The Coming Wave

July 25, 2023

Ive been struggling a lot lately. I’ve been Thinking about AI and battling nihilism constantly in my art and tattooing. It feels truly disruptive. I remember the first time that I heard about Dall-e, I couldn’t sleep that night.

It has shaken me to my core. I found myself recently, asking why it is that I do what I do. Why tattoo? Why create? What is the purpose of drawing and tattooing in an age where the forging of an image has become casual and practically instant.

I came to this realization as i was trying to settle into sleep yesterday.  Just as my eyes began to close, this idea popped into my head. I thought it was a kinder more optimistic view on the whole situation.

I found it fitting to make some AI art for this little blog entry.

Tattooing, the calling that I have devoted my life to, is one of the most purely human endeavors possible. That mixture of ink and blood and steel is a form of alchemy. Its one of the last sparks of the old world still living in this new world of mars missions and robot dogs. It is connection to our ancestors and our true selves using the trinity of our own body, blood and spirit. It is my favorite of the thinning heard of modern rituals and rites. Through it, our skin becomes armor. Through the process we begin to know ourselves. We find out how much we can tolerate. We find out what we really want to say about ourselves. These are things a robot may never understand, or at the very least,cant relate to. They are available for us to enjoy and experience as humans. No robot can take that away from us. I hope they might help us get there,

but god damnit

keep me in the driver seat.

Get .

yer.

Dang .

robot.   

hands .

off .

my .

steering .

wheel.