September 28, 2021

Artist Spotlight: Pindar Van Arman and His AI Canvas Painting Robots

Pindar Van Arman joins Kevin to discuss his AI process, including the introduction of feedback loops. He touches on his feeling around imposter syndrome in the digital AI world and early influences from the earlier "digital art brat pack."

Pindar Van Arman joins Kevin to discuss his AI process, including the introduction of feedback loops. He touches on his feeling around imposter syndrome in the digital AI world and early influences from the earlier "digital art brat pack."

Pindar Van Arman joins Kevin to discuss his AI process, including the introduction of feedback loops. He touches on his feeling around imposter syndrome in the digital AI world and early influences from the earlier "digital art brat pack."

BIO

Pindar Van Arman is an American artist and roboticist based in Washington, D.C. His art focuses on designing painting robots that explore the differences between human and computational creativity.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

SHOW NOTES

  • Who is Pindar Van Arman? [00:51]
  • How did Pindar sell his art before the NFT boom? [02:20]
  • Pindar's origin story: from racing robot cars to painting with robot artists. [03:02]
  • The evolution of Pindar's AI and what he considers to be its most important algorithm so far. [05:37]
  • How the (currently 24) algorithms work together to create art. [07:18]
  • How involved is Pindar in guiding the AI through the creation of a piece? [09:16]
  • What determines a painting's completion? [10:41]
  • Where is the target image that the AI is aiming to match typically sourced? [11:54]
  • What is a GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) and how does it work? [12:35]
  • The challenge behind trying to create a distinctive GAN series, and why the human element still matters. [14:53]
  • How did Pindar create his "AI Imagined Bored Ape 4/10" piece? [16:22]
  • The one complaint Pindar has about purely generative art, and what he's trying to convey through his own distinctive methodology. [18:45]
  • In Pindar's experience, how many collectors of his work are interested in owning the physical, robot-created original? [20:08]
  • Why Pindar initially felt like an imposter in the NFT space, what he did to distinguish himself, and what we're actually seeing when we view his animated NFTs. [21:03]
  • How has the NFT collecting scene changed since Pindar's been involved, and what does he foresee for its future? [25:13]
  • Who is Robbie Barrat, and what role has he played in the GAN/NFT art world? [30:15]
  • What is Pindar's Noun GAN Study collection? [34:28]
  • What's next for Pindar? [37:41]
  • Love robots as much as Pindar? Here's what to watch out for on September 29th! [42:51]
  • An artist who inspired Pindar to include narratives with his own pieces. [43:38]
  • How people can find Pindar online. [46:30]
  • Artists currently on Pindar's radar. [48:40]
  • Good advice for other artists. [49:34]
  • Artists currently on Kevin's radar. [50:59]
  • On the nostalgic appeal of pixel art to people of a certain generation. [52:30]
  • Parting thoughts. [53:36]

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