Be an artist in one click.

Are you the next Shia LeBoeuf? Pro-folio creates fake art portfolios for anyone smart enough to type their name in a box, complete with bullshit artist statements. Fast Company's Mark Wilson: "[Creator Sures] Kumar says it took his testers an average of five to 10 minutes to figure out his sites were phony."

The creation of falsified information within scientific research has a long and colourful history. The consequences of previous scientific hoaxes have been both critically beneficial and devastatingly destructive to the creators and recipients of these fictions. Some are designed and deliberately revealed in order to complete their agendas, whereas others continue to charade as the truth.

Given the availability of information online ranging from open source names to college databases, computers can construct a believable identity in no time. All it takes is to carefully lay the facts in a logical sequence, which can be coded as an algorithm. If this is possible, can computer programs create all sorts of human identities in future? And what will be the motivation to do so? Will it be just populating identities and adding noise to our already overloaded Internet or will it give birth to interesting, engaging, avant-garde, mysterious identities and art works?

Pro-Folio questions the nominal authenticity of works, which constructs artist’s and designers online identity (i.e. Name, Education, Work, etc). As an outcome, a website www.pro-folio.org was built which creates fictional identities of artists and designers. The algorithm also adds random work as their bona-fide portfolio. This happens dynamically (in real-time) when the user is browsing the portfolio.

(From sureskumar.com)

And now, please click here, enter your stage name and enjoy the results.

Love the idea - fun to watch and to read.

On topic:
Anybody else heard of the Warholizer (your 15 minutes of fame)?

Best regards,
Michael

I created an identity and am so impressed by how much work I've done and the impressive list of exhibits I've had!

Where on earth do they get all the pictures?

My artist statement was perfect psychobabble one expects from a modern gallery!

My name was Pieter Vandeklauss!

So look at the site

http://pro-folio.org/Pieter-Vandeklauss

Thanks for the laughs!!!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

I created an identity and am so impressed by how much work I've done and the impressive list of exhibits I've had!

Where on earth do they get all the pictures?

My artist statement was perfect psychobabble one expects from a modern gallery!

My name was Pieter Vandeklauss!

So look at the site

http://pro-folio.org/Pieter-Vandeklauss

Thanks for the laughs!!!

Asher

Click to expand...

Vandeklauss???? …shouldn't it be VanDenClauss? …LOL.

Asher Kelman said:

Where on earth do they get all the pictures?

Click to expand...

"Various open source names, colleges, places and galleries databases were used to generate the fictional identities. Theoretically, the algorithm can generate upto 690,903,803 trillion fictional identities with unique name and work combinations. Data from various online sources are used to generate these portfolios.
"

(From http://pro-folio.org/about-pro-folio.php)

Jerome Marot said:

Various open source names, colleges, places and galleries databases were used to generate the fictional identities. Theoretically, the algorithm can generate upto 690,903,803 trillion fictional identities with unique name and work combinations. Data from various online sources are used to generate these portfolios.

Click to expand...

Jerome,

One benefit of this algorithm is that it generates quite plausible esthetic-value added motivations for an artist's work. Actually, these are pretty good reflections of some of the nonsense that one might find in the so called, "Artist's Statement" that promoters of success as an "Artist" recommend at the outset of a web presence! These "about the artist" paragraphs are often blatantly self-centered, arrogant attempts to sound like a philosopher-artist, some blend of Sartre and Duchamp perhaps with a dash of Bresson. UGH!

My advice is to generate several of these using this clever and spoofy website and then make sure that one's own presentation owns none of that!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

My advice is to generate several of these using this clever and spoofy website and then make sure that one's own presentation owns none of that!

Click to expand...

On the contrary, I would think that this arrogant, self-centred pseudo-babble is just what is needed for an artist statement. If you go and read the web sites of photographers, this is just the kind of statement that you get.

Do the following: go to the sites of galleries or photo competitions. The photographers selling their images in galleries, online art magazines or winning competitions will have their web sites listed. These photographers must be somewhat successful, since they have been chosen by galleries, magazines or won competitions. You will find out that their "artist statements" are just as vacuous and self-centred that the ones generated by the web site.

