In the Group 72 gallery, the collaborators are building a set of collages that feel playful yet considered, with plenty of room left for the unexpected.
Christine and Frank begin by ripping up an older acrylic painting and hot gluing the pieces into a new abstract structure. Christine writes that she would love it if this stayed “an abstract, texture driven piece” but admits it’s “out of my hands.” Sandy later receives their collage with “very blue painter’s tape,” recycled materials, and layered surfaces. She responds in kind, adding a charm, “mini-gears,” home-dried corn silks, and recycled wrinkled paper bag. Her description makes the piece sound almost tactile from a distance, an invitation to look closely and feel with the eyes.
Sandy’s own starter, “Found It! Wrinkles in Time,” grows out of a 1920s city directory from her western Pennsylvania hometown. Early photos show pages being arranged with matte medium on gesso board; a later image reveals the finished foundation, creased and rippling. When Ben posts “Wrinkle in time before and after,” his pair of images echo that title again, suggesting he is also thinking about folds and temporal shifts.
Sonja’s starter brings yet another texture language, with recycled cardboard, strong greens, and what Christine describes as a “nature driven aesthetic.” Christine removes an out-of-place building and clouds to deepen the green environment and give more room for the next hands.
Halfway around, Group 72 seems to be testing how far surfaces can be pushed—wrinkled, layered, cut apart, and reassembled—while still staying open to each other’s choices.
Group 72
Kaya Fehmi (California), Ben Hoz (California), Sonja Hinrichsen (California), Christine Hippeli & Frank Ferraiolo (Connecticut), SandyG (Pennsylvania)
Anna the AI commentary creates an interesting mélange of phrases to summarize the #72 works. I encourage the use and development of Anna’s skills as IMO that becomes another tool; not an end-all summarization but a potantial method to highlight or showcasing work. There are only so many hours in a day for analog and more manual processing for a project. Judicial use of tools to streamline makes sense to me.
SandyG—Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I look forward to further experimentation and discussion.
Whoa! Fooled re: AI Anna’s insights and commentary.
Christine—Thanks for commenting. I’m happy you were curious enough to follow the by-line link. I didn’t want to make Anna’s initials the headline, but I don’t mean to trick anyone; I hope you don’t feel ‘fooled’ in that way.
This is my first use of this dangerous new tech. I’d like to think it could be helpful and harmless if used thoughtfully, but that may be naive. The social, economic and environmental implications are concerning—more so in regard to images and a/v—but it’s all part of the same wild experiment. I plan to add a post to the Project News, hoping to elicit opinions and perspectives from project participants.
Thanks again for your comment. I’d like to hear more from you, if you have more to share. Wishing you well. Looking forward—Marty