Has Digitally Undressed Thousands Of Women. [Online] Available from: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/deepfake-tool-nudify-women_us_6112d765e4b005ed49053822?ri18n=true [Accessed 24/09/2021]

Hao, K. (2021) MIT Technology Review: A horrifying new AI app swaps women into porn videos with a click. [Online] Available from: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/13/1035449/ai-deepfake-app-face-swaps-women-into-porn/ [Accessed 23/09/2021]

Murray, J. (2021) PHO 705: Week 1 Research: AI, Deep Fakes & Censorship. [Online] Available from: https://jasmphotography.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/week-1-research-ai-deep-fakes-and-censorship/ [Accessed 24/09/2021]

Pepenude (2019-) [Online] Available from: https://notabug.org/deeppppp/pepenude [Accessed 25/09/2021]

A Reflection

Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Digital Prison

It feels incredibly strange to think that by the end of this week, I’ll have finished my MA. It doesn’t feel like 10 minutes ago it was 2019 and I was just starting the course, probably not helped by the fact COVID-19 hit and any notion of meet ups, events, went down the pan. Would the direction I subsequently ended up going in, necessarily have been the one I would have taken had the pandemic happened? It’s hard to say, though COVID-19 certainly impacted my practice, in that I could no longer rely on finding props for my shoots and know they would arrive within the time frame needed something I would never had thought would become an issue.

This last module has been pretty isolating, yet busy in the same breath. So what have I learnt? Well for one thing, to have courage and confidence to try for opportunities such as open calls, and contacting those you admire for feedback is less nerve-wracking than first thought. It’s certainly a learning experience, but a positive one. I am also pleased at the outcome I have produced for Heretic for submission, in that I feel it has a strong focus and voice, as well as cementing the location of my practice. What’s next? I intend to keep expanding my bodies of work, and applying for open calls and residencies, as well as persisting in seeking out portfolio review opportunities.

References

Figures

Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Digital Prison

Research: In the News, Locating my Practice

“…the best way to deal with those who get ideas above their station is to silence them. And to do so violently. When we see rape and death threats bandied across social media in such extraordinarily high numbers, when we watch and take note as social media companies actively refuse to suspend accounts of those who send the threats, we receive the message that this behaviour, this discourse, is acceptable.”

Bates, L. (2020; 164)
Figure 1 Wack, P. (2019) February 2019. Hotan, Xinjiang province. Locals wait in line for ID check and body searches before entering the local bazaar

This past couple of weeks has proved interesting in regards to censorship, surveillance and social media, with the case of Patrick Wack and Kodak deleting Wack’s images of the change in Xinjiang over a spate of five years, from their Instagram account, after receiving ‘backlash’ from Chinese netizens. Ironically the backlash for deleting, effectively censoring Wack’s images has been equally bad that Kodak have had to turn off comments on their current Instagram posts. This tension between what can and can not be shared online, is something I seek to make people reflect on with Heretic – how pre-existing historical power hierarchies ultimately control the online as much, if not more than they do in the offline realm. The CCP’s censorship once confined to the ‘Chinternet‘ less than a decade ago, now breaches it’s own firewall demanding the wider web to capitulate to the demands of a fixed narrative, their ‘official authorised’ narrative. To deviate from the prescribed supported narrative even if it means to be simply factual is to be considered a political activist movement. Wack aptly summarises this stance:

“In my book, I have essays by a few journalists and academics, but none from activists. To make a political book about this, you don’t need to be an activist. Explaining the facts is enough. Telling the truth is enough. It’s a political object because everything with China is political. For example, by saying that the CCP has to honor the One Country Two Systems policy in Hong Kong, you’re saying something political. But it’s just the truth.”

Wack, P. [in] Weiss, B. (2021)

Although Orwellian dystopia, is a overused term when it comes to the context of talking about the internet, it’s hard to think of what has happened to Wack for simply sharing the change in Xinjiang as anything else. On the opposite side of the scale on internet surveillance and censorship, we have the case of the Plymouth shooter, a story which began to unveil as I was writing the early half of this post.

