So many times I’m tempted to add my two cents in an online debate, but then I’m like, “Does the world really need my opinion on this?” and the answer is almost always “NOPE.”
This is absolutely fascinating. I’ve now been looking at Alex Colville’s paintings and trying to work out what it is about them that makes them look like CGI and how/why he did that in a world where CGI didn’t exist yet. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
- Total lack of atmospheric perspective (things don’t fade into the distance)
- Very realistic shading but no or only very faint shadows cast by ambient light.
- Limited interaction between objects and environment (shadows, ripples etc)
- Flat textures and consistent lighting used for backgrounds that would usually show a lot of variation in lighting, colour and texture
- Bodies apparently modelled piece by piece rather than drawn from life, and in a very stiff way so that the bodies show the pose but don’t communicate the body language that would usually go with it. They look like dolls.
- Odd composition that cuts off parts that would usually be considered important (like the person’s head in the snowy driving scene)
- Very precise drawing of structures and perspective combined with all the simplistic elements I’ve already listed. In other words, details in the “wrong” places.
What’s fascinating about this is that in early or bad CGI, these things come from the fact that the machine is modelling very precisely the shapes and perspectives and colours, but missing out on some parts that are difficult to render (shadows, atmospheric perspective) and being completely unable to pose bodies in such a way as to convey emotion or body language.
But Colville wasn’t a computer, so he did these same things *on purpose*. For some reason he was *aiming* for that precise-but-all-wrong look. I mean, mission accomplished! The question in my mind is, did he do this because he was trying to make the pictures unsettling and alienating, or because in some way, this was how he actually saw the world?
omf i never thought i’d find posts about alex colville on tumblr, but! he’s a local artist where i’m from & i work at a library/archives and have processed a lot of documents related to his art. just wanted to give my two cents!
my impression is that colville did see the world as an unsettling place and a lot of his work was fueled by this general ~malaise?? but in a lot of cases, he was trying to express particular fears or traumas. for instance, this painting (horse and train) was apparently inspired by a really tragic experience his wife had:
iirc she was in a horrible automobile crash, as the car she was in collided with a train. i find it genuinely horrifying to look at, knowing the context, but a lot of colville’s work is like that? idk he just seems to capture the feeling you get in nightmares where everything is treacle-ish and slow and inevitable.
@staff openly tagging face selfies of trans women as sexual content after you already lost ONE lawsuit over queerphobic moderation is quite a fucking move
Train all employees (including subcontractors) on New York City Human Rights Law and unconscious bias, with a focus on sexual orientation and gender identity
Have humans review user appeals on adult content. Previously they only had humans review post-removal appeals
Revise the language used in appeal process for users
Search random sample of previously filed appeals for terms involving sexual orientation and gender identity to identify bias and retrain AI image classifier
Hire an expert in image classification to remove algorithmic bias around sexual orientation and gender identity and train employees on addressing image classification bias.
Have an image classification expert complete a evaluation on bias in moderation and steps taken to address it.
Search filed appeals after new review process in place for terms involving sexual orientation and gender identity to identify bias. Monthly reports of bias will be sent to New York City’s Commission on Human Rights for 18 months.
Would be very interested to see these reports on bias as clearly it has not worked!
They also terminated someone’s blog that she had for ten years for disputing the report by walking through all the community guidelines that she did not break. They claimed it was a mistake and would be unflagged and instead
1. Her account was terminated
2. The post remains flagged
This isn’t a glitch. This isn’t a coincidence. This is targeted harrassment.
on the announcement that Disney+ is removing a plethora of shows and films from its service, please read these tweets from Willow writer John Bickerstaff. this is not a tax writeoff like Batgirl, because these projects have already been released. this is a move designed to cut off financial support in the form of residuals, and break the spirit of the strike. here is the deadline article that lists the films/shows that will be removed.
as always, donate to the entertainment community fund, vocally support the WGA online and irl, or join a picket in a major US city if you can. let them know they can’t keep getting away with things like this.
On this, the anniversary of the lunar landing, let us also celebrate the greatest post-mission achievement by a crewman.
I refer, of course, to the time Buzz Aldrin (age 72 at the time) cold-cocked a moon landing conspiracy theorist straight in his smug face after being accused of being a coward, liar, and thief.
Yes, someone was indeed dumb enough to tell a man so unafraid of death that he was willing to go into the void on a fragile explosive rocket, a coward.
Said dumbass was filming this confrontation as some sort of proof of moon fraud, but has instead captured this glorious moment of near-cosmic justice for us to loop for all time.
Aldrin was not charged with any crime. He should have been given another medal for public service.
I dont believe he punched him, this was filmed by Stanley Kubrik in a studio in Area 51.
(I have to make it clear I’m being sarcastic here, don’t I?)
Didn’t realize it’d be hidden under a readmore in my previous post, thanks Tumblr; this company Epic Miniatures is using one of my designs without permission, and despite me approaching them with the good faith that it was an honest mistake of some sort, they only responded by blocking me and anyone else bringing it up. My art and their miniature:
Banned!!
Wow. That is… direct. They put effort into making it as close to the original design as possible. Straight down to the pose.
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