aRT: XENOSTRUCTURALISM V CATALOGUE WRITTEN INTRODUCTION (A.Glass 2024)

 


Welcome to the Fifth XENOSTRUCTURALISM catalogue, which I would say, without being overly modest, my most extensive and complete catalogue to date.  As noted with XENOSTRUCTURALISM IV, the previous catalogue, the direction of my art, or at least the cultivation of what I have been creating over a period of more than a decade, is evolving. And I have also added Two cocktail recipes to the catalogue, created for the mythical bar called “Sub-Levels” that lies beneath a collapsed, in all of its metaphor, urbanised world. However, these recipes are real and have been consumed with a successful tasting. All in retrospective as a homage, which is true story, to when I gave my classroom a show-and-tell at the age of Fourteen on how to make cocktails.

With this catalogue, I also experimented with so-called Artificial Intelligence art and photographic rendering programs. Although not completely a fan of AI, as it only falls within the ‘narrow’ range of its abilities, apparently we all have to wait over a decade for AI to integrate itself into everything, and thus becoming more interesting. AI’s art programs don’t offer me ideas per se, rather it is I, that has offered AI an idea which has already been created, from my own written concepts and artwork. To which, I feel one can exploit the absurdity of AI, rather than vice versa. And within this exploitable absurdity of AI’s randomness with its error prone renditions, it can further define the surreal. That being, at the end of the day, our modern, technologically advanced society. That is probably amidst a significant decline regardless. Like it has done so in history, many times before. And AI is certainly not leading the way, just human overconfidence.

I am also attracted to the concept of the Japanese art/philosophy of wasbi-sabi (侘び寂び), that was derived from 14th Century Zen Buddhism, which has its roots in Chinese Taoism. To acknowledge that everything ends, and in its ending is the aesthetical decline, which are the imperfect reflections through ageing, assisted without regard by the wear-and-tear inflicted by nature. Yet, it holds in its worn defect a beautiful resonance, and also a defiance. My art has always reflected this, that precision and perfection is only the cultivation of mastery. Not the desire to master the paragon. And unfortunately in our current prefabricated and very illusionary society at this current point in our timeline, there has been an obsession with fast paced efforts to create perfect digital mainframes and instinct gratifying structures. Which are intrinsically flawed and falling apart, without its intention of being so. And worst within the arrogance for this mythical perfect society, we are failing to learn and appreciate the errors made. Maybe we should just let things fall apart.

And revel in its possibilities.

A.Glass 2024

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All XENOSTRUCTURALISM catalogues:

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