I consider this to be my first piece in what I was to call my Singularity Series
The full image:
I had a great question on my last post just really asking about the Singularity and what I meant by it. As is often the case with Steemit, as you beging typing an answer or comment in the comments section you realize, "This should be a post as well". And so here I am.
For those of you who don't know, I am currently working on a series of digital paintings I am calling my "Singularity Series"
This series will also include real life oil on canvas, but I tend to not do that as much until Summer when my Summer studio is warm and habitable.
This series really began, I feel, with the inspiration of Steemit itself. Early on in Steemit I found that entering as many art contests as I could was a great way to get to feel out the art community here and to meet other wonderful artists on the platform, which indeed I did do.
This piece was inspired by the wonderful Steemit contests #artexplosion hosted by the even more wonderful @juliakponsford and judged by the amazing musician @vachemorte. Each week they choose a theme and leave it up to we artists to decide how to intrepret it. I believe the week was #27 and the then prompt was Technology. This was back in February of this year.
When I contemplated Technology in the context of what I like to paint I somehow came to this idea of a hybrid human contemplating her existence.
The butterfly theme was early on, as it often is an allegory for the human spirit or psyche. Little did I know that making this piece would open up an entire story line in my brain.
I has also done a sketch of such a character in watercolour and ink (digital and real life) when I was considering this painting and as is often the case with me, I sketch and do studies quite a bit before starting a larger piece. This was a random sketch in that vein about that time.
It was really just starting to be an idea at this point.
Then flash forward to March here in coastal New England when we had a few weeks of horrible late Winter. We lost our power on quite a few occasions and were left with no heat and no power and I was looking at my view on the Wintery day and considering how much I'd love to be part machine, to power myself and feel no cold. That was when this sketch was born of this figure standing out in my view at the time.
She stood strong against the cold North winds and needed only the slightest drapery of clothing to suit her needs.
This evolved into her wearing more elaborate clothes, as I am obsessed with vintage fashion. But that came later, as the next few days I did this study of a bot like Singularity hybrid creature caught in a snow landscape in her mid Victorian gown, doing what I could not: stand happily in the midst of all the snow.
This was when I began to realize, in this fantasy of half-bot self powered creature, I could wear whatever was my desire and vintage fashion would be the theme that next became a staple in my ideas of this imagined world and the idea of animals and the butterfly as well. I revisited my original sketch and added butterflies.
Having considered fashion more now came my love of animals. Now she had a dog companion (that ever faithful human companion) attempting to jog the memory of his master to the realization of her humanity, thus the imagery of butterflies escaping from her skirt.
The human soul attempting to be realized.
Now enter another contest, I forget which now, and these creatures were uppermost in my mind. So, I did a play on Klimts version of Danae in my new Singularity view. Now, really, these creatures were taking hold of my psyche.
That was followed by a sketch and watercolour (which is currently in the works for a larger oil piece) where the animal and vintage fashion were permanent fixtures.
Then this lovely lady appeared in my life in my sketchbook of a morning.
Actually I had toyed with her before and was considering the story of Pandora and her opening of the forbidden box. In my world such a Pandora would find an old laptop from the 'human times' and being a powering unit herself would power it on and thus open a world of virus and dark history of the humans who had come before them.
This was the main piece of which I have been working on and sharing the various layer; i is close to completion. However, before I placed her indoors, I had toyed with my other sketch adding a house in the background.
Now, I had entered the world full on.
The house is there my creatures can live inside buildings and the world is beginning to grow. I have shared my two latest sections of my Singularity Pandora before, but here they are again in the context of this discussion.
And the development of her red sofa, dog companion and the unexpected arrival of another bot like machine (Which I credit influences from @reinhard-schmid whose work I love)
I am now full inside this world.
I have every intention of making a large series of works exploring this 'place' which in many ways is a very real place to me. I am really enjoying the ride. And I really have to thank Steemit and the wonderful group of artists who frequent this space and are great at chatting and sharing ideas. Steemit has allowed me to look at my work in a new way and to find the love of just painting and creating for it's own sake once again! For me, being an artist is expressing this love of story and following the need and passion to express my imaginings in pictoral form on screen, canvas, paper, what have you. I'd love to one day take this series into VR painting, for what better world to view this imagined future than in our current technology?
I am even addressing older pieces I had started in the past and have begun moving them into this world, case in point this older unfinished piece of a child and dogs.
Which has now become this Singularity child sketch which will either be it's own painting or in a painting with an adult.