Furthermore, the "artists" automatically generated by the site have proven to be convincing. It is a hoax, but it works well. Conversely, the artist statements do not tick the people who go to the fake sites believing that the artist is real.

The artist statements are apparently taken over from the Arty Bollocks generator which has been around for quite some years.

Cem_Usakligil said:

The artist statements are apparently taken over from the Arty Bollocks generator which has been around for quite some years.

Click to expand...

Cem, I want to thank you for a new signature:

"My work explores the relationship between acquired synesthesia and football chants."

Since this thread is marked as "not PC and the like", I would like to post a little exercise for your enjoyment. I went to a famous online photography journal and downloaded their latest selection of works. Then, I went to the web site of the chosen photographers and copied all what could pass as an artist statement. I just changed the names to make the statements anonymous.

In addition, I inserted a bogus statement created from the automatic generator. In this one, I moved a few sentences around and changed a few adjectives to make the game more interesting, but it is still basically the same mumbo-jumbo.

There you are: find the bogus statement in the following list (split between two posts):


Verbalising a visual medium, such as photography, is not a task most artists relish and I count myself among them. But if I were to sum it up I would say the act of taking a photograph is really a form of self-expression. People express themselves with cameras all the time; whether it be taking family shots, holiday snaps, wedding photographs or pictures of newborn babies. The photographer uses a camera, their eyes and their judgement to create an image they hope will communicate something special to an audience. In this respect I am no different. I take photographs because I enjoy the visual medium and hope to convey a moment, a mood or an experience to the viewer.

****

As a photographer I like to be on the move, both physically and technically, trying out new approaches and discovering new paths. I feel artists need to continually challenge themselves and experiment in order to progress creatively and to keep ideas fresh and vital. My aim is to capture the essential quality of the experience before me at the very moment the shutter closes. Light, subject and shadow all play an important role. In terms of composition, what fails to make the final image is often as important as the image itself. All of these decisions are key to the creative process and something I find continually challenging and inspiring. I hope this inspiration is apparent in my work.

****

The camera is now a part of C. persona and leaves him to concentrate on the aesthetics of an image. He has that freedom to concentrate on the reality behind the facade, capturing the emotions, experiences, and feelings of people in the street.
The great majority of his photographs are black and white; he is convinced that this classic approach is the best way to show reality. The viewer is not distracted by colour, and the eye concentrates on the contrast and lines of a person.
To date he is involved in local collective exhibitions and has been published two or three times in collective books. As he continues to expand on his themes he is looking forward to holding solo exhibitions, hopefully outside of his home country.
Photography is now a major part of his life. He is passionate, absorbed, committed, dedicated and derives enormous pleasure from making images.

****

His passion in life is seeking both the visual harmony and spiritual aura in the environment, and interpreting the aesthetics through the photographic medium using natural light, form, and texture. He will often study several captured images together, and if he feels the need to deepen the visual spiritual connection, will blend and fuse two or more images together to enhance the connection for both himself and the viewer. He has a strong fascination with the creation versus evolution debate, and is continually fascinated by the intricacies and the workings of nature, which combined with his own unique vision and artistic talents, is the source of his major artworks.

He believes in a spiritual connection between mankind and the primeval forces which have sculpted and shaped our landscape and flora and fauna, and believes that if we are separated from nature and its inherent beauty, then our spirit and soul is also being separated and deprived of natural nourishment and growth. The subtle nuances and beauty of the environment are an essential part of both our physical and psychological well being, and his greatest desire in life is to bring that connection back into the lives of others for the health and wellbeing of all.

