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Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

matthieulc.com

41–50 of 126 posts

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#41
> But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill. It’s unfortunate that art selects so strongly for skill. Can we decorrelate the two?

I don’t think the poor lad knows what Art is.

Put another way, we have hundreds of years of recorded philosophical texts and diatribes on what constitutes Art, and what art-making is. Often written by serious practitioners who dedicate their life to it rather than internet-dwelling dabblers and dilettantes. We have people who are deemed artists, not necessarily painters but people who are wired a certain way and are industrious with their abilities. Math geniuses attend certain schools and the other pupils may pick up a thing or two from them, but that doesn’t mean the other pupils are geniuses also. So too, do artists walk among us and may do what we do and we may imitate what they do. But that doesn’t put us on equal footing whatsoever.

Art doesn’t select for skill. This is a red herring and a misunderstanding. Art doesn’t select for anything, because if it did it wouldn’t be Art. This is an old somewhat trite topic that, historically, boiled down to no more than a pithy phrase: “Art cannot be taught.” as expounded by many teachers of incredible talent in their own right who have attempted to distill it into teachable material and realized their talent is not transferable as easily as they had hoped.

Most of what you read on this subject is nonsense sold to you by grifters who want your money. Now and today more than ever. I’m all for, say, “Art and Fear” and “The Art Spirit” and even a bit of “War of Art” to name some household items on the subject. These are all great recent texts. But let’s take these for what they are: self-help literature, and nothing more. The further back in literature you go the less of this patting-on-the-back attitude you get, and more serious the subject matter is treated (example: read the lectures on Art by the presidents of the Royal Academy, they are numerous, Archive has them all. One president basically tells students to choose a different profession, discussed as an aside topic in a book on portraiture from that time.)

Elsewhere in the comments people saying how art is simply good taste seem to be oblivious to the creations of artists that led them to make such a blundering conclusion. Your taste wouldn’t exist had an artist not created a thing to begin with.

We’ve used image generators for decades now. It gets the job done. The person using it may be an artist or just someone who wants a dynamic, changing generated image on the wall.

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Which is why I take offense to someone claiming that it selects for and requires skill. Especially because the ones making that argument are usually the ones arguing that they’re incapable of making art. I would tell them they just need to spend more time finding themselves. And spend more time (and intentional effort) in making art! It's like people want a shortcut to end result, when "real" artists know that the…

Um, no, I want illustrations for my stories. That’s the end, and the means can be whatever. I don’t care to search for self-discovery in that.

That’s a reasonable expectation and desirable outcome in and of itself. Not everything needs to be intended to be art for it to be perceived as such.

Art is in the eye of the beholder.

Do you share your stories publicly? I’m curious what kind of stories you would write.

It would be cool to have an HN writing group!

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#44
> Making art is hard. But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill. It’s unfortunate that art selects so strongly for skill.

Not to sound like a luddite, but I do question the idea that the skill gap is merely an inconvenience. I suspect learning how to paint or make music changes something in yourself which teaches you some deeper life lessons.

I've heard the phrase (paraphrased): No great work of art was made by a genius, genius comes to you unexpectedly like a gust of wind. It seems that cultivating these opportunities is the most an artist can do, and removing the skill gap seems to be removing the cultivation, the thing that changes you, the essence.

There seems to be a few of these inherent deep workings that we as a people keep coming back to, without knowing what they are or how to discuss them (personally at least!). Not to rain on your parade OP, the project looks fun and super useful to a lot people! Just something I ponder on at times.

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#45

> Making art is hard. But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill. It’s unfortunate that art selects so strongly for skill. Not to sound like a luddite, but I do question the idea that the skill gap is merely an inconvenience. I suspect learning how to paint or make music changes something in yourself which teaches you some deeper life lessons. I've heard the phrase (paraphrased):…

This goes opposite to the saying "Experts say it cannot be done; amateurs accomplish it every day.".

Sometimes it's good to have someone with fresh eyes looking and something and not be shaped by decades of prior history.

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#46

> But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill. It’s unfortunate that art selects so strongly for skill. Can we decorrelate the two? I don’t think the poor lad knows what Art is. Put another way, we have hundreds of years of recorded philosophical texts and diatribes on what constitutes Art, and what art-making is. Often written by serious practitioners who dedicate their life to it…

Thank you. I added those to my reading list. I don't think I ever delved into the topic.

And yet, here we have someone not burdened by the serious business of art and gives his personal perspective on it. I am not saying a lot of everything is not mostly crap, because it mostly is, but I found this child-like honesty oddly endearing.

Artist without a skill is just a dreamer, who can't put his vision into place. Barrier of entry has been lowered now, but I am relatively certain that was not always the case.

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#47

> Making art is hard. But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill. It’s unfortunate that art selects so strongly for skill. Not to sound like a luddite, but I do question the idea that the skill gap is merely an inconvenience. I suspect learning how to paint or make music changes something in yourself which teaches you some deeper life lessons. I've heard the phrase (paraphrased):…

This goes opposite to the saying "Experts say it cannot be done; amateurs accomplish it every day.". Sometimes it's good to have someone with fresh eyes looking and something and not be shaped by decades of prior history.

> "Experts say it cannot be done; amateurs accomplish it every day."

I love this because I seem to encounter situations like that every day. Who came up with this saying?

Recent example: This guy asked a very simple question about something that's commonly done in industry (wiring two power supplies in parallel and balancing the current between them): https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectronics/comments/1g84zd7/usi...

Literally 95% of the replies in that thread are irrelevant bullshit from "experts" that have no idea how redundant server PSUs work. I replied to some under the same username. Meanwhile another guy successfully wired two 100W USB-C ports in parallel to power an entire PC. He had no idea that the resistance of his crappy wires kept the two smps control loops stable and divided the current evenly between the two ports ensuring that neither one trips OCP: https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/1g8pser/let_m...

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#48
post #27

Let’s hook it up to a sentiment and toxicity model, and then if you’re being too negative online, it will start to deform you into a monster, we could have a real Picture of Dorian Gray!

I chuckled, but that is actually an interesting ( and very doable ) fun project idea.

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#49
> But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill.

I always thought that art is all about emotions, both preserving and creating them. That’s why I find a banana on the wall art, popular music is still art.

(Might be school influence but I also tend to ask myself „why”)

This invention is definitely work of art, but its output - in my eyes - not. It’s like a cloud. It can make different shapes, and some are funny, some might remind me of my close ones, but it’s still averaged randomness.

However the idea to reflect reality to this digital randomness I find without doubt - art. And, well: while not visual or audible, there is software, hardware, code and design which are also art (and difficult to make so counterpoint to thesis in first paragraph ;)).

Re: Show HN: Wall-mounted diffusion mirror that turns reflections into paintings

#50
post #49

> But art is mostly about surfacing the inner world, and only in part about skill. I always thought that art is all about emotions, both preserving and creating them. That’s why I find a banana on the wall art, popular music is still art. (Might be school influence but I also tend to ask myself „why”) This invention is definitely work of art, but its output - in my eyes - not. It’s like a cloud. It can make different…

> I always thought that art is all about emotions, both preserving and creating them.

But this leaves the role of intention ambiguous. If I double-park a BMW across two handicap spaces because I'm angry and entitled, is that art? It certainly evokes emotion, and it's also produced by emotion.

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