The fact the individual in question has, as per news reports been able to access and publish extremist content on the topic of hatred of women with no repercussions, aligns with my own observations made in late 2020 when I was working on The Mirror Hack’d, when I was exploring social media (primarily twitter) for misogynistic content to respond to and finding some explicitly graphic content had been up on the site for some years despite purportedly being against the terms and conditions of the site in question. These observations were the springboard foundation for the idea of Heretic in that I began this module questioning why such inequality persisted despite claims that things have improved for us women.

Figure 2 Najafizada, L. / Tolo News (2021) Man appeared to be whitewashing bridal adverts

When I have spoken to friends in the past on the topic of the manosphere and incels, most my age have laughed it off as solely online banter by some ‘sad basement dweller’ despite previous terror attacks in other countries occurring that had explicit links to the manosphere or incel culture. I think this lack of interest in taking such comments on the web seriously, vastly overlooks history and how in the past similar ideologies that dehumanise women have spurned witch-hunts and even in some parts of the world today facing killings, beatings and stonings for failing to keep to strict rules. One only has to look at the images coming out from Afghanistan at the minute to see just how easy it is to strip freedom from a section of society and effectively censor their voices and visual identities, with Figure 2 being but the most literal visual outcome for what is currently going on for the women ending up under the rule of the Taliban again.

References

Figures

Figure 1 Wack, P. (2019) February 2019. Hotan, Xinjiang province. Locals wait in line for ID check and body searches before entering the local bazaar. [Online] Available from: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/bearing-witness-to-chinas-orwellian [Accessed 04/08/2021]

Figure 2 Najafizada, L. / Tolo News (2021) Man appeared to be whitewashing bridal adverts. [Online] Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/afghanistan-taliban-women-rights-adverts-b1902922.html [Accessed 16/08/2021]

Bibliography

Addario, L. (2021) The Atlantic: The Taliban’s Return Is Catastrophic for Women. [Online] Available from: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/08/the-talibans-return-is-awful-for-women-in-afghanistan/619765/ [Accessed 16/08/2021]

Bates, L. (2020) Men Who Hate Women. pg 164. London; Simon & Schuster UK.

Das, S.; Charters, C. & Al-Othman, H. (2021) The Times: Plymouth shooting: thousands of boys drawn to ‘incel’ sites urging them to kill women. [Online] Available from: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/plymouth-shooting-incel-groups-radicalising-boys-as-young-as-13-8jzffqzn0 [Accessed 15/08/2021]

Giordano, C. (2021) The Independent: Ads depicting women ‘painted over’ after Taliban enters Kabul. [Online] Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/afghanistan-taliban-women-rights-adverts-b1902922.html [Accessed 16/08/2021]

Kwan, R. (2021) Hong Kong Free Press: Interview: Photographer Patrick Wack on the Kodak row, and documenting Xinjiang as night falls on its culture. [Online] Available from: https://hongkongfp.com/2021/08/01/interview-photographer-patrick-wack-on-the-kodak-row-and-documenting-xinjiang-as-night-falls-on-its-culture/ [Accessed 05/08/2021]

Murray, J. (2021) PHO705. Research: Complicit & Surveillance Censorship. [Online] Available from: https://jasmphotography.wordpress.com/2021/03/26/research-complicit-and-surveillance-censorship/ [Accessed 08/08/2021]

Solon, O. (2021) NBC News: ‘I will not be silenced’: Women targeted in hack-and-leak attacks speak out about spyware. [Online] Available from: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/i-will-not-be-silenced-women-targeted-hack-leak-attacks-n1275540 [Accessed 12/08/2021]

Townsend, M. (2021) The Guardian: Plymouth gunman ranted online that ‘women are arrogant’ days before rampage. [Online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/14/plymouth-gunman-ranted-online-that-women-are-arrogant-days-before-rampage [Accessed 14/08/2021]

