The Worth of Human Hands
As a society, we place a high value on items that are handmade. Farmers markets, corner shops, and online stores present “hand-crafted” and “homemade” products that are a higher price than mechanically made products. The labor put into hand-crafted items is recognized, the tedious work reflected in the often-amazing quality of a product; still, they’re usually considered a luxury. The Federal Art Project, ironically, produced thousands of paintings, and was criticized by gallery owners and some artists for over-saturating the market. FAP supporters countered that most Americans had little access to original works, and that critics were conceiving of art as a commodity instead of skilled work. That debate still is relevant as we now battle the use of generative AI to aggregate millions of artworks into “original” pieces, generated in seconds. AI art is not valued the same as handmade art; however, dedicated sites like AI Art Shop, and even mainstream ones like Etsy and Adobe Stock sell AI art due to its affordability. The AI takeover actively pushes artists out of their role or turns them into contract workers on sites like Fiverr.
Hyman J. Warsager’s 1935 lithograph, Tree Surgeons, shows us that a different model during times of technological change is possible. Warsager was one of the most technically innovative printmakers of his generation, advancing color lithography and revolutionizing screen-printing techniques (eventually called serigraphy). Yet he always worked collaboratively—co-founding the Creative Printmakers Group and the National Serigraph Society—and often turned his skills toward political engagement. In the image here, three men each know their roles and yet they function almost as a guild; their work isn’t simply wage labor but knowledge and craft.
The current use of AI diminishes the value behind the labor that artists put into their work, disconnecting the thought, intention and effort that comes with the creation of a piece from the subject of art. The worth and respect that should be held to artists is destroyed with each instant generated image, the original meaning artists put behind each piece lost. Artists are being put out of work in favor of A.I. slop, diminishing the reverence we should hold for the labor-intensive pieces created by artists. Even an “AI Generative Art” project in the hands of librarians still is highly dependent upon the alienated labor of unnamed artists from the past, hiding behind a façade of “Dada” self-consciousness. The Federal Art Project saved artists during the Great Depression by giving them worth, confidence, and appreciation. How will we save our artists now?