Mutated, dismembered, they become nothing but a container, a shape to hold other images.
Writing by J. Bird
Art is a collab of collage and AI by Katy Somerville and Kiki Ren, respectively
“I came to assist as spectator at the birth of all my works…”
-Max Ernst
It’s Not Me, It’s You
I collect magazines. Some of them I’ve read. But, mostly I keep them for the pictures which I cut out and carve through with scissors, then rearrange to compose a new piece of art.
Typically I’m drawn to photographs of ordinary people, living in themselves(as best as someone could be with a camera pointed at them)-Candid, mostly unadorned, earnest-but weighted with the photographer’s intention and contextualized within the frame. A moment seized. An experience lifted from space and impressed with meaning despite the subject themselves.
I labour under the idea that I only continue this process, pull the subject involuntarily into even more alien and rarified spaces. I contradict them, I mutate them, dismember them, sometimes they become nothing but a container, a shape to hold other images, also loaded, also metamorphosed.
As many artists will claim, when working, the will becomes abstracted and secreted from even the artist themselves, it’s only upon review that meaning and purpose(if there is such a thing) can be gleaned from the thing. There’s but an inkling of an idea and the production is an attempt to fully describe that hint to not only the presumed audience, but to the artist.
Oftentimes the yield is disappointing-it’s brimming with snatches from one’s idols and friends-an embarrassing truth all must contend with and ultimately resign themselves to. And I have, for the most part, come to terms with this aspect of making. My one power is to shape an image, imbue a form, give a new attitude to something that has always existed.
Through the wielding of a blade, the crude fumbling of fingers, the smearing of glue and a woefully imprecise eye I call up a temporary ghost which will inexorably unsubstantiate as it’s beckoned to another purpose.
About the Author
J. Bird is a multidisciplinary artist from Montreal Quebec, Canada working in literature, music and drawing. They are primarily interested in exploring the uncontextualized, the ephemeral and questions dealing with the concepts of reality and phenomenology in day to day existence. You can hear their music, if you have the stomach for it, on Bandcamp https://shittybird.bandcamp.com/ , see their drawings on Instagram @ the_shitty_bird, read their crap right here and, soon, on their blog ehmorfuss.wordpress.com.
About the AI Artist
Kiki is best described as 45% Elvira, 45% Dolly Parton, and 10% Danny Devito. Though she’s always been a lover of all forms of art, technology has always been her forte. She studied computer science for four years before dropping out and coasting through life in various retail management positions. That’s until she found her true calling: being an embarrassment to her family online. When she’s not whipping up websites or blessing the world with memes and generative art she’s hunting for oddities at thrift stores or reading the most disturbing pieces of experimental fiction she can find.
About the Collage Artist
Katy Somerville was beamed into existence on a Monday night in the mid-eighties by stars, glitter, and a glorious Italian woman from a long line of very strong women. In the present timeline, she likes to drink coffee, pat any animal that will engage with her, make collages, and spend time laughing and finding moments of joy wherever she can with her partner and her goofy, lanky dog.
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