****

The story is about energy, how it is generated, transferred and transformed. I am an image artist living adjacent to the R. River, my sense of place. Current work and ongoing interest is in creating luminous forms from the surface of the River and exploring emerging and visceral themes.
The series begins by capturing the act of impact penetrating surface water, producing and transferring energy as waves evolve. The act of impact transforms imagery into swirl and splatter forms eventually receding back to the equilibrium of the still meniscus from which light illusions of figure and amorphous form again prevail.What I essentially do is shoot into the sun’s beam of reflected white light. Often shooting with dark glasses from cliffs with a telephoto lens into the mirror like radiance of the sun bouncing back from the surface.
I capture silver-blue halos of sun and cloud radiating off the River at the interface between the water realm and the air, creating illusions of form and figure. Different times of day and year produce different results such as silver blue cloudy days to sunny day halos of intense natural colour. I refer to my technique as ‘Lightsculpting’. Forms are created from gradations of light and shade like carving from the block of an image. Emerging through the meniscus between realms, bodies come into sight both by becoming form and being taken apart. Images evolve by shrouding and peeling-open face and figure to reveal the visceral within. The idea of journey as not always something pretty but going somewhere, is evident as forms evolve. What I am really doing is revisiting Man’s first mirror, the meniscus of still water. It’s a world of our imaginings, dancing on the rim of the physical.The luminous meniscus is a floating world of potential, an ambiguous space.The shifting uncertainty of form presents a sense of instability, evoking amorphous,lyrical and visceral responses. It is sometimes more about what goes missing in the shadows. The imagery aesthetic is in ideation and punctum.
The work celebrates form and invites a sense of journey.
Imagery asks questions by inviting a range of responses intended to still the viewer long enough to look twice. My experience is grounded in science and sculpture and there is a sense of seeing the art and science in the energy of natural form.

****

Born in 1988, K. began photographing at an early age, first learning from his father in the wilderness and continuing to gain professional experience in a highly regarded commercial studio in 2007. He has travelled extensively in Morocco, Mexico, Cuba and Europe; living in Berlin in 2010. This was a time of exploration and creative experimentation where he concentrated on photographing social challenges, as seen in his works. He now continues to practise in both documentary and conceptual photography.

****

A lifelong interest in photography, growing up surrounded by my father’s cameras and experiencing the magic of the black & white darkroom. Originally from England and having pursued a lifetime’s involvement in the oil industry, I now continue to pursue my personal art and its inspiring process.

I have travelled all over the world and had the great pleasure to see life as it should be. The camera is just an extension of my eye and creativity.

My images are the result of many experiments and failures but as Charlie Parker said, “Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your horn.”


****

E. works with commercial and editorial assignments and her personal art projects internationally.
Her fine art practice is guided by a post-modernist interest in exploring and questioning the role of photography in society, and consists mainly of conceptual projects strongly focused and founded on using images as a tool to explore, analyze, develop and illustrate the structured framework of thought.
Her editorial and commercial work rests mainly on capturing and sharing the small miraculous moments of reality. Her photographs aim to disclose, preserve and turn into memories the minute instances otherwise so easily fleeting past.
She has been working with a wide scope of editorial and commercial assignments, corporate photography, and weddings as a freelance photographer alongside her studies since 2007 with work both published in newspapers, magazines, brochures, books, and on corporate websites, and exhibited internationally.

****

A. is a photographer specialising in conceptual art. His work explores the relationship between the universality of urban spaces.
Ever since he was a child he has been fascinated by the essential unreality of the human condition: what starts out as triumph soon becomes corrupted into distress, leaving only a sense of unreality and the dawn of a new beginning. As photographs become distorted through repetitive actions, the viewer is left with a testament to the limits of our culture while new stories are manufactured from implicit narratives.

****

My art is a combination of two lifelong passions - history and photography. The resulting creations are reminiscent of old master painters or turn of the century photographers. Representing a specific time in history, each photo exposes the truth about mankind, whether we want it or not. I explore racism, sexism, and political issues but I do so with beautiful works of art through the use of chiaroscuro lightning, authentic props, and child models. My hope is to bring a solid base of understanding in regards to out historic relationship which should, in turn, affect the way we treat each other today.

