Peer behind the digital veil, into the mind of the captivating Patrick Amadon, and his newest series titled ‘Sequence’. Known for his distinctive approach to glitch art combined with elements of provocative commentary, Amadon sends the viewer into a place of introspection on themes such as social issues, political upheaval, and expanding technologies.
Explore the realms of AI Dystopianism through the powerful messaging of ‘Sequence’ and Patrick Amadon in this edition of Behind the Art!
‘THE ORIGIN’
In the words of Patrick Amadon, “Art that doesn’t trigger debate or discussion belongs in IKEA”, a principle that Amadon holds closely to his artistic endeavors. Amadon’s digital art journey began around 2012 when he had the realization that social media platforms might become well suited for digital art to flourish. Shortly thereafter he began to take his physical paintings and put them through glitch processes to accomplish something that could only be accomplished through digitally based artwork and more translatable to the growing social media platforms of that time.
Amdadon reminisces on the times of posting artwork on Twitter from a link through to Tumblr and his feelings about the digital art movement. “Digital art has the power to impact more people than art has ever had before with our distribution. Banksy can throw up paintings on walls but we can cross the globe seamlessly, with phones, and computers. Art has always been about the message and the transmissibility of digital art is something art has never had before.” Before long this experimentation grew into a strong digital identity and even stronger passion, pushing Patrick Amadon to become a recognizable figure within the growing digital art movement through his strikingly animated loops of glitched images.
Amadon’s transition into non-fungible technology and the potential for cryptocurrency was a seamless one as a digital artist who primarily utilized social media platforms, specifically Twitter, to build an audience. “I’d been making digital art for a decade for… kicks? I loved making digital art but there was no pragmatic way to make a living” recalls Amadon. “Galleries saw digital art as the lowest of art and it was difficult to sell and awkward.” After making it (digital art) for years for the positive feedback loop sharing it on Twitter would afford, Amadon says, “It’s nice to make a living thanks to the technology that allows the creation of discrete digital assets.” Amadon found he had many shared qualities with that of the cryptocurrency movement in that of its censorship resistance, global inclusion, and distribution abilities.
Patrick Amadon’s earlier works primarily showcased his love for abstract forms, textures, and graffiti inspiration however an important paradigm shift occurred for Amadon during his interactions with renowned art critic Jerry Saltz. This advice urged the artist to infuse his art with more meaning and purpose. Amadon accredits this with impacting his career and being the constructive criticism he needed to push deeper into social and political commentary. “We can impact the world more meaningfully than ever before,” Amadon exclaims. This shift in Amadon’s artwork was ever apparent in his ‘No Rioters’ artwork which contained secret political messages supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and was displayed on a billboard in the heart of Hong Kong. ‘No Rioters’ was eventually removed by the Chinese authorities and has resulted in “China trying to hack me and jail time if I enter China” according to Amadon.
Amadon is no stranger to sharing his thoughts and in 2023, quite publicly, withdrew his artwork from Sotheby's "Natively Digital: Glitch-ism" auction due to the lack of representation of female-identifying artists in the glitch art movement. In part due to this exit from Sotheby's and armed with his own beliefs, Amadon was inspired to launch the "404 Art Catalog," a decentralized and platform-agnostic art exhibition to showcase the latest digital art with a focus on discoverability for artists. “I think it’s critical we embrace an inclusive and accessible art movement that supports artists from diverse backgrounds” Amadon explains.
‘SEQUENCE’
‘Sequence’ is a seven-part foray into the most critical processes for AI to understand, interpret, and extract an image. This system is known as Convolutional Neural Network and is fundamental for computer vision. Each of the seven works is a physical oil painting that has been interpreted and had multiple variations created by AI. The AI variations are then shaped into a. GIF, which according to Amadon “is the original image format for the internet.” Amadon explains, “We’re at an interesting point in history, on the verge of the most significant technological shift in human history with the emergence of AI. The interpretation of the physical world, particularly images by AI, is fascinating and particularly relevant for the future of visual media.”
Amadon considers AI a tool above all else, “many people immaturely class AI as a collaborator.” He says, “We don’t need to anthropomorphize technology. It mimics but isn’t intelligent.” While Amadon speaks highly of AI and its use case as a tool, he wants this artwork to serve as a conversation around the concepts of an AI dystopian future and to act as a warning label of sorts for the inevitable growth of AI technology. Something Amadon refers to as “the race to AGI”. “All trends point dystopian.” Amadon expresses. “I’m concerned about the direction we’re heading.” Amadon warns of a wild decade in which a whole new batch of ethical issues concerned with AI arise. Forces that Amadon considers “greater than an atomic bomb”.
While Amadon warns of the potential problems with AI, he also says that humanity would be remiss to not embrace the good that it can bring along with it. “Embrace AI as a tool until AGI.” Amadon explains. “I would hesitate to be scared of it or to not learn how it can be used. It will be a part of the membrane of nearly everything digitally in a few years.” Amadon reminds us that “Art is an excellent vehicle for discussion and messaging.”
Through ‘Sequence’, Patrick Amadon seeks to leave his mark on the grander conversation around AI and the future that encompasses it. Amadon believes that “paired with the democratization of the art that is possible in our digital space, the impact of digital artists can be unlike anything we’ve seen before. We have the capacity to meaningfully impact real issues.”
‘Sequence’ is Amadon’s long-awaited return to Solana. “Accessibility matters and I believe that Solana is the accessible chain right now”, Amadon explains. “I just want to see as many artists as possible able to make a living or meaningfully contribute to their life with art. I think embracing a multi-chain ecosystem is critical for that. I believe Solana has a big part to play in that.”
‘Sequence’ is a series of 7 unique 1/1 artworks from Patrick Amadon releasing daily via no reserve price auctions starting on 01/16/24 only on Exchange Art!
