As AI instruments enhance, all of us should ask: What sort of creativity can we worth most? Is it the thought? The method? The perfection or the imperfections? That’s not a foul factor. It’s an indication that artwork continues to be evolving.
My artistic companion and I mix pictures with set design to take colourful, surreal pictures. We just lately posted a behind-the-scenes reel from one among our older photoshoots, anticipating it to be an informal glimpse into our course of. What we didn’t anticipate? A full-blown debate about whether or not it was “price it” to construct a set by hand in 2025.
You possibly can take a look at the behind-the-scenes of the set construct and photoshoot within the video above.
To be clear, this wasn’t a brand new shoot. It was from late 2023, and we’d already shared the ultimate pictures, course of movies, every little thing—and it was very nicely acquired. This time round, the response began off equally constructive. However now, with AI instruments like Midjourney, Firefly, and Photoshop’s Generative Fill dominating artistic conversations, our similar put up triggered a completely totally different and really sudden response.
Immediately, individuals weren’t simply reacting to the ultimate picture. They have been questioning all the course of. “Why trouble constructing one thing actual when you might generate it digitally?” “This looks as if a waste of time.” “Appears to be like cool, however AI may do it quicker.” “It’s best to have achieved it in put up.”
That shift in notion says so much about the place we’re creatively proper now. It appears like the thought of creating one thing together with your arms is beginning to really feel outdated to some individuals. The rise of AI is reshaping what we worth in artwork: pace, effectivity, perfection. However what occurs once we begin measuring creativity by these metrics alone?
Click on right here to view the behind-the-scenes viral reel that began the controversy.
Right here’s what I do know: There are a thousand methods to create a single picture. Digital instruments are legitimate. AI might be thrilling. However the methodology issues. Not as a result of one is healthier than one other, however as a result of the method shapes the end result.
For us, bodily constructing environments and alluring individuals to work together with them isn’t only a desire. It’s a part of the emotional and visible storytelling that defines our work.
When somebody steps onto an actual set, it modifications them. Their posture shifts. Their expressions soften or sharpen. The way in which gentle hits actual textures can’t absolutely be faked. All of that delicate power turns into a part of the ultimate photograph. And it’s not nearly aesthetics. It’s concerning the emotional and bodily response that the area creates.
I’m not anti-AI. We use digital instruments. We’ve performed with AI. However what we preserve coming again to is that this: Creativity doesn’t have one proper path. Identical to you may paint the identical scene with watercolor, oil, acrylic, or spray paint—there’s no single proper method. However every course of and materials modifications the top end in its personal method.
The worth of creating one thing isn’t at all times within the output. Typically, it’s within the doing. Within the tactile, unpredictable strategy of taking an thought from sketch to bodily creation.
So what does it say about our artistic tradition if we begin dismissing that type of work simply because it takes longer? Or as a result of it’s messier? Are we shifting towards a model of creativity the place “ok” and “quick” turn out to be the usual?
The backlash we acquired wasn’t concerning the artwork. It was concerning the effort. And that’s the dialog we expect is price having and the factor that stunned us most.
I am not right here to inform anybody make their artwork. However I’ll say this: Critique the picture if you need—however don’t dismiss the method. It’s not about being higher. It’s about being totally different. And totally different is the place new concepts are born.
Artwork is one thing deeper, and there’s no one-size-fits-all method. The method is simply as a lot part of the artwork as the ultimate product. AI is a device. However it isn’t the one device, nor ought to it’s. There may be worth in all of it.
So wherever your creativity takes you, whether or not it’s digital, bodily, or someplace in between, don’t let the web speak you out of doing what feels significant. Particularly now, when the world wants extra wild concepts, not fewer.
As a result of ultimately, it’s not nearly how briskly we will create. It’s about what we’re selecting to say via the work we make.
