don't Look
Video, 2023
About the artwork
A boy closing his eyes hears a voice say, “don't Look.” His sweater shimmers blue like the Windows screen of death, symbolizing the stopping and freezing of time. Windows windows appear and disappear around him, and mouse cursors move chaotically, creating an atmosphere of digital chaos. An evocative synthesis of digital distortion and human vulnerability, this piece juxtaposes technology's fragility with raw human emotion, invoking the complexities of identity and perception in the digital age. This work immerses the viewer in a world of nostalgia and retro aesthetics, reflecting our desire to take refuge in the past and our reluctance to look to the future.
AI generated music
Audio explanation
Listen to don't Buy discuss this work.
Don’t Buy is a visual artist who creates digital paintings, videos, and GIFs using artificial intelligence and mixed media. Embracing a moniker that itself subverts consumerist language, he approaches art-making with a hacker’s spirit – repurposing AI technology to explore the beauty of errors and the aesthetics of early digital culture. In his work, glitchy abstractions and retro graphics converge to address themes of identity and imperfection in the online era. “When a cold, mechanical machine makes a mistake, it becomes a little more human,” Don’t Buy notes, reflecting his view that technological faults can reveal human qualities. This philosophy underscores much of his art, which often highlights the serendipity of algorithmic mistakes and the nostalgia of outdated interfaces.
A participant in Fellowship’s AI art program, Don’t Buy has presented projects that encapsulate his ethos. Notably, his series 404: SELF NOT FOUND (2024) is an assemblage of AI-generated imagery probing our entanglement with digital identities and the nature of error. Through a mix of dark humor and experimental technique, he transforms mundane clicks and computer glitches into artistic meditation.