Having rewatched Spirited Away and Coco on the big screen this week, I’m convinced that human-made art (everything from writing to animation to music composition to performance) is not going anywhere.
Spirited Away (2001) at AMC Metreon 16
Coco (2017) with live orchestra at SF Symphony
Something about this whole “AI causing disruption” and “taking over the world of films and art” feels absolutely fishy. We’ve seen this kind of hype before. Remember when “NFT art” was supposed to dethrone real art?
Tbh I’d rather make movies with 1000s of talented souls than try to mimic “the exact same results” by just texting a machine.
D829865E-6F60-43A9-B932-F46625E92330.MOV
Look at this beautiful orchestra.
If I wanted to hear the soundtrack, I could’ve just played it on my phone. If I wanted to watch the movie, I could’ve done it on my laptop.
And if they wanted to perform the score live, they could’ve easily done it with half the number of performers, without most of the audience even noticing any difference.
Yet they chose to go full-blown. Because that’s what artists do.
There’s always a “yet” in the world of arts.
People here aren’t “solving problems” like they do in tech.
Art was never about efficiency.
Art was always about doing things regardless.
Craft was always about achieving perfection.
Efficiency has its place. Every great artist embraces constraints: limited time, limited resources, limited tools. But when efficiency becomes the goal instead of the constraint, that’s when art loses its meaning.