Puff 🍄

@PuffYachty ∙ Published March 24, 2023

[AI Art Weekly] Puff, what’s your background and how did you get into AI art?

I’ve been building personal projects for fun since I first started using a computer. I quickly discovered that building interesting and experimental things was even more enjoyable and got into AI art in 2018 or 2019 when I took a @fastdotai course with @jeremyphoward. I expected to learn about the code behind machine learning but also ended up discovering computational creativity and neural style transfer. My first piece of AI art was a photo of myself put through a neural network that recreated the photo in the style of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” This plus seeing @NeuralBricolage’s AI art made me fall in love with this type of art.

[AI Art Weekly] Do you have a specific project you’re currently working on? What is it?

Right now, I am simply enjoying experimenting with AI art. I haven’t minted any of my work yet as I am still in the exploration phase. However, I do have a small project in the works that is different from anything I have tweeted in the [puff x ai] series. This project will be an audiovisual exploration of the emotions and feelings of an AI. Perhaps it will stay in my personal collection or maybe I will mint it. I will know for sure once it is finished.

[AI Art Weekly] What drives you to create?

A big driver for me is the fact that art allows a person to express things that words can’t. Just a simple act of closing your eyes in silence for a few minutes can prove to a person that some things are just unexplainable in words. Art allows a person to further express these ideas and thoughts.

[AI Art Weekly] What does your workflow look like?

I often meditate and take long intentional walks, and sometimes inspiration comes from those activities. Other times, inspiration comes from my attempts to convey a subtle message through my art, much like a Zen koan can carry deeper meaning than what initially appears.

The tools I use include Midjourney, Python, Stable Diffusion, and occasionally the C language.

[AI Art Weekly] Do you have a favourite Zen koan?

When the many are reduced to one, to what is the one reduced?

[AI Art Weekly] What is your favourite prompt when creating art?

I go through stages because the current tools allow for quick iteration and evolution, but at the moment, the words I like to use most in my prompts are minimalism, serenity, and realism.

[AI Art Weekly] How do you imagine AI (art) will be impacting society in the near future?

AI’s like GPT-4 and other LLMs will continue to free up our time as humans, allowing us to spend more time being creative. Through this process, we will see the emergence of never-before-seen masterpieces from people who were previously too busy to create. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mona Lisa of our time is a digital, AI-assisted work created by an ex-entry level accountant.

[AI Art Weekly] Who is your favourite artist?

My favorite artists are Deafbeef, Pindar van Arman, DieWithTheMostLikes, Claire Silver, XCopy, and GirlWhoShivers.

[AI Art Weekly] Anything else you would like to share?

Everyone should attempt to make art. We were made to create and you could be the next Beeple.