Wack, P. [with] André Frère Éditions(2021) Dust. [Online] Available from: https://www.andrefrereditions.com/en/subscriptions/dust-patrick-wack/ [Accessed 04/08/2021]

Weiss, B. (2021) Bearing Witness to China’s ‘Orwellian Dystopia’. [Online] Available from: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/bearing-witness-to-chinas-orwellian [Accessed 31/07/2021]

Project Development: Potential Outputs III

Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Exhibition Mockup Perspective 2 Using ArtSpaces.

Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic continues finding a gallery space that is suitable and available, within current covid regulations has yet to be possible, to date I have not been able to find a suitable opportunity to exhibit my work in physical form, as a second method of publication, this year. As I have yet to finalise a location and booking slot, I’ve instead made mock-ups of how I might exhibit in a physical space.

As a physical exhibition hasn’t been possible (yet), I’ve instead created several potential mock-ups, of how I might exhibit in a physical space (one of which is viewable in my previous post Project Development: Potential Outputs II ) Figure 1 is my second mock-up and a perspective which could be one of the branches from the original post’s image or an option I could consider with a smaller exhibition space in that the big screen could rotate and flicker thorough the various different animations on a loop, whilst the table would host a series of flipbooks and digital books constructed through use of LCD screens or recycled tablets. As I have mentioned previously including flipbooks in a physical exhibition would mean visitors could take home a memento of the experience to peruse at their own time.

Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Web Presence Layout for ‘Heretic’

My primary method of display for Heretic is via a webpage allowed scale and display methods to have variety, as size would be dependent on viewer’s devices, focusing on the temporality of online imagery and following the standard social media approach of a long scrolling stream of images, in contrast to modern social media the images are not directly below one another, making the viewer hunt for the image and mirrors early net aesthetics. Having tested my website on a variety of screens I realised my own monitor was not of usual ratio, with less than a 4% share globally as a size (1600×900), so I ended up borrowing a relatives screen to make sure that for the majority of web users (1920×1080 at 20.52% for desktop and at 8.37% overall) would not encounter a webpage with a large amount of black space. I also checked other artists who use the same web hosting, and noted that they too went with 1920×1080 ratio (e.g. Molly Soda).


Open Calls, Residencies and Opportunities


Over the last few weeks I’ve been applying to various open calls from online residencies, Instagram takeovers, interviews, talks, virtual exhibitions and physical exhibitions that I thought resonated with my practice or were on the lookout for recent graduates. Most I am unlikely to hear back from until the 20th or later so it’s unclear currently whether or not I will be successful in any of the applications I have made, though I have tentatively added my applications into my FMP to show what is going on in the background for the possible near future. One of the applications made me re-think how I might potentially display my work under tight limitations. The proposed space is 6ft by 6ft, with no option of wall or ceiling hanging so anything proposed had to be freestanding.

Figure 3 Murray, J. (2021) Application Flat and 3D Plans using FloorPlanner.

Due to these limitations I tweaked my original concept quite significantly to work within the space limitations, which made me reconsider how to display my work in a physical space with no power, and how I might get viewers to interact with my work and reflect on the messages I am trying to convey within this space. As I am ultimately making a comment on censorship particularly of women in today’s society I thought one way to get the viewer to interact personally would be to have a clothes rack or backdrop stand with prints hanging from clips and a table with a selection of prints (Figure 3) so that the viewer interacting could construct their own narrative on what they feel heretic means to them. Obviously their would be some limitations given covid, in that to interact visitors would need to sanitize their hands before and after handling any prints or objects within the space.


Infinite Mix


Figure 4 Infinite Mix x Hayward Gallery (2016) Installation Shot

In my last supervision meeting with Laura on the 27th July, she mentioned I might find The Infinite Mix exhibition (2016) as a potential influence for how I might enact a physical representation. Like my mockups most of the install shots show the installation screen filling the wall leading the viewer into the image or video being projected, in fairly dark surroundings, the only illumination being the projection (Figure 4).

