⚡What went into making Everything Everywhere All at Once🌌
🎨 Roy Lichtenstein & appropriation | 🐔 chickens fighting inflation? | 🤖 ChatGPT in the car

Clayton Hester
March 14, 2023


- what went into making Everything Everywhere All at Once
- the question of Roy Lichtenstein's appropriation
- ChatGPT in the car
- chickens fighting inflation?


How we got to Everything Everywhere All at Once
The screen fractures.
At once, the segments of the frame depart in separate directions.
This is just one of the ways directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert create the spectacle of their film.
It is a lavish, genre-contorting thrill ride with absurdist humor and existential horror.
It left in awe and scarred for life.
As VFX artist Ethan Feldbau notes, the movie was made from home in a lot of capacities due to the pandemic.
He also explained that "in-camera" look that the Daniels were aspiring towards.
They wanted a look to their movie that would be perceived as more physical, more practical, and more photographic/in-camera than most contemporary VFX heavy films. It's tricky to explain, because EEAO is technically a very digital film, with lots of CGI, but it is aesthetically crafted, well-synthesized visual trickery that looks photoreal. We presented CGI to the Daniels in C4D and Blender and were able to fool them into feeling like it was photographic.
As the Fast Company reports, the Daniels assembled a team of indie filmmakers, primarily using YouTube.
The Hollywood Reporter explains how with just $14 million the Daniels created something this massive.

🏆 During the Academy Awards ceremony, a tribute is typically paid to notable entertainers who have passed away in the previous year. John Travolta, who co-starred in "Grease" with Olivia Newton-John, was emotional as he walked on stage to honor those who lost their lives. The In Memoriam segment featured portraits of those who passed, including Newton-John, Kirstie Alley, and Ray Liotta, among others. However, many noticed that several names were missing, including Paul Sorvino, Anne Heche, and Barbara Walters. Actress Mira Sorvino expressed her outrage on Twitter over her father's omission. Some also noted that Sacheen Littlefeather was not mentioned, but this was likely due to her sister's claim that she was not of Native American heritage.

🎨 The documentary, WHAAM! BLAM! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation, examines the controversy surrounding Roy Lichtenstein's use of comic book art in his paintings. While Lichtenstein saw his work as a form of ironic appropriation and an examination of high and low aesthetics, the comic book community views it as theft. David Barsalou, a comic book collector, has led the charge against Lichtenstein's appropriation, claiming that his paintings are nearly identical to his comic book sources. The film compares Lichtenstein's canvases to the comic strips he "appropriated" and interviews Lichtenstein experts, museum directors, and comic artists to stimulate debate about the ethical, legal, and human implications of artistic appropriation. While the film recognizes appropriation as an essential gesture in art, it also exposes the chasm that divides so-called "high art" and "low art," which has facilitated this appropriation. The film features interviews with two living comic artists, Russ Heath and Hy Eisman, who reflect on the effect of Lichtenstein's "theft" with understandable resentment. The film examines the issue of credit and financial compensation for the original artists, as Lichtenstein's paintings have sold for millions at auction while the original artists have struggled financially.
Phyllida Barlow, the British artist best known for her sculptures made of everyday materials, passed away at the age of 78 in London on March 12. Hauser & Wirth, her gallery since 2010, confirmed her death. After retiring from her teaching career, Barlow gained international recognition in the early 2010s and represented Britain at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Her large-scale sculptures, constructed from both heavy and lightweight materials, challenge the viewer to make sense of their subject matter and appear to defy gravity. Despite their imposing size, Barlow described her work as "nonmonumental," rejecting the grandiosity of modernist sculpture. She taught at London's Slade School of Fine Art for twenty years before becoming a full-time artist. Her husband, children, siblings, and grandchildren survive her.

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🤖 ChatGPT has been integrated into various apps like Discord, Slack, and Snapchat, but its most significant potential use may be as the foundation for a virtual personal assistant in GM’s cars. According to reports, GM is developing an in-car virtual assistant based on ChatGPT’s models that will integrate with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service. Unlike current chatbots, the GM virtual assistant will offer more than just simple voice commands and could even diagnose car issues and schedule appointments with repair shops.
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🐔 We are all in need of creative solutions to the problems of the economy. Could a chicken of your own be the answer to your inflation woes? Well. Business Insider says no. They note high food costs and medical bills as a couple items to put in the "Cons" category.
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When we think of living intentionally, we may imagine a life of purpose, focus, and clarity. But what if the act of making art could help us achieve these same goals? In this article, we'll explore the intersection of intention and art, and how creating art can be a form of intentional living in and of itself.
One of the key ways that art can help us live more intentionally is by requiring us to be present and engaged in the moment. When we create art, we need to be fully immersed in the process, focusing on the task at hand and letting go of distractions and worries. This kind of mindfulness can be a powerful tool for cultivating mental and emotional clarity, and can help us to approach other aspects of our lives with greater presence and focus.
Creating art can also be a form of intentional living because it requires us to set clear intentions and make deliberate choices. From choosing materials and techniques to making compositional decisions and conveying meaning through our work, every step of the creative process involves intentional decision-making. By practicing this kind of intentionality in our art, we can develop the habit of making intentional choices in other areas of our lives as well.
Another way that art can help us live more intentionally is by serving as a tool for self-reflection and personal growth. When we create art, we are often tapping into our own experiences, beliefs, and values, and using our work as a way to process and explore these aspects of ourselves. This kind of introspection can help us to gain greater self-awareness and develop a clearer sense of our own priorities and values, which in turn can inform our choices and actions in other areas of our lives.
Art can help us live more intentionally by giving us a sense of purpose and meaning. When we create art, we are often driven by a desire to express ourselves, to communicate something important to others, or simply to explore the world around us in a meaningful way. This sense of purpose and connection to something larger than ourselves can help us to approach other aspects of our lives with greater meaning and intention, and can provide us with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that goes beyond the act of creating art itself.
The intersection of intention and art is a rich and fertile ground for personal growth and creative expression. By engaging in the intentional act of creating art, we can cultivate greater presence, focus, and clarity, develop the habit of making intentional choices, gain self-awareness and insight, and find greater purpose and meaning in our lives. Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, exploring this intersection can be a powerful tool for living more intentionally and creating a life of purpose and fulfillment.
That's it for today.
Have a great day,
and don't forget, you've got the spark you need inside you.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to spread the spark to a friend!
"Creativity is contagious, pass it on." - Albert Einstein
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