Soundtrack
Video, 2023
About the artwork
In a bright room flooded with sunlight, a piano stands among the greenery of plants. A man made up of many computer cursors is trying to extract a melody from it. However, every time he puts his fingers down on the keys, instead of music, there are clicks of the computer keyboard and sounds of Windows system errors. In the background, the blue screen of death periodically appears, as well as Windows pop-ups, creating an atmosphere of digital chaos and failure. This work immerses the viewer in a retro aesthetic, evoking nostalgia for an era of early technology.
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underscores much of his art, which often highlights the serendipity of algorithmic mistakes and the nostalgia of outdated interfaces.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.