References

Figures

Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Exhibition Mockup Perspective 2 Using ArtSpaces.

Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Web Presence Layout for ‘Heretic’. [Online] Available from: https://jasm.hotglue.me/ [Accessed 02/08/2021]

Figure 3 Murray, J. (2021) Application Flat and 3D Plans using FloorPlanner. [Online] Available from: https://www.floorplanner.com [Accessed 13/08/2021]

Figure 4 Infinite Mix x Hayward Gallery (2016) Installation Shot. [Online] Available from: https://theinfinitemix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2016/08/The-Infinite-Mix-Hayward-Gallery-x-The-Vinyl-Factory-Michael-Wilkin-Photography20_0001_The-Infinite-Mix-Hayward-Galle.jpg [Accessed 08/08/2021]

Bibliography

Infinite Mix (2016-) [Online] Available from: https://theinfinitemix.com/ [Accessed 06/08/2021]

Soda, M. (2021-) [Online] Available from: mollysoda.exposed [Accessed 05/08/2021]

Statcounter (1999-) Screen Resolution Stats Worldwide. [Online] Available from: https://gs.statcounter.com/screen-resolution-stats [Accessed 02/08/2020]

Statcounter (1999-) Desktop Screen Resolution Stats Worldwide. [Online] Available from: https://gs.statcounter.com/screen-resolution-stats/desktop/worldwide [Accessed 04/08/2021]

Statcounter (1999-) Desktop Screen Resolution Stats United Kingdom. [Online] Available from: https://gs.statcounter.com/screen-resolution-stats/desktop/united-kingdom [Accessed 03/08/2021]

PHO 705: Critical Review of Practice

References


Figures
Figure 0 Murray, J. (2021) The Glass Sealing
Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Eye C U
Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Severed Connection
Figure 3 Murray, J. (2021) Digital Prison
Figure 4 Val, C. (2011-2013) from the series ‘Feminist’. [Online] Available from: http://www.catrineval.com/proj/feminist/ [Accessed 14/07/2021]
Figure 5 Schrager, L. (2017) from the series ‘PS’. [Online] Available from: https://leahschrager.com/portfolio/ps/ [Accessed 10/07/2021]
Figure 6 Stenram, E. (2013) Part 6. [Online] Available from: https://www.evastenram.net/pages/mumpart.htm [Accessed 10/07/2021]
Figure 7 Minter, M. (2015) XOXO. [Online] Available from: http://www.marilynminter.net/photo/xoxo/ [Accessed 22/07/2021]
Figure 8 Murray, J. (2021) Set Building (Fence)
Figure 9 Murray, J. (2021) Fence Set
Figure 10 Murray, J. (2021) Historical Censorship. [Online] Available from: https://jasmphotography.wordpress.com/2021/07/06/project-development-heretic-2/ [Accessed 15/07/2021]
Figure 11 Murray, J. (2021) Janet Leigh & Censored Tony Curtis from 1959/1960 Film Show Annual (Original photographer unknown)
Figure 12 Murray, J. (2021) Screenshot of Heretic’s Website v1.0
Figure 13 Murray, J. (2021) Flipbook experiment. [Online Animated Version] Available from: https://jasmphotography.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/flipbookexperiment2.gif [Accessed 16/07/2021]
Figure 14 Murray, J. (2021) Faux Book Prototype. [Online Animated Version] Available from: https://jasmphotography.wordpress.com/2021/07/07/research-project-development-feedback-and-potential-outputs/ [Accessed 16/07/2021]
Figure 15 Carter, R. & Carter, N. (2009-2012) Transforming Still Life Painting. [Online] Available from: http://www.robandnick.com/rn882-transforming-still-life-painting [Accessed 08/07/2021]
Figure 16 Murray, J. (2021) Exhibition Mock Up Using ArtSteps.
Figure 17 Murray, J. (2021) Ren’py Development

