Vol 6 No 1 | Winter/Spring 2025

That’s the topic of the day, isn’t it? Ever since cave drawings, artistic expression has been constantly marching forward through technological advancements. Today we have generative AI stirring up controversy, and it’s not likely to go away anytime soon. In fact, it’s only going to mutate and spread. So what should its role be in the realm of human creativity?

If I ask ChatGPT to write a poem about the sunrise from my childhood bedroom, am I a poet? Is the program a poet? If you think the poem is pretty, is it art? If I plug some keywords into an AI image generator and it gives me a polished, professional-looking mock-watercolor of a breakdancing zebra, am I an artist? Is the final product a work of art? It’s made of snippets of the work of human artists, so should they be considered the creators? And should I be allowed to sell this image myself? And should people buy it?

Let’s say I make visual art with my own hands and my own human perspective. Is it okay if I use GenAI just to fill in the grass at the bottom of a colorful drawing of my kids in a wading pool? Or what if I use traditional oil pastels for everything, but the subject matter and composition were AI-generated? Is that any more or less ethical?

Furthermore, does a free AI image used for signage for my small business justify how much AI contributes to global warming? And should the human artists whose work is mined by AI be compensated? Should Meta be facing a vast, class action lawsuit? None of these questions have easy answers, but we all need to know the cost of AI as we move forward into an ever more technologically sophisticated future.

Of course, true art isn’t the product of witchcraft. It’s the product of skills developed through practice. I wasn’t born with the knitting gene; I can knit because I learned to do it and I improved over time. It’s the same process for photography, songwriting, sculpture, baking, anything. Every person on earth can and should learn to make cool things. It will always be more relatable than something a robot made, as robots lack the one magical ingredient that makes all true art possible: trauma.

So pick up a new skill this week. You won’t nail it at first, but look back across your progress after six months and you’ll wonder why we bother with GenAI at all.

Back in February, we at Bait/Switch had the pleasure of mounting our first exhibition at a gallery. The show, which was an experiment to see if we could map the entire Bait/Switch corpus in one space, was hosted by ShowUp, in Boston’s SOWA district. It was a crazy amount of work; the show required months of preparation, and the installation alone took over 30 hours.

By the time the show opened, I was exhausted but exhilarated. The opening was well attended, and standing in that room filled with people who understood exactly what we’re doing was beyond thrilling. Several of the individuals who have participated in this project came; in many cases, it was our first time actually meeting each other in physical space. I witnessed a musician who had responded to a visual artist years ago introduce himself to her, and it was one of those moments I’ll probably never forget. It felt like the world stood still for a second as these two people, who had previously communicated with each other solely through their art, shook hands.

The experience of curating and installing that show was incredibly restorative to my relationship with this project. It all takes a lot of work, and sometimes we get tired. But this connection with the community rekindled something in me. It was a reminder of exactly how much bigger than any one of us this project is, and what a blessing it is to be trusted to help facilitate it.

Between thinking about that experience, and what emerged from the work itself, revive felt like the right theme for this issue. There is work in this issue dealing with themes of self care, and moving through big feelings. Themes of facing injustice, healing after heartbreak, and chasing authentic connection. About breathing, and about water. Work that uses chocolate as a medium, and work that uses salt.

My hope is that something in this issue will spark something in you. Whatever you’re doing, and wherever you’re doing it, may you be guided by inspiration, and may the world show you grace and delight even in these strange times.

Stay present, stay safe, and stay awesome.

With infinite love,

In Memoriam

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Carol Moses (1950-2025), a beloved participant in this project who passed away recently and who we know is profoundly missed. It feels like a blessing to have met her while she was still here. Carol's switch Form, Form (one panel of which is shown at right), can be found here. Our hearts go out to everyone who loved Carol.

artWorks in This Issue

Bait/Switch is an interdisciplinary exquisite corpse project. Every work is a creative response to a piece made by another artist. The project is divided into six branches: green, blue, violet, red, orange and yellow. This map/diagram shows how the works in this issue fit together, and what came before. You can see the entire corpus on our maps page.