(continued)

C. newest series focuses on the essential purpose of an ecological civilization. “We need to consider nature as part of our life rather than something we can exploit.” To visually represent this concept, she has photographed within landscapes and created a harmonious relationship between the subject and the natural environment. The landscapes were chosen because they are protected and serve as a means to preserve the area’s ecology. She had the opportunity to travel to and photograph in National Parks in Costa Rica, Brazil and Belize. Through this work, she is committed to inspiring others to help preserve our natural landscapes we may lose. These photographs are symbolic of the balance that needs to be re-established between man and nature.

****

The creative spirit has always been a part of Y. Even his years spent developing successful business ventures across the globe were filled with creative outlets—from owning a design agency to designing his own homes to his latest form of artistic expression...

He uses photography and a free-spirited shooting style to capture rare, often unseen perspectives. Then, through the use of custom inks, special hand-crafted paper canvases and a meticulous attention to detail, he brings the images to life, relying on tones and, most importantly textures, to tell a story.

****

With each new image, D. hopes to document the numerous balances taking place in society—the pure, peaceful coexistence of architecture, humanity and the surroundings. Each scene is an intimate, richly detailed reflection of these threads that define our cultures.

“What fascinates me is how, after thousands of years, the original environment and its habitants have organically evolved in time to find a delicate balance between tradition and modernism, without compromise. My work seeks to document this astonishing harmonious paradox. It is the spatial and intimate interconnection between architecture and mankind which matters to me.”

****

M. is a photographer specialising in conceptual reportage and fine art.
Her passion is in capturing images that evoke a response – emotionally, ethically, intellectually or otherwise. Unusual techniques and distinctive style make her portfolio instantly identifiable and full of impact.

****

for me photography is a flow into the depth of my unknown, sensually on pure adrenaline. my way of seeing. sensing. the dust and the blood. on my lips. the water and the salt. in my soul. door7. nervous. shy.
my doors of perception. perception vs reality. demon vs angel. female vs male. here vs there. the path we take shapes us. a choice between depth and emptiness. the line. woman to woman. my soul raw.
my soul raw. standing at door7. feeling everything at once. these extra 10 percentages deeper under my skin. your heat. your scent. your curves. your salt. i might just loose my mind. who are you anyway? will this door ever open. standing there. why?
i decided i will cross the line. i made my choice. and find you. 16031970. whatever is given to me to be revealed, will. i trust.
my inception. some days i just [can.t] take it. it takes me apart. i am desperately looking for the missing pieces. numbers. letters. my eyes. my DNA. does it matter? [Y.]
my energy strong, my vibration high ... my sanctuary. untouchable.
i use capital letters consciously. they feel so powerful to me.