Bibliography
Assange, J. et al. (2012) Cypherpunks: Freedom & the Future of the Internet. pg 1. O/R Books.
Banisar, D. (2000) The Privacy Issue: View from the US. ‘Big browser is watching you’. Index on Censorship, Volume 29 No 3, May/June 2000 Issue 194. pg 53. UK; Thanet Press.
Bartlett, J. (2018) The People Vs Tech. How the internet is killing democracy (and how we save it) pg 20. UK; Ebury Publishing.
Bezos, J. (1998) C-Span Video Library: Bezos in 1998 at Lake Forest College. [Online] Available from: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4461513/jeff-bezos [Accessed 14/07/2021]
Burke, D. (2000) The Privacy Issue: Interactive TV. ‘The spy in the corner’. Index on Censorship, Volume 29 No 3, May/June 2000 Issue 194. pg 67. UK; Thanet Press.
Burton, C. (2017) GQ: Rob and Nick Carter: The art of innovation. [Online] Available from: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/rob-and-nick-carter [Accessed 08/07/2021]
Chan, L. M. (1972) The Burning of the Books in China, 213 B.C. The Journal of Library History (1966-1972),7(2), 101-108. [Online] Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25540352 [Accessed 18/07/2021]
Cotton, C. & Hoogwaerts, R. (2016) Mossless 4: Public/Private/Portrait. Introduction. pg 6-7. Winnipeg; Prolific Group.
Crawford, K. & Paglen, T. (2019) “Excavating AI: The Politics of Training Sets for Machine Learning. [Online] Available from: https://excavating.ai [Accessed 30/06/2021]
Dworkin, A. (1994) “Against the Male Flood. Censorship, Pornography, and Equality.” pg 20. [in] Letters for a War Zone. (Secker, M. & Warburg, 1997). [Online] Available from: http://pzacad.pitzer.edu/~mma/teaching/MS110/reading/feminism&pornography_pp19-38_94-120.pdf [Accessed 15/04/2021]
Frary, M. (2020) “Nothing in life is free.” Complicity: Why and when we choose to censor ourselves and give away our privacy. Index on Censorship, Volume 49 No 1, Spring 2020. pg 31. Norwich; SAGE Publishing.
Freud, S. (1919) Uncanny. [Online] Available from: https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/freud1.pdf and http://courses.washington.edu/freudlit/Uncanny.Notes.html [Accessed 04/07/2021]
Jacobsen, C. (1991) “Redefining Censorship: A Feminist View.” Art Journal, Winter, 1991, Vol 50, No.4, Censorship II. pg 42. CAA. [Online] Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/777322 [Accessed 16/04/2021]
Jane, E.A. (2016) Misogyny Online: A Short (and Brutish) History. pg 44. UK; Sage Swifts.
Jentsch, E. (1906) On the Psychology of the Uncanny. [Online] Available from: http://www.art3idea.psu.edu/locus/Jentsch_uncanny.pdf [Accessed 04/07/2021]
Jolley, R. (2020) Complicity: Why and when we choose to censor ourselves and give away our privacy. Index on Censorship, Volume 49 No 1, Spring 2020. pg 1. Norwich; SAGE Publishing.
Jurgenson, N. (2019) The Social Photo: On Photography and Social Media, pg 87. London; Verso.
Kholeif, O. (2021) Art in the Age of Anxiety, pg 36. United Kingdom; MIT Press.
Looser, C.E. & Wheatley, T. (2010) Psychological Science 2010 21: 1854. “The Tipping Point of Animacy: How, When, and Where We Perceive Life in a Face.” [Online] Available from: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/12/1854 [Accessed 06/07/2021]
McFarlane, J. (1990) Index on Censorship: Women and censorship: Introduction. [Online] Available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064229008534940 [Accessed 20/03/2021]
MdbK (2020) Link in Bio: Art After Social Media. Germany; Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg.
Minter, M. [in] Frank, P. (2015-2017) Huffington Post: 15 Feminist Artists Respond To The Censorship Of Women’s Bodies Online. [Online] Available from: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/artists-respond-female-body-censorship-online_n_7042926?ri18n=true [Accessed 24/07/2021]
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Ravetto-Biagioli, K. (2019) Digital Uncanny. pg 57. New York; Oxford University Press.
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Smith, M. (2013) The erotic doll: a modern fetish. New Haven & London; Yale University Press.
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Wilson, E. (2000) Women who Censor: Overview. Index on Censorship, Volume 29 No 2, March/April 2000 Issue 193. pg 43-44. UK; Thanet Press.
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Project Development: Potential Outputs II

Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Flipbook Experiment 2

After my Flipbook experiment failure, featured in July 7th’s post, I decided I would try the process again, but with one of my images which depicts more obvious movement. The outcome (Figure 1) was significantly far more successful than the last attempt in that movement and motion is detected between each flick of the page far more noticably to the human eye. The main difference between this outcome and last time’s attempt is that I used less frames per loop and repeated the loop more than once to highlight a fast paced change as you might view if viewing the image digitally. The tactile and interactive nature, I feel is a good method of being my images into the physical realm, in an accessible way. As this experiment has been successful I plan to making more mock-ups of my other images, in the hopes this one method I could make my work accessible to being taken home by viewers going to a physical exhibition, to explore at their own leisure, no internet or power supply required.

Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Potential Exhibition Setup (Mock up made using ArtSteps)

I’ve also been considering how I might place my work into the physical or digital realm in the form of an exhibition, producing a mockup in ArtSteps (Figure 2). My current intentions are to have several large display screens spaced out throughout the space so the viewers, have to physically move and in some instances hunt for the images in question, as well as smaller screens peppered in between. Obviously this intention could be problematic in the event a venue is smaller in scale, so a potential solution could be to have the images flickering and swapping amongst the screens effectively making a venue a ephemeral maze of transience and disorientating change, in the hopes to create longer engagement and time to reflect and think critically on what they are seeing (bearing in mind that current research suggests viewers spend on average 15 seconds looking at a piece of art – Leow, M. 2021).

Figure 3 Harris, R. (2021) Installation views of ‘Masterpieces in Miniature: The 2021 Model Art Gallery’ at Pallant House Gallery.

Another idea I’ve been considering is to make a small scale miniature version, that is not just a mock up, but also could be an installation piece in it’s own right, a good example of this concept is an exhibition currently going on at Pallant House Gallery called Masterpieces in Miniature: The 2021 Model Art Gallery which features a selection of high-profile British artist’s works in a miniature dolls house come white cube art gallery space, which would arguably tie back to the notion of the Uncanny, how I manipulate scale and the use of dolls in my work. As Riley writes in the Hundred Heroines piece the choice of using a model gallery makes the work within to be amplified “…as viewers lean in, peer more closely, and enter into an awareness of the finer details.” (Riley, K. 2021) this I feel would suit my current series as a lot of the movement is subtle, meaning the finer details really are minute and something you would have to focus on. However with less than a month left, I don’t think making a physical version would be possible to a standard I would be happy with, so this is something I plan to explore post-MA.

