By Prokofy Neva, Virtualtor
Since checks cost a whopping $58 to order from TD Bank (Yes! Go Google it!), and I hardly ever use checks (most things can be paid online), I started this thing where I get a money order from the post office. Of course, there's a fee for a money order ($2.10 for under $500) so that maybe doesn't make sense…except it's better to do a few of those a year than pay $58. Insurance companies seem to be the ones not letting you pay online. Or a check bounces, it took so long to mail, or an automatic debit bounces and to prevent it bouncing again, off you go to get a money order. It's good exercise.
We are now back at our friend the Madison Square USPS on E. 23rd St between Lex and 3rd, home of a fantastic set of WPA murals, and yes, bloggers have noticed how they are in bad repair and need cleaning and refreshing. And yes, I was just here yesterday — but then I didn't have a payment on PayPal to use to buy the money order. And it's important because it is accident insurance my son sold me years ago when he worked for an insurance company, and it's very cheap ($26 a quarter) and has paid out twice already when I fell and hurt myself, covering a day in the hospital, broken glasses, even missed days of work. So I decided to keep it because I fall fairly often, my left leg is weak from an injury that didn't heal and it gives out.
Obviously on the Smithsonian site, Kindred's works look a lot crisper.
There's one where I swear the kid is pick-pocketing a man who's back is turned.
Yes? No?
Some kind of flurry of activity. The woman looks like she is opening a letter with bad news.
Or she's going to mail a "Dear John" letter or something. She is wearing gloves, it seems, as women did.
If you go around to the other side of this post office, there is a huge, empty hall, a waste of government building space that ought to be used to put in more clerks, have more jobs, and shorter lines. But, you know, it's the Post Office… This has a whole gallery of WPA art, and not just the "workers" motifs, as if every artist studied socialist realism in the Soviet Union, but rich people in fur coats with doormen buildings…except the doorman is so gigantic, and there seems to also be a worker with a hammer, that it's probably still the communist touch.
And here is where I ask myself: why does every WPA mural look alike? Did they all go to the same school? Is this just the worldwide workers' world style of the 1930s?
So let's ask CoPilot:
Now let's try chatGPT:
The art produced under the WPA/FAP, including murals in post offices, often reflects the dominant artistic styles and ideological influences of the time. In the 1930s, particularly during the Great Depression, there was a significant emphasis on realism in art, driven in part by social and political factors.
Several reasons contributed to the prevalence of a socialist realist style in WPA art:
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Government Support and Patronage: The WPA/FAP was a government-funded program, and the government had a say in the type of art produced. Socialist realist art, which emphasized the lives of ordinary workers and celebrated the achievements of the working class, aligned well with the socio-political climate of the time.
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Ideological Influence: The 1930s saw the rise of socialist and communist ideologies globally, including in the United States. Socialist realism, which glorified the working class and depicted scenes of industrialization and collective labor, was a favored style in many communist and socialist regimes. While the United States did not adopt socialism as a political system, there was sympathy for socialist ideas among some artists and intellectuals, which influenced the art produced under the WPA/FAP.
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Public Sentiment: During the Great Depression, there was a strong sense of solidarity and collective struggle among the American people. Art that depicted scenes of everyday life, highlighted social issues, and celebrated American resilience resonated with the public. Socialist realist art, with its focus on the common man and the struggles of ordinary people, appealed to this sentiment.
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Artistic Trends: Artistic styles are often influenced by prevailing trends and movements. In the 1930s, realism was a dominant style globally, with artists seeking to capture the realities of life, especially in the wake of economic hardship and social upheaval. Socialist realism was an extension of this trend, emphasizing the importance of collective effort and social progress.
While much of the art produced under the WPA/FAP adhered to socialist realist principles, it's essential to note that not all WPA art fit this mold. The program supported a diverse range of artists and styles, including regionalism, modernism, and abstraction. However, the socialist realist style is perhaps the most well-known and visible aspect of WPA art due to its prevalence in public spaces like post offices and government buildings.
This is where I ask myself whether CoPilot is simply using chatGPT or a variation of it, since it is offered by Microsoft and MSFT is the chief investor in OpenAI.
Bloggers have tried answering this as well.
Wikipedia has an entry, where it says it makes no distinction between representational and non-representational and reminds us that this is a relief project to provide jobs, not art as such, the art is a by-product. Like AI artifacture!
MidJourney didn't do so badly with a prompt to make the woman with the letter in the style of WPA artist Kindred McLeary but there are various things wrong with the images (it often gets hands wrong.
One thing about Kindred's actual paintings is that he always gives a thought to what the other people in the picture are doing and makes them realistic, even if they aren't in the foreground or the place to which the eye is drawn. MJ of course mangles that sort of thing.
MJ also couldn't see its way clear to making a young street urchin pick-pocketing a rich man. It turned in 4 x 4 of completely wrong scenes like this one and I gave up so as not to burn the hours:
Perhaps if you try 100 times with different variations and prompts (as people do who get good results) maybe it would improve but as of this hour, we'll say WPA artists were better than AI artifacture by a long shot.
All those people getting their shoes polished, landing in America with their suitcases and bundles, carrying letters they read or mail, people selling newspapers — all these activities are pretty much extinct now. Now everyone has a phone in their hand, and their shoes are not polished.
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