Thank you very much for the share—and for rounding up these other materials to share with us. It's so cozy to get curated rec lists from real people instead of mindlessly following algorithms.
I am late to comment I here but have arrived because you liked a comment on Hayden Turner's 'Over the Field', and because I have an interest in CS Lewis writing on the Mediaeval Period. I have referred elsewhere to his book 'The Discarded Image', which is a collection from his lectures on Mediaeval Literature to his students. He does not spare them the work they will need to do, but he provides us all with access to ways of looking and thinking that are foreign to our modern consciousness, despite their reappearing constantly in our poetry and folk memory, wisdom traditions and other legacies, even if this consciousness is a bit of a mystery now to our modern 'religions'. The Mediaevel time was not a sink of ignorance, a pit from which we have ascended. If you are interested in the Cosmic Model, (and the 'Longlaevi' for that matter), and profound sources of philosophy, Lewis found much of this beautiful. It is not a huge read and might be complementary to the commentary on Lewis' mind you recommend.
I first read 'The Discarded Image' some years back (h/t JM Greer) and returned to think some more about consciousness when reviewing a later author. I put my review of The Prehistory of the Computer and the Evolution of Consciousness, J. Naydler, 2018. to start my own substack last October. I recommend Naydler's book as well as Lewis! The review is a bit too much 'me' and not enough of useful Naydler (or Lewis). Smile
I highly commend the St Valentine book to you! Ned goes to my church and is an amazing artist & man. He's also hosting a conference next month in memory of his late wife, and the theme is Return to Narnia! Very fitting for this particular newsletter ☺ If anyone's in PA/surrounding area, here's the link: https://www.squarehalobooks.com/2024-conference/.
Your thoughts on Jason Baxter’s book summate a lot of the strands I’ve been thinking through as I’ve been making my way through C.S. Lewis’ “The Discarded Image”, a series of lectures he gave on the medieval world view that was turned into a book. And that Autumn Kern link is definitely getting bookmarked.
Thanks for the collection of interesting pieces to read. The NCR article on AI imagery is a window into a very different world. Given that algorithms are used in digital art all the time (especially digital brushes or upscaling), are these Catholic objections to images generated through machine learning simply an extension of objections to digital artwork in general? For example, I recently digitally painted a baby chicken based on some photos I took a few years ago: https://i.imgur.com/VKzdIZb.png Some of the blending and textured brushes used for the piece are driven by algorithms to enhance or speed up brush work. Would this not be considered "art" on their view? Or if it was a digital painting of a crucifix or St. Joseph would it then count as "sacred art"? (This is not a defensive or rhetorical line of questions. I am genuinely curious how their methodology applies to digital artists.)
Some of the remarks in there about the limits of the technology--the lack of creativity ("the unexpected") and problematic hand generation, in particular--are a little outdated. (I don't blame those interviewed, as the tech is rapidly advancing, but I do think the journalist editing the piece could have been slightly more informed about the technology.) Either way, I'm less interested in whether machine learning outputs count as "art" (which in my experience is really a question about class and social respectability), but more interested in whether incorporating some features of AI into art production pipelines, sacred or otherwise, is acceptable. (For example, MidJourney makes excellent grunge textures that can be manually edited in software and then applied to various parts of a digital image to greatly enhance the aesthetic qualities. I've also trained a program on some of my pixel art, which I then used to iterate visual ideas for a computer game I was working on.)
Maybe I should get around to finishing that essay on Christian art / artists with respect to the rise of AI art. The technology certainly isn't going anywhere.
Haley, do you listen to the Literary Life podcast? I'm in the middle of listening to Episode #145 where they interview Jason Baxter about the Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. I definitely need to get my hands on a copy of that book soon.
Ok do you plan your reading around a theme, (like lots of Lewis stuff this week, lots of urban planning last week) so that the books you listen to go along with the articles you read? Or is it happy circumstances? Or you’re just so widely read on certain topics it can always be done? Just curious :)
I’m always so impressed with your 2 books/ week plus so many articles! Maybe I should take up audiobooks and housecleaning/ other tasks… only I usually have to sit still to concentrate well enough to learn through listening. Or take notes, which isn’t conducive to other things.
