What's Cinemaphile's verdict? You know, if you think about how the book's art was made from various independent bits created by more than one artist, elevating the whole into a new level beyond the sum of its parts, that's basically how AI art works.
I don't mind save the planet messages when they're accompanied by schizo nightmare things happening. Simple as.
Why would you mind them at all?
Good question. I could say something about them being overly preachy like Al Gore's hypocritical slop, but Captain Planet was kino too.
>that's basically how AI art works.
Except it's not if only by virtue of being able to properly assign credit where credit is due. You're an idiot.
I'm curious. Would you consider AI art valid then if it included, in metadata for example, a list of every referenced copyrighted work?
even if it did that it would not be art
So if credit doesn't matter and ultimately you'll fall back on your specific notion of what "art" is, why bring it up?
I'm a different guy, my point is that no matter how people try to make image generators morally ok, it still can't be art if it's not a product of human self expression.
it's a middling art book with maybe a single page worth of writing.
I was fine with padding his retirement fund, but I won't be buying his next one of these. 20 bucks is a lot for a 100 word essay.
Regardless of what factors make it "middling" for you, it's a standard price tag for a hardcover picture book anon. I appreciate how Watterson clearly vetoed any reference to Calvin and Hobbes in the book itself and direct promotion btw.
I would pay 20$ for a Watterson book. This is a book some other guy did static pictures for, that Waterson wrote most of a single page of text for.
It is not what I signed up for.
What do you mean with "static"? (Actually asking)
Anyway, both contributed artwork, though Kascht's stuff is certainly in the spotlight for the average audience since he handled the figures.
I mean that it's not the sequential comic strip that Watterson is known for.
To clear it up for everyone who doesn't own it, this and the OP's pic is an example of a page in this book. Every time you turn a page, you have on the left a single sentence. That's it. Like a Heathcliff strip. On the right you have a single piece of art like this and OP's pic.
Rinse and repeat.
The entire story is "Man used to be superstitious and unknowing, then they found explanations and technology and then they all died. The end."
This fart huffing nonsense of a book with ridiculously high paper quality wouldn't have been published in a million years without Watterson cashing in on his name. After all those years of not cashing in, THIS is his cash-in.
Amazon started showing the inside, which they did not originally, which would have saved me 20 bucks. It's not even a large book in dimensions.
And of course the price of it is sinking.
>then they found explanations and technology and then they all died. The end."
its about climate change and our inevitable doom
make peace with the life you've lived because the end is coming and its coming soon.
>its about climate change and our inevitable doom
It has nothing specifically to do with climate change, there's no dooming actions in this one page of text (half page really). People are fearful of stuff they don't understand. Then they are brought understanding and are "this is a big nothingburger". Then stuff starts disappearing for reasons. Then everyone is gone. And then the Mysteries are at peace again. The end.
>It has nothing specifically to do with climate change
its a metaphor/allegory for climate change, and pretty on the nose about it too
Nta, but it's not necessarily as something as specific as climate change. It's broader; more about the general notion of complacency regarding what we believe we understand and/or control.
Of course, many would project that specific topic into it, because until a couple years ago that was the foremost topical manifestation of that way of thinking. As of 2023, it's a take-your-pick situation.
>As of 2023, it's a take-your-pick situation.
As of 2023? 2023 was the hottest year on record, hotter than the last 'hottest year' by nearly half a degree (an actual non-hyperbolic use of the word 'apocalyptic' jump). Climate change is very much the situation at hand.
Sure, just not the only one.
Lmao calm down anon; it's ok if the concept of "picture book" was completely alien to you, but leave the baffling fraud expose to ecelebs who need to believe artists are just labeled content hoses to feel better about themselves.
I think there was a couple threads last week but I hadn't read the book yet so I avoided them. Though I assume that the impressions couldn't have been very positive given Cinemaphile's tendency to 1) resent a particular (but wide) set of themes on general principle and 2) assume certain key responsibilities in artists towards their audience regarding consistency in their output.
>the book's art was made from various independent bits created by more than one artist
You mean like AI?
It's a crummy waste of money and a let-down.
That's the sum of the book. I get that people want to have a schizo AI Art thread, I'm sure we'll have another thousand this year.
Bill should have stayed retired.
I know the faces were original sculptures, but I wonder whether the hands and other realistic elements were drawn or photographed into the collages?