Derry gallery opening on Culture Night looking at local artists, AI and oil paintings

James’ residency, titled ‘And sometimes it just comes out of nowhere’, saw him converse with a number of local artists about Artificial Intelligence (AI). He initially set out to discus the ‘looming presence’ of AI and its possible implications for the creative community but, after some exploration, James discovered the limitations of using AI to produce art, which led him back to more traditional art forms. He said: “AI is running through every creative person's head at the minute and it's all over the media. It’s an interesting scenario where you see people starting Instagram feeds with their AI art and they all look like the background for a video game or something. So, I thought it would be worth exploring and decided to hook up with local creative musicians and poets and maybe explore doing some new work based on AI or using AI as a tool.

“The first few weeks of the residency were spent looking at image generators and sound generators that use AI. There was the initial novelty factor there where it was interesting creating these scenarios. What I found after a while was that a lot of the stuff looks the same and if you want to make something unique using AI, you have to put a lot of hours into it. It's not as instant as people make it out to be. AI can be handy for stock photography but I didn't really find it that interesting because you end up putting so much work into it that you might as well just do it on traditional means.”

James worked with local artists Paul McCartney, Hannah Richardson, Declan McLaughlin, Sianna Ní Laithbheartaigh, Stephen Mc Cool, Abby Olivera, Chris McConaghey, Eileen Webster and Stephen McCauley, where he first invited each of them into Art Arcadia to discuss AI.

“I asked each of the artists what they thought of AI, which led them to a conversation about their creative process itself,” James said. “We had some really interesting conversations and something that came up a lot was that the artists thought AI lacked soul, it lacked humanity. A lot of them were saying that if you want to do something that connects with people on a human level, you have to put time into it. The more time you put into it, the greater the connection with the viewer. This got me thinking; what's the opposite I can do to give the instant gratification of image generation? I realised then that I could go the complete reverse and do a really old traditional method of image capture, which is painting."

James, who usually works with photography and audio, has little experience with painting but the pandemic gave him time and space to explore the art form while he spent a month caring for a family member.

He said: “Over lockdown I was looking after my mother, who wasn't well. She used to paint landscapes so I found a couple of old canvases, an easel and brushes in her attic. I just started messing around with acrylic paints and I really enjoyed it. I've been staring at a screen for the best part of 25 years so it was so nice to get away from that and have something tangible there in front of you. I suppose the decision to paint portraits during this residency was naïve because it's required a lot of work. I tried different styles of painting and different ways of doing things because I'm not a painter so I don't know the rules but I enjoye d get lost in it. That's the best part of doing anything creative; getting lost in it and forgetting about time and things going on around you.

"The showcase for the residency itself has the artists’ voices played from the table where they were sitting to record it, which will hopefully tie in with the painted portraits. I think part of the residency has to reflect the space. So I found when I was interviewing these people, the room has a beautiful reverb. I got them to sing unaccompanied and just fill the room. The reverb in the room was just beautiful.”Art Arcadia will be open to the public on Culture Night, Friday September 22 from 5pm to 9pm and will also open Tuesday to Friday, September 26-30 by appointment only. James is feeling apprehensive about a particular group of people coming to view his work.

"I hope that people that are my paintings are okay with them, because I'm actually terrified!” he joked. “I’m so appreciative of them coming in and giving me their time so I hope they like what they see. I put them in the spot as well, they didn't know what they were coming in for because I hadn't really formulated an idea, so they don’t even know that I’ve painted them. I'm interested to see their reaction.

"I’m also really appreciative to the Programme Manager here Paola Bernardelli and the team for giving me this opportunity. I think it's really important for the local art scene to have a place like this because people need time and space to create. You still have to have an income when you’re doing something creative, so people are working and spending most of their time on jobs that aren't creative, just so they can do their passion on the side. To have a space where you can do stuff like this is essential and there should be more of it. I have a lot of gratitude to have been given this opportunity.”

For more information on Art Arcadia or to book a visit to the gallery, email [email protected] or visit artarcadia.org.