Now, long story short (too late for that) What I mean by the "Singularity":
Personally, I like that the word has a few meanings one of which is
the state of being singular, distinct, peculiar, uncommon or unusual
And also:
point where a measured variable reaches unmeasurable or infinite value
That has a lovely ring to it in and of itself. Unusual, peculiar, a point of infinite value? I love all that terminology.
Of course, the main meaning for my use of the word is the "Technological Singularity".
The genius John von Neumann stated:
"the ever accelerating progress of technology ... gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue."
The term "Technological Singularity" was coined by the SF writer Vernor Vinge who wrote this great essay in the 1990s which you can read here.
Thus for me, in this world of my concept of the Singularity, I mean a place in the future post traditional humans.
That a time came when technology converged with advanced AI and Robotic enhancements and replacements that created a moment when the computer intelligence quickly surpassed humans and finding no need for them any longer, they died out; yet what is left are these hybrid creatures neither human nor machine.
In my imagined place they have a sort of awakening (Possibly the work of Pandora?) in which this odd remembrance of a human past haunts them, but just lies out of the grasp of their comprehension. The animal companions of dog and cat still see their old friend 'the human' in them and thus are always on the edge of this world giving them their sense of humanity.
The joy of the elaborate vintage fashions are inspired by the past eras when the very wealthy could be restricted in layers upon layers of clothing because they had a sea of servants to do for them. This just seems fitting in world where the upper classes would have embraced AI parts and aided intelligence as readily as they would face lifts and other longevity cure all. And I am also enamoured of vintage fashion and love the history of art particularly from these time periods of Rocco co to early 20th century.
And that is what is meant by my version of the Singularity and what I aim to create though a series of paintings and works.
I think I will end this post with these 2 videos by Ray Kurzweil who is always tied with the Singularity. It is his concept of the Singularity that is a starting point for my idea of this future place.
I hope you all have a lovely day and as you look at your screen, use your mobile and ask Alexa what the weather is or what the definition of a word might be, consider when these things will be part of you. Shall we remain as we are or will technology grow weary of our feeble ways? Fun to consider.
If you like my work please upvote and feel free to resteem and by all means leave comments.
Check out my other posts:
- A peek at my WIP of latest Singularity Painting
- A singularity sketch inspired by my trip to a garden
- A #sublimesunday at a plant sale and walk to my summer studio
- Dada.nyc drawing, back at it
- Another layer in my Singularity painting: Pandora
My bitcoin wallet as per the @slothicorn request to provide it with your artwork.
Hi donnadavisart,
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Oh, wow, thank you so much. I am honored to be upvoted by you. Thank you and I shall join you on discord. :)
How are you my dear friend :)
always as elegant as a drawing :)
I love the characters you have created. I congratulate you. And I'm glad you got a big vote for Curie!
Thank you so much, too dear friend. Yes, I was happily surprised, but I am sure I shall be lost in the shuffle once again. But, that is fine, c'est la vie, it is the life of Steemit, but I love it none the less. :)
Amazing what a storm can do for your creative juices!! Glad I asked but it does seem I'm the only one who didn't really understand the concept. haha, that's not new thought ;)
Very insightful journey into your artistically driven mind!
Well, now you can see a bit about what the Singularity is and why I bother calling my series that, though it is a fanciful take on it. And see, we inspire one another whether or not we mean to, just by asking or suggesting things to one another. Our bond is timeless and we will always be connected by that invisible 'string strung between two tin cans at great distances' ;)
quite right!
I so love how many parts of your world are coming to a point in this series. The clothing and love of that era, pets, humanity and all it entails, technology that you use to actually create part of it, and what that means. Particulalrly with the animals being a touchstone, at least that's what I call it, as a large part of the realization. Either from the Singularity being, or to us, watching from without. Either way, very important in my view.
It is fun to see this all coming to a more focused end result, if there IS an end. Which is the joy of art, and your series, as it can go on and on and on and morph 'forever', like your beings. But the process is fascinating to view from without, since I've gotten to know you better through our ambling ramblings on here, and how it fits into your views, loves and interests, and all. Congrats on the nice Curie as well. That is well deserved with all your artistic talents and vision. Dream and draw on, and enjoy.
And I, for one, think I would like to stay as a human bean as long as I can, with still just looking things up with my fingertips and eyes, and forgo the implanted anything. I like the me that is me trying to figure out what that me really is. I shall probably never really know, but what a journey it is in the meantime. Hope your Saturday is grand.
Yes, I am also not in a mad rush to be made tech personified. In many ways I am a Luddite, but I am also a dreamer and a realist, if those two things can coincide. It is merely my fanciful look at what I do think is, in parts, an inevitability: AI and implants and so on. One constant in life is Change, they say.
