GPT-2 after Sol LeWitt

by Robbie Barrat

GPT-2 prompt and live code running on Raspberry Pi

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$6,000.00

Inspired by the work of pioneering Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt, Robbie Barrat used GPT-2, OpenAI's language generation model, to generate a text describing the rules of a drawing. He dryly titled the prompt ‘Directions for the world’s most interesting drawing’. Barrat then followed these rules, produced in collaboration with a machine, to write a generative sketch. This mirrors the process of how Sol LeWitt's rule cards were executed into wall drawings.  LeWitt first conceived of his wall drawings in 1968, and from then until his death in 2007, he created more than 1,300 of them. His famous statement from 1965, “The idea becomes the machine that makes the art”, continues to have resonance for artists across multiple generations and working across multiple media.

About Robbie Barrat

Robbie Barrat (b.1999) is a Dublin-born, West Virginia-raised artist, who uses machine learning and GANs, to explore fashion, architecture, and art history, focusing on AI's interpretation of data. Barrat's art, which views AI as both a medium and a tool, has been exhibited internationally, including at the Musée de la Mode Hasselt, Ars Electronica, System Failure in San Francisco, ArtJaws in New York, and the Late Tate during the Nam June Paik show. His debut show, Infinite Skulls, was a collaboration with French painter Ronan Barrot at Avant Galerie Vossen in 2019. Initially focused on AI as both tool and subject, his recent work integrates AI into a broader creative process.

GPT-2 after Sol LeWitt