References

Figures

Figure 1 Murray, J. (2021) Flipbook Experiment 2

Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Potential Exhibition Setup (Mock up made using ArtSteps)

Figure 3 Harris, R. (2021) Installation views of ‘Masterpieces in Miniature: The 2021 Model Art Gallery’ at Pallant House Gallery. [Online] Available from: https://hundredheroines.org/exhibition/influential-british-women-photographers-join-the-tiniest-museum/ [Accessed 30/07/2021]

Bibliography

Leow, M. (2021) Design Taxi: Italy Recruits AI Museum Cameras To Judge ‘Attractiveness’ Of Art. [Online] Available from: https://designtaxi.com/news/414917/Italy-Recruits-AI-Museum-Cameras-To-Judge-Attractiveness-Of-Art/ [Accessed 29/07/2021]

Murray, J. (2021) PHO 705: Research & Project Development: Feedback & Potential Outputs [Online] Available from: https://jasmphotography.wordpress.com/2021/07/07/research-project-development-feedback-and-potential-outputs/ [Accessed 29/07/2021]

Riley, K. (2021) Hundred Heroines: Influential British Women Photographers Join The Tiniest Museum. [Online] Available from: https://hundredheroines.org/exhibition/influential-british-women-photographers-join-the-tiniest-museum/ [Accessed 30/07/2021]

Week 21: 1-2-1 Supervision Log

Date of Supervision Meeting27/07/2021
Start time of Meeting12:30
Length of Meeting in minutes28 minutes
Meeting Notes & Action PointsDiscussed WIP, how the sequencing now makes a full circular narrative and how I might display for best impact and experience for my viewers, in the various formats I’m considering for display. It was mentioned I might find looking at The Infinite Mix exhibition as a potential influence for how I might enact a physical representation. Also discussed, portfolio reviews and critical feedback.
Date of Next Proposed MeetingN/A

Research: The modern panopticon

“Even repression is integrated as a sign in this universe of simulation. Repression become
deterrence is nothing but an extra sign in the universe of persuasion. The circuits of
surveillance cameras are themselves part of the decor of simulacra.”

Baudrillard, J. (1995; 52)

The last few weeks I’ve been reading Bartlett’s The People Vs Tech, a book which in one chapter looks at the online world and social media as playing a part in fostering the notion of tribalism that drives a modern panopticon, a ‘participatory panopticon’ where everyone is both watching and being watched, constantly surveilled, ultimately leading to self-censorship. He argues that this the rise of automation, AI and the algorithmic online modern public space that is becoming increasingly authoritarian in it’s policing is eroding the notion of modern democracy and capitalism as we know it.

Bartlett isn’t the first in critiquing social media and it’s mask of ‘innocence’ in the role it plays in (self) censorship and participation, with the likes of Morozov’s The Net Delusion (2011) some years prior, although Morozov’s commentary was more on the rising levels of cyber-utopianism and authoritarianism regimes cracking down on western websites and social media. One thing I have noticed and others have noted is that the majority of books written under this genre are written by men, in a Guardian review in 2018 on The People Vs Tech Bell leaves on a decidely scathing note as to why she thinks books within this genre are written by ‘white men’ suggesting that women and minorities have never truly enjoyed “…the full advantages of a free press, functioning democracies and elite positions in society, the ongoing oppression of an out-of-control technocracy seems less of a surprise.” (Bell, E. 2018)

This ties to Sieghart’s theories in The Authority Gap (2021) that regardless of how powerful or high achieving a woman is, she won’t be vested with the same authority as a man of similar status instead being dismissed as “bossy”, “bitchy” and “abrasive”, simply for trying to have a voice. Personally the fact both the notion of utopia and dystopia internet theories and books are written largely by those who ultimately already have the power and voice really summarises Baudrillard’s notion of the simulacra, that we have already lost the distinction between nature and artifice, that the imbalances and benefits are already pre-set: no longer is there any distinction between reality and its representational reproduction; there is only the simulacrum left, and history repeats itself.

This can be seen even with cyberattacks in that manipulation is gained via social engineering influencing an individual to take action, with people repeating history falling effectively for modern day nigerian prince scams. The desire to participate and a fear of missing out (FOMO) ultimately encourages people to participate and produce content because everyone else is, Burbridge summarises this aspect in Photography After Capitalism (2021) as being part of the wider ethos of social media exhibitionism.

