- Vol. 10
- Chapter 05
Talking to AI about still life
To relate to its constituent parts
Move in diagonals left to right
The point of a flute, lute, guitar or flask
To a perch or drape, or a lemon twist
In nature nothing is straight
Copy the curve of the lute
To the dog’s (cropped) behind
Like echoes in a cave, they shout
Like visual curves of sounds
From china plate to melon rind
From lobster or guitar or flask
Admire (can you do that?)
Appreciate then the textures
Grain, gleam, white light, reflect on
Contrast, red, blue, tones of purple, brown
Verisimilitude – artfully placed
And that’s the skill – a camera
Could do it sure –
There’s an art to selection
Talking to AI about still life
To enjoy the feast, as you feast your eyesTo enjoy the sweet sap of a juicy pear
(Can you do that and taste it?)
To know the feel of stroke of hair
(Can you do that and feel it?)
The mound, the arches, the shoots
Yet ask what looks more still?
What looks more life?
What looks more animate?
Redder and readier to crawl off a plate?