Photoshlock

Remember spin-art? You mounted a heavy sheet paper onto a fast moving turntable and set it in motion. You'd then drip colored paint from a selection of squirt bottles onto the spinning page. The paint would splatter outward from the center and create the most amazing, positively galactic, bursts of color.

I grew up in New York City, and I was first introduced to spin-art at the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing. Spin-art became so popular, that nearly every tee-shirt and poster shop in Greenwich Village had a concession. Of course, while the paper was spinning, the "artist" had no idea what the finished piece would look like. No matter, the result was always beautiful and the man running the concession would ceremoniously slip your creation into a simple paper frame in exchange for your five dollar bill.

Suppose a contest were held on Gather, and contestants were asked to submit their spin-art, I imagine dozens of submissions would be rated with 10s and that comments like "Beautiful" and "Wow" would abound. A winner would be declared and without doubt, the winning piece would be a joy to behold. But, I just can't bring myself to lavish praise on an accident. Spin-art is accidental art and the human participant behind its creation, an innocent bystander.

This is precisely the problem I have with Photoshop. Wait, wait, wait... don't get me wrong, I love Photoshop. My livelihood, in part, depends on Photoshop. But, take any portrait, click "Find Edges" and viola!, psychedelic acid trip. Take the same portrait, click "Paint Daubs" or Palette Knife" and it's instant impressionism. The work might be pretty, or mysterious, or even startling but it has no soul.

Used in this way, Photoshop is just an amusing toy and the user, merely a spin-artist. Maybe I'm being a snob, but I attach no value to this type of work. In the hands of an artist Photoshop is a near perfect vehicle with which to create great works of art. For the past twenty years photographers, Illustrators, designers and other digital artists, all have found ways to manipulate this incredibly versatile program; to force it into doing their bidding. If you allow Photoshop itself to do the work, you end up with schlock.