We do like to ramble, we two, don't we? It's nice to find others who don't mind smashing endless letters together to stitch up a quilt of sentences and ideas. Some call it wordy, I call it 'conversation' and we jolly well miss it in this post modern world.
I think one think I love about Steemit is I do feel like I can go on and on and it seems to be ok. I recall, back in the 90's, when the internet really became a 'thing' I though, "Oh good, maybe we will have a return to letters, with less phone talking and more emailing, maybe the time of letters and long written post (albeit digital) shall return. Boy, was I wrong and who would have guessed about emoticons and conversations being things like little thumbs pointing up or smiling faces made with parentheticals!
I am glad you are enjoying my little foray into this supposed future world of mine. I am having a blast dreaming it up and am thankful when others find any joy or even simple amusement in it!
I shall attempt to keep this shorter than long. But felt I must respond. I LOVED the email world. I used to stay up very late and talk to friends on the box for hours. Typing back and forth at light speed. We would get into these constant conversations, where you couldn't even answer fast enough, the brilliance ( : .....would pile up. And went all OVER the place. But usually very funny. I so enjoyed it. I love to write, and it seems to flow even more when talking to a real person on the other end. VS fictional things. Don't know why, but it just is. Sigh, I do miss it. Though many on here are trying hard to bring it back ( :
I think that's one reason I love Steemit so much. (Besides the obvious, a vehicle to finally get some of my gazillions of writings actually out to a human being, to read, besides Christmas letters and things to family. Who never really seemed to enjoy it all that much. But now, a captive audience. Yay.) This world, as you say, encourages it, if you find friends that do as well. Double Yay.
I do so miss the true letter and such (though I still typed them. Faster and less painful sometimes). It has always amazed me, we think of ourselves as SO smart in today's world. But you read letters, from the Civil War and such, they were SO ELOQUENT. I think W.A. did a bunch, from his family, correct? Many folks were SO well spoken and written in times past. I've read where the average vocabulary is about half what it was in the 40's. Something like that. Particularly when compared to, as you say, emoji's and other clipped conversation. I've actually heard people talk for a minute or two, and not really say a THING. I have to practice myself, to not fall into it. (Luckily, I've steered clear of the habit-forming 'ya knows' and 'likes') It is amazing. And sad. Well, for not saying anything, I did it again. "Sir, this is not even CLOSE to short". Yikes...
But wait....I do also love how you sew all these spiffy words together, such as your smashing endless letters together to stitch up a quilt of sentences and ideas. You are always so creatively fun in a chat. Well, I'm off to the bicycle, so must go. I look forward to more babble-rambles, and of your foray into further AI and beyond. It is so creative and has no real end, except wherever the original dd decides to take it. Tata for now...
What a grand post! You explained your journey thoroughly in discovering these singularity ladies with your artworks and poured a lot of explanation and meanings into why you are so attracted with the term 'singularity'. I believe I understand you a bit better now, and it's a good feeling :).
-upvoted-
I'm glad you like them. I always love to really have a narrative to my work, it just makes the process much more fun for me!
wonderful as always ,very nice to see all of that series here <3
Thank you @adelepazani. I figured it was time to do a post sort of corralling some of the pieces together since I'm always going on about 'my Singularity pieces' :)
So glad this post is going sooooooo well :)
It was a great summary of how you arrived to be into singularity series. And I knew most of all this!
What does VR painting mean?
Me too, you never know with Steemit. I'm just glad people like my little Singularity world.
VR is Virtual Reality. There are programs where in you wear a VR headset and you 'paint/draw' virtually but in 3d space, like around you and you can move the image around you and go through it. One day in the future when VR is as common as our mobiles, this is how we will view art, as if it is a building we can walk into or a sky to fly through.
These pieces are fantastic! I look forward to seeing the oils too once your studio warms up ;)
Thank you. I'm excited to get back out there. Soon, I usually officially move out there over Memorial Day weekend, the official beginning of the Summer season in my coastal New England area.
Holy smokes! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when i opened, but everything is so detailed and unique! The more I read the piece the slower i went to digest everything. I like the pieces that combine different techniques the most (towards the end) Also - I'm pretty new to Steemit. You have certainly nailed the formatting techniques of a true Steemian. Can't wait for the next pieces!!
Not sure what the 'steemian techniques' are, I just sort of wing it. But steemit is so open and great for community and sharing that really anything goes as far as layout I think, but what do I know. I'm usually oblivious to most things anyway :)
I'm glad you liked my things and I'm really excited to keep going on this journey with these pieces and more.
Geez! Very interesting art...
