Immortals (don't Buy)
Video, 2023
About the artwork
The centerpiece of this work becomes the flowers. I like to use something natural in contrast to the geometric and digital computer windows. I enhance this contrast by using the sounds of the office in the background, I think this kind of sound is like birds chirping when spring comes. The flying cursors are trying to pick apart the flowers, like bees or birds they fly around the flowers and pluck them. The important detail is the porcelain Chinese vase that is covered in bsod. If you've seen my first solo show, you know that I've been inspired by this kind of art before. So now I put flowers in this porcelain vase because it's Spring, but unlike real flowers these will never die.
Sound design by don't Buy
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underscores much of his art, which often highlights the serendipity of algorithmic mistakes and the nostalgia of outdated interfaces.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.