I recently became embroiled in a short internet argument about the ethics of AI generated images with a street artist who uses midjourney in their practice. Like all internet arguments it was very silly. At one point the other artist went through a ton of my posts to find an animation I’d made using the image above and then accused me of plagiarism because this piece is very inspired by and is essentially a remake of The Treachery of Images by Rene Magritte in a warning sign style.
I am not hiding that this is a reworked Magritte and this piece only works because Magritte’s original piece exist. Art is a continuum; a sequence of conversations that wrap around and feedback on themselves in a horrendous and beautiful lurching dance. Art is making something with your hands, your feet & your mouth but mostly art is making something with your mind.
The very short and very silly internet argument made me think of that Picasso/Banksy quote about art and theft and I thought I’d steal and rewrite the quote for my own nefarious means. I.e., to make it seem like I’d won the silly internet argument all along.
‘Good artists borrow, great artists steal and bad artists use corporate planet killing plagiarism machines to steal for them.’ Leo Boyd 2024.