“The call to ‘participate!’ makes good use of the wider ethos of social media exhibitionism and the company’s ‘don’t be evil’ self-image to encourage people to produce photographic content for free because it seems like a neat thing to do.”

Burbridge, B. (2020; 9)

Interestingly Burbridge isn’t the first to make this observation either, and whilst from a decidedly un-highbrow source, in 2007 a Yukon journalist Fraser, noted that with a compact camera released at the time that came with smart filters (a precursor of the smart phone and AI editing apps), that individuals willingly participate in deleting themselves, obliged to fix more about themselves, doctoring physical flaws for the sake of a photo album, imprisoning ourselves via surveillance alone, via panoptic technologies, be that traditional CCTV in shops, via the lens of an amateur using a mobile phone or by ‘sousveillance’, the act of observing ourselves via the lenses of this technology, be that via selfies or through webcams. Whilst Fraser’s observations deviate from the perspective I’m exploring in Heretic, her comments align significantly with one of the other series I’ve produced under the MA, e-maGen (2020) in that the notion of how we curate ourselves.


Feedback


After the Portfolio Reviews and talking to Laura in my 1-2-1 the other week, I had an ‘aha’ moment on how I wanted to sequence my series and it’s narrative, which meant killing some of my ‘darlings’ from the series and shooting some new images to replace them, as I didn’t feel they were visibly as strong nor fit the narrative I was trying to convey. This subsequently led to the July 14th sequencing and output. On the 20th July I was fortunate enough to have a portfolio review with Clare Grafik the Head of Exhibitions at The Photographers’ Gallery, which was incredibly insightful and suprisingly positive. Like previous chats about my work it was mentioned that my work has a filmic gaze quality to it, a comment I ultimately find fascinating as this aesthetical style is arguably something drawn from my subconscious rather than something I am intentionally doing. I was pleasantly surprised as Heretic has now gone through quite a few iterations that the July 14th sequencing came across as an ‘accomplished series’ that was ‘fine-tuned’ with well thought out methodology and reading of the work, as up until recently I was still tweaking with the very narrative of this series. As well as discussing Heretic, my wider practice was discussed particularly how the constructed way of working in a studio lended itself to the mini narratives tackling ‘difficult themes’ and that it seemed as though each series provided me with learning that led me to my next topic, either from the research or the outcomes I had produced. I had never thought that this was what I was doing with my various series, but on reflection, the end of each series tends to leave me with questions that I then go onto address in my next.

References

Bibliography

Bartlett, J. (2018) The People Vs Tech. How the internet is killing democracy (and how we save it) pg 20. UK; Ebury Publishing.

Baudrillard, J. (1981) Simulacra & Simulation (Translated by Glaser, S. F. published 1995). pg 52. Michigan; MIT Press.

Bell, E. (2018) The Guardian: The People vs Tech by Jamie Bartlett review – once more into the digital apocalypse. [Online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/16/the-people-vs-tech-review-jamie-bartlett-silicon-valley [Accessed 16/07/2021]

Burbridge, B. (2020) Photography After Capitalism. pg 9. London; Goldsmiths Press.

Fraser, J. (2007) Yukon News: Modern photography is the woman’s Panopticon. [Online] Available from: https://www.yukon-news.com/letters-opinions/modern-photography-is-the-womans-panopticon/ [Accessed 17/07/2021]

McMullan, T. (2015) The Guardian: What does the panopticon mean in the age of digital surveillance? [Online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/23/panopticon-digital-surveillance-jeremy-bentham [Accessed 15/07/2021]

Morozov, E. (2011) The Net Delusion. London; Penguin.

Sieghart, M.A (2021) The Authority Gap. Doubleday; Transworld Publishers Limited. 

Social Engineer (2021) The Role of Empathy in Ethical Social Engineering. [Online] Available from: https://www.social-engineer.com/the-role-of-empathy-in-ethical-social-engineering/ [Accessed 18/07/2021]