Tuesday, April 12, 2011

the science of burrito art

Went to Micky D's for my breakfast burrito fix. All things being equal, training, amount of ingredients and practiced construction technique, I can't help wondering why each burrito is so unique. Is the breakfast pace too hurried, is the burrito maker a rookie, having a off day, or distracted? Or are they dedicated to customer happiness, bucking for manger? Do Hispanics from Mexico make the best burritos (sorry I'm profiling)?

Some days they are stuffed, some days they are wimpy, some days dry and some days I wait for the Mariachi band to serenade while I whiff and savior. Why is the Linuxville guy hawking burritos? I'm not but lately I realized that digital art has a kind of stigma in the art world. It is OK as long as it is on a web page or a game or movie effects, a sign or greeting card. You talk about digital art as serious art and people get that burrito questioning look in their eyes. Hey it's not the art educated high mucky mucks who are torpedoed, it's the average Joe and JoAnn who are still stuck on traditional media.  Even the obvious repro needs to have once had brush strokes. I have seen total digital prints covered with gesso and stroked with a brush to enhance it for sale. They wouldn't do that to a silk-screen or a lithograph! OK, they might.

But....all things being equal, the hardware, the software, the training to use it all and still each digital artwork is so unique, hmmmmmm! Then print it, mount it, and hang it. You see I know that if Micky D's didn't have a procedure to stop the burrito maker at the right moment, it would cost $5 each. When we come to digital art, because of the possibilities of the media (so close to photography, animation and movies), we expect so much. The trick is to stop the digital art maker at the right moment so that a $100 picture doesn't cost you $500. The diff? At $100 you can savior, at $500 you buy insurance and a security system. I am talking niche buying, if you chose to spend more, go for it. The fancy restaurants all have their atmosphere plus more substantial burritos (extra for parsley sprig).

Digital art is causing a lot of reconsidering what art is. I can draw a mathematically perfect circle or squiggly lopsided oval or a sketchy round thing, all on my PC. I can alter it, copy it, shrink it or enlarge it. Still, when I am done will it be art? The PC is just another tool/media with it's own procedures and outcomes. You still spend time making art. I am always amazed, this is the art you can make on a PC and this is how it looks when you print it out. The one on the left is a $1 burrito, the right a $5 burrito.........sauce on the side?

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