[intimacy.]
the way i was brought up to think about life and the person who i can feel i AM are like a -pol and a +pol to each other. coming to terms with the person i feel i AM ... there seem to be ****ing endless layers to heal - facing my weaknesses, my lack of honesty, my darkness.
communicate to my soul. touch my heart. leave me changed for having sensed you. BE.
i am going to have to learn to be me again. me not tied to another but simply myself. quite frankly i am not sure where to start. after defining myself by another for so long, i am going to have to rewrite my dictionary entry.
strange how I fell out of love. strange and sad. but i feel that this saddest moment holds the most promise of healing the rough cracks in my heart and soul.
i surrender. completely.
se[ducer]. hunter. pursuing my prey.
passion - to me a symbiosis of a highly sensual animalistic essence and one's soul vulnerability within a moment of surrendering. regardless. reckless. - takes me so high, so deep.
the cycle of the moon symbolizes the void to me, giving space to my wholeness. my depth. 10. blackness within its pureness. to be found.
i am getting closer to my zone. must not let go of myself. it is not a safe zone for me ... but its BEING me, stepping into my authenticity.
my unknown flows through my blood, chases me down, grips my bones, opens my heart ... i follow.
i found|lost myself with a woman. everything has changed afterwards. loosing vs finding ... disclosure?
i got close to your skin while you were sleeping - tasting the salt on your hands ... anticipating. [salt, a necessity of life].
the scent of lemon. it feels HOME to me ... touching the deepest layer within me.
fe[male].
've changed since i've known you. not because you made me into somebody but because you showed me a path i'd never paid attention to. and i chose to follow it.
you are, they say, what you love. be that the case, then i hope and wish and barter my soul that i would just be a little more me because with how i feel i look in the mirror and it's your face i see ... i wish, too, i knew the inception of my eyes ...
sometimes i am so exhausted being HERE ... my soul's journey.
full moon entering 25|2 : 'i am beyond yet within, above yet below, unknowable and the known, seen and unseen. journey into my formless potential. merge with my emptiness and discover your fullness.'... <33
i am taking in the whole extend of my sin. the hard part is not being forgiven by the ones i hurt, it is forgiving myself. i so often feel that i am not made for this world ... the way my heart beats, the way i sense, the way i love. reckless.
deep purple [almost blackness] is attracting me in an irresistible way.
black & white through the inner labyrinth leading to myself. stripped down to my irreducible elements. positive and negative, emerging as equals. when there is no more to take away, when there is nothing more to add, simplicity is realized. - "the artist is born complex and tries his whole life to simplify." by l.c.
my body is my limitation. i decided to honor its health, to built up its strength and live its sensuality. consciously. daily.
there are days, when i know exactly who i am. well, i think that. on other days, i feel so deeply different.
i love the sensuality of smoking.
i feel myself written all over your features ... or is it the other way around?
the friction of male and female energy within one person fascinates me.
i intoxicated my cellular structure to initiate the conjunction of good and bad within my soul. layer by layer. white demons. dark angels. - "the real power of a wolf isn't in its fearsome jaws, which can clench with fifteen hundred pounds of pressure per square inch. the real power of a wolf is having that strength, and knowing when not to use it." by j.p.
the color that touches me the most is a light turquoise - high heart.
sometimes all i want is silence. pure silence. within my heart. my soul. my senses.
i defy bounderies, expectations, labels others wish to put on me.
i mean, how do you put rape, abuse in an acceptable perspective for yourself? the pain does not serve me anymore. i am not a victim. my soul took on whatever i have taken in to go its path, my path. accept what IS. learn the lesson that lies behind it embracing the carved scares in my bones. the path is my fate. it is my strength. my stamina.
i have come to own this emotional experience and accept its responsibility for its creation.
i love a past. i love a future. i AM present ... in consciousness, thankful and trusting.
i betrayed. several times.
i currently feel undomesticated, remaining gentle, soulful and true to my essence.
blood in the water [what the **** is my DNA ????]. <3
i have ****ed myself (and others) over to an almost irreparable point. i got that. so, don't be afraid of the way I carry myself. radical. wounded. strong. on my path, following my inner truth.
i AM compelled to create - regardless. REGARDLESS.
inner truth 61. my heart free of prejudices and therefore open to truth.

****

D.'s element is water. Water is essential for the prescence of life. As a symbol, it is remarkably compelling and, when combined with an equally powerful icon, the human form, it allows a rich visual exploration to unfold. Life is change, and you can never step again into the same stream you are crossing now. Water sweeps across, under, around, over and through all boundaries. Water reflects and transmits lights. This is the ultimate element in matter of energy, space and time.

****

At the heart of G.’s photography is a preoccupation with abandoned structures and locations. Traveling widely to undisclosed sites, she explores the boundaries of beauty, decay, nostalgia and neglect. The genesis of each piece is often the unique architectural character of each location, heightened by their painfully slow transformation after years of abandonment.

Rather than taking a documentary approach, she breathes a sense of life into the scenes, hinting at narrative with studied compositions. Characteristically each image has a distinctly painterly aesthetic, side stepping the tendency that photography has for observational and distanced looking. Her approach is lyrical and directs the viewer to explore the concepts of time and memory. The compositions feature derelict asylums, long since closed schools, ex-military compounds and famous city power stations in various stages of decay. The results are striking and poignant, at once both edgy in their contemporary aesthetic and nostalgic in their ruinous beauty. Like the Romantic poets before her, she offers room to reflect on more romantic notions of beauty and a sense of calmness despite collapse and structural devastation.