Thank you very much for the share—and for rounding up these other materials to share with us. It's so cozy to get curated rec lists from real people instead of mindlessly following algorithms.
I am late to comment I here but have arrived because you liked a comment on Hayden Turner's 'Over the Field', and because I have an interest in CS Lewis writing on the Mediaeval Period. I have referred elsewhere to his book 'The Discarded Image', which is a collection from his lectures on Mediaeval Literature to his students. He does not spare them the work they will need to do, but he provides us all with access to ways of looking and thinking that are foreign to our modern consciousness, despite their reappearing constantly in our poetry and folk memory, wisdom traditions and other legacies, even if this consciousness is a bit of a mystery now to our modern 'religions'. The Mediaevel time was not a sink of ignorance, a pit from which we have ascended. If you are interested in the Cosmic Model, (and the 'Longlaevi' for that matter), and profound sources of philosophy, Lewis found much of this beautiful. It is not a huge read and might be complementary to the commentary on Lewis' mind you recommend.
I first read 'The Discarded Image' some years back (h/t JM Greer) and returned to think some more about consciousness when reviewing a later author. I put my review of The Prehistory of the Computer and the Evolution of Consciousness, J. Naydler, 2018. to start my own substack last October. I recommend Naydler's book as well as Lewis! The review is a bit too much 'me' and not enough of useful Naydler (or Lewis). Smile
I highly commend the St Valentine book to you! Ned goes to my church and is an amazing artist & man. He's also hosting a conference next month in memory of his late wife, and the theme is Return to Narnia! Very fitting for this particular newsletter ☺ If anyone's in PA/surrounding area, here's the link: https://www.squarehalobooks.com/2024-conference/.
Omg the Lewis book has been on my actual literal nightstand stack for about two years. There's just so many books in the world I want to read!
Your thoughts on Jason Baxter’s book summate a lot of the strands I’ve been thinking through as I’ve been making my way through C.S. Lewis’ “The Discarded Image”, a series of lectures he gave on the medieval world view that was turned into a book. And that Autumn Kern link is definitely getting bookmarked.
Thanks for the collection of interesting pieces to read. The NCR article on AI imagery is a window into a very different world. Given that algorithms are used in digital art all the time (especially digital brushes or upscaling), are these Catholic objections to images generated through machine learning simply an extension of objections to digital artwork in general? For example, I recently digitally painted a baby chicken based on some photos I took a few years ago: https://i.imgur.com/VKzdIZb.png Some of the blending and textured brushes used for the piece are driven by algorithms to enhance or speed up brush work. Would this not be considered "art" on their view? Or if it was a digital painting of a crucifix or St. Joseph would it then count as "sacred art"? (This is not a defensive or rhetorical line of questions. I am genuinely curious how their methodology applies to digital artists.)
Some of the remarks in there about the limits of the technology--the lack of creativity ("the unexpected") and problematic hand generation, in particular--are a little outdated. (I don't blame those interviewed, as the tech is rapidly advancing, but I do think the journalist editing the piece could have been slightly more informed about the technology.) Either way, I'm less interested in whether machine learning outputs count as "art" (which in my experience is really a question about class and social respectability), but more interested in whether incorporating some features of AI into art production pipelines, sacred or otherwise, is acceptable. (For example, MidJourney makes excellent grunge textures that can be manually edited in software and then applied to various parts of a digital image to greatly enhance the aesthetic qualities. I've also trained a program on some of my pixel art, which I then used to iterate visual ideas for a computer game I was working on.)
Maybe I should get around to finishing that essay on Christian art / artists with respect to the rise of AI art. The technology certainly isn't going anywhere.
Haley, do you listen to the Literary Life podcast? I'm in the middle of listening to Episode #145 where they interview Jason Baxter about the Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. I definitely need to get my hands on a copy of that book soon.
Ok do you plan your reading around a theme, (like lots of Lewis stuff this week, lots of urban planning last week) so that the books you listen to go along with the articles you read? Or is it happy circumstances? Or you’re just so widely read on certain topics it can always be done? Just curious :)
I’m always so impressed with your 2 books/ week plus so many articles! Maybe I should take up audiobooks and housecleaning/ other tasks… only I usually have to sit still to concentrate well enough to learn through listening. Or take notes, which isn’t conducive to other things.