Thank you so much.
such gorgeous work. I love all, but the one with the butterflies inflight is phenomenal.
I am so proud that you got a curie xxx
Thank you so much @princessmewmew! I was excited to see the curie vote.
I've actually used the butterflies a lot and will most likely use them in most of the Singularity pieces, even if just hidden in some (like Easter Eggs) as they really feel like the symbolism belongs in this series :)
I've seen a bunch of your Singularity pieces in my feed and it's really nice to get the background story on how an idea is born and evolves. I see you've recommended Vinge's essay - if you haven't read them already, you'd probably also like his fiction. A Deepness in the Sky is my favorite, but A Fire Upon the Deep and Marooned in Realtime are also great.
Oh, thanks! "Marooned in Realtime" is the one I want to read next, in fact I ordered it today :)
I love how following a tangent of an idea leads to discovering new history or fiction. I'm excited to read these.
It's different in style than the other two, but it's really great at changing your perspective on the passage of time. It's also just a darned good story.
androids in a victorian setting and style dress has such an awesome DR Who feeling to me, I imagine they are artificial life forms in another dimention who received a bit of out of date data about the human race, and are just doing their best to fit in... bless <3
Hope you're well gal!
See, I love that art gives it's own story to the viewer. I've created this world as a hybridized post human condition, but you see something else and that is still just as valid and hopefully, just as interesting :) That is what is so magical about art to me, the story without words, so the mind and imagination puts that in.
I hope you are doing well, too :)
you put that so elequently @donnadavisart ! And you're right that's one of the most freeing part of putting your art out there for other folks to react to, it forces a totally new perspective- also huge congratulations for the rewards on this post- SO SO deserved! <3
You got my attention. These are beautiful. An artist and a futurist too. Consider me smitten.
Upvoted and following.
Joe
@joe.nobel
science fiction, fantasy, erotica
Thank you. I'm as enamored of the past as I am of the future and always think to consider one with the other's influences gives a fuller perspective.
Gorgeous pieces, Donna ! You are always so creative and very much unafraid to play with so many interesting different elements in one canvas ! A period dress + cyborg + animals + nature / room.... to name a few ! Amazing~ Amazing and very inspiring :D
Very lovely series !!!
Thank you so much! I thought I'd do a post talking about my new obsession and to also help me corral my ideas and concepts in this series which is quickly taking up my life :) In a good way of course.
My Singularity Series defined: A Steemit inspired series of ongoing paintings has been resteemed by @resteemmuse
My favorite is the lady with the butterflies. I think her thoughts could be like butterflies. I really enjoy looking at the bright colors.
Thank you. That piece actually started with the branch of a tree in my view then it became her blue thoughts and then butterflies. The process of art is always interesting :)
Well, I love how the creativity manifested :)
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Bravissimo
Thanks.
Nice art
Beautiful drawings and wonderful idea behind them.
Thank you.
thanks for sharing! I saw one of your works from this series in a stand-alone post, but now I have a better understanding of your work in general
I'm so glad. I figured a post with some of the pieces explained made sense. I'm sure I shall have to do another in a few months, as I might have gone even deeper into this series.
Spectacular art and most interesting read, @donnadavisart :)
Thank you so much.
thank you @donnadavisart What a grand post! You explained your journey thoroughly in discovering these singularity ladies with your artworks and poured a lot of explanation and meanings into why you are so attracted with the term 'singularity'. I believe I understand you a bit better now, and it's a good feeling :).
-upvoted-
thank you @donnadavisart That a grand post! You explained your journey thoroughly in discovering these singularity ladies with your artworks and poured a lot of explanation and meanings into why you are so attracted with the term 'singularity'. I believe I understand you a bit better now, and it's a good feeling :).
-upvoted-
Definitely upvoting this great content!
Thank you so much :)
This is a masterpiece! Inspiring!
Thank you, high praise indeed. :)
Excellent job very interesting friend post I hope you can support me with a vote
I shall try and check you out, but do be careful asking for a vote, some people about here don't like it and can get rather cranky about it, so do be careful of your wording. :)
Amazing art!! You have put life in the term 'singularity'. Just started following your series and it's interesting. Hope to see more amazing posts from you.
It's fun to create my take on it.
My eyes suddenly became full! Art really has different kinds and varieties. I love how you create your own art style. I'm somewhat jealous! This is nice!
I'm so happy I was able to flood your field of view with art, I am glad you like it :)
Wauw this is so special. So different. I cannot draw or paint, but I really enjoy someone else's talent.
Amazing
Obrazy są niesamowite :)
super post, and my upvote is by now just a drop under all those votes. I should have caught that earlier - anyway, resteemed also.