Jerome these are priceless. I'd reply but I have to rush to the bathroom to throw up first.

Jerome Marot said:

Since this thread is marked as "not PC and the like",...

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Why did you think that was necessary Asher?
I don't see anything which is nsfw, sexually suggestive or not PC in this discussion. But it may just be me.

Cem_Usakligil said:

Jerome these are priceless. I'd reply but I have to rush to the bathroom to throw up first.

Click to expand...

This is not what is intended. Remember: I did not choose the artists for their statements. This is just a sample of artists statements from somewhat successful photographers. Therefore, this appears to be what is wanted to be chosen in a portfolio (plus the pictures, of course).

This post is about what people need to do to be recognised as "artists". Please consider it for a moment. I am not joking as much as I appear to be.

Cem_Usakligil said:

Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Why did you think that was necessary Asher?
I don't see anything which is nsfw, sexually suggestive or not PC in this discussion. But it may just be me.

Click to expand...

Asher did nothing, I marked this thread as "not PC" as the initiator.

Jerome Marot said:

This is not what is intended. Remember: I did not choose the artists for their statements. This is just a sample of artists statements from somewhat successful photographers. Therefore, this appears to be what is wanted to be chosen in a portfolio (plus the pictures, of course).

This post is about what people need to do to be recognised as "artists". Please consider it for a moment. I am not joking as much as I appear to be.

Click to expand...

Sigh, you can be quite literal sometimes Jerome. My reaction is not to what you have said or intended, it is to the artist statements posted. I wasn't joking either, I can almost get sick reading those statements and knowing that they are for real.

I did not intend for you to get sick. I just intended to show what real statements looked like.

In much this same vein, John S. Morgan, a colleague in two of my prior lives, has established the Modern Art Museum of Calquier, visitable here:

http://drswiney.org/calquier/museum.html

John was at one time dean of the non-degree program at DeVry Institute of Technology at Dallas.

You can also visit a real (maybe) establishment—his home and office—here:

http://drswiney.org/john/morgan.html

Best regards,

Doug

Jarmo Juntunen said:

"My work explores the relationship between acquired synesthesia and football chants."

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Priceless...

That really makes a fine signature...

"His passion in life is seeking both the visual harmony and spiritual aura in the environment, and interpreting the aesthetics through the photographic medium using natural light, form, and texture. He will often study several captured images together, and if he feels the need to deepen the visual spiritual connection, will blend and fuse two or more images together to enhance the connection for both himself and the viewer. He has a strong fascination with the creation versus evolution debate, and is continually fascinated by the intricacies and the workings of nature, which combined with his own unique vision and artistic talents, is the source of his major artworks."

I'd go with this one as being the spoof-generated statement.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

"His passion in life is seeking both the visual harmony and spiritual aura in the environment, and interpreting the aesthetics through the photographic medium using natural light, form, and texture. He will often study several captured images together, and if he feels the need to deepen the visual spiritual connection, will blend and fuse two or more images together to enhance the connection for both himself and the viewer. He has a strong fascination with the creation versus evolution debate, and is continually fascinated by the intricacies and the workings of nature, which combined with his own unique vision and artistic talents, is the source of his major artworks."

I'd go with this one as being the spoof-generated statement.

Click to expand...

Nope. I'll be charitable and won't tell you how to use google to find out which photographer wrote that. Another try?

I may also need to warn you that one of the statement is from a member of OPF. I did not do it on purpose, it just happened that he was amongst the chosen artists of the year by that publication.

Jerome Marot said:

Nope. I'll be charitable and won't tell you how to use google to find out which photographer wrote that. Another try?

I may also need to warn you that one of the statement is from a member of OPF. I did not do it on purpose, it just happened that he was amongst the chosen artists of the year by that publication.

Click to expand...

Well, Jerome,

Your point is proven. I felt that this was so typical of the generator. Searching via Google would not do the same work for me.

Asher