Aaron Hertzmann
@aaronhertzmann.com
www.dgp.toronto.edu/~hertzman
Arguing over whether something is or isn't art is usually a huge waste of time. Just call it art. Instead, discuss its quality, functioning, and values. Is it expressive? Skillful? Ethical? Meaningful? etc. 10/
October 24, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Arguing over whether something is or isn't art is usually a huge waste of time. Just call it art. Instead, discuss its quality, functioning, and values. Is it expressive? Skillful? Ethical? Meaningful? etc. 10/
I argue that art is a social behavior, a product of our evolutionary history. We care about art made by people (even when they used computers to do so). Computers are not people, and so we don't accept computers artists. "Computer-generated art" and "AI art" are ultimately art made by people. 8/
October 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I argue that art is a social behavior, a product of our evolutionary history. We care about art made by people (even when they used computers to do so). Computers are not people, and so we don't accept computers artists. "Computer-generated art" and "AI art" are ultimately art made by people. 8/
Plus seminal conceptual artworks like Sol LeWitt's "Wall Paintings" and John Baldessari's "Commissioned Paintings", where the artist didn't make the painting. 4/
October 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Plus seminal conceptual artworks like Sol LeWitt's "Wall Paintings" and John Baldessari's "Commissioned Paintings", where the artist didn't make the painting. 4/
A common misconception is that "a computer that makes high-quality pictures is an artist". But we have 60 years of experience of computer algorithms and tools that can make high-quality images. 3/
October 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
A common misconception is that "a computer that makes high-quality pictures is an artist". But we have 60 years of experience of computer algorithms and tools that can make high-quality images. 3/
For me, relating my drawings to scientific theories of drawing happens after drawing, not during ("what did I do?"), but it has really enriched my drawing practice and also inspired nearly all of my published research in the past 5 years.
psyarxiv.com/pq8nb
psyarxiv.com/pq8nb
October 15, 2025 at 2:17 PM
For me, relating my drawings to scientific theories of drawing happens after drawing, not during ("what did I do?"), but it has really enriched my drawing practice and also inspired nearly all of my published research in the past 5 years.
psyarxiv.com/pq8nb
psyarxiv.com/pq8nb
He does seem to agree that GenAI is the latest stage in this
culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...
culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...
October 7, 2025 at 4:31 PM
He does seem to agree that GenAI is the latest stage in this
culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...
culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...
"People don't make good pop music anymore like they did in the 1950s, it went bad after that"
aaronhertzmann.com/2022/12/16/s...
aaronhertzmann.com/2022/12/16/s...
October 7, 2025 at 5:26 AM
"People don't make good pop music anymore like they did in the 1950s, it went bad after that"
aaronhertzmann.com/2022/12/16/s...
aaronhertzmann.com/2022/12/16/s...
In _Status and Culture_ (chapter 10), W David Marx summarizes claims of cultural stasis from the 2010s due to Internet culture. But I think, whenever one thinks "nothing has moved me lately," the first question to ask is "is it me?" It gets harder to appreciate new culture as you get older.
October 7, 2025 at 2:32 AM
In _Status and Culture_ (chapter 10), W David Marx summarizes claims of cultural stasis from the 2010s due to Internet culture. But I think, whenever one thinks "nothing has moved me lately," the first question to ask is "is it me?" It gets harder to appreciate new culture as you get older.
In fact, Sousa's own band made a lot of money on recordings, and he himself had profited from reusing Gilbert and Sullivan's work without compensation. He wildly overstated the case claiming that recorded music has no soul, but also correctly predicted some things we've lost. end/
October 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
In fact, Sousa's own band made a lot of money on recordings, and he himself had profited from reusing Gilbert and Sullivan's work without compensation. He wildly overstated the case claiming that recorded music has no soul, but also correctly predicted some things we've lost. end/
But he also correctly predicted a decline of social music-making. People used to make music together as a social activity much more than now, when so much of our entertainment is passive. But social music-making is probably the reason we have music at all. 3/
October 1, 2025 at 2:21 PM
But he also correctly predicted a decline of social music-making. People used to make music together as a social activity much more than now, when so much of our entertainment is passive. But social music-making is probably the reason we have music at all. 3/
More research is needed to understand size perception, but it seems to be partly contextual, partly related to visual angle (i.e., no focal length compensation).
jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...
scholar.archive.org/work/eyreite...
jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...
scholar.archive.org/work/eyreite...
September 29, 2025 at 11:09 PM
More research is needed to understand size perception, but it seems to be partly contextual, partly related to visual angle (i.e., no focal length compensation).
jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...
scholar.archive.org/work/eyreite...
jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...
scholar.archive.org/work/eyreite...
This seems similar to two illusions by @akiyoshikitaoka.bsky.social , but simpler (which is good).
aaronhertzmann.com/2024/05/24/f...
aaronhertzmann.com/2024/05/24/f...
September 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
This seems similar to two illusions by @akiyoshikitaoka.bsky.social , but simpler (which is good).
aaronhertzmann.com/2024/05/24/f...
aaronhertzmann.com/2024/05/24/f...
A few traditional/alternative medical practices have been validated by RCT testing and incorporated into mainstream medical practice, including, literally, fish oil (omega-3s). Pseudoephedrine is my favorite example: they isolated the useful parts of ephedra and discarded the toxic parts.
September 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
A few traditional/alternative medical practices have been validated by RCT testing and incorporated into mainstream medical practice, including, literally, fish oil (omega-3s). Pseudoephedrine is my favorite example: they isolated the useful parts of ephedra and discarded the toxic parts.
Here's a computer graphics perspective from 2008 of why the Uncanny Valley does not work as a theory. ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/doc...
July 28, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Here's a computer graphics perspective from 2008 of why the Uncanny Valley does not work as a theory. ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/doc...
I completely agree with the OP, but I would go further. I give an example in the blog post where seemingly well-meaning advice and compliments were insulting. Safer just not to say anything about the authors; anything said about them likely involves some assumptions about them that could be wrong.
July 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I completely agree with the OP, but I would go further. I give an example in the blog post where seemingly well-meaning advice and compliments were insulting. Safer just not to say anything about the authors; anything said about them likely involves some assumptions about them that could be wrong.
This week at @cvprconference.bsky.social, we present the paper with my favorite acronym: MaDCoW, for rendering wide-angle photographs without marginal distortion. Details: openaccess.thecvf.com/content/CVPR...
June 10, 2025 at 9:38 PM
This week at @cvprconference.bsky.social, we present the paper with my favorite acronym: MaDCoW, for rendering wide-angle photographs without marginal distortion. Details: openaccess.thecvf.com/content/CVPR...
Here are the relevant instructions from SIGGRAPH. Instructions like these ought to be standard in all academic reviewing.
s2025.siggraph.org/technical-pa...
s2025.siggraph.org/technical-pa...
May 30, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Here are the relevant instructions from SIGGRAPH. Instructions like these ought to be standard in all academic reviewing.
s2025.siggraph.org/technical-pa...
s2025.siggraph.org/technical-pa...
This means we only see shape detail around where our eyes are fixated. So, each part of the picture has to be consistent with a nearby linear projection if you don't want it to look distorted. The art of making pictures involves combining these different parts into a coherent whole. 8/
May 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
This means we only see shape detail around where our eyes are fixated. So, each part of the picture has to be consistent with a nearby linear projection if you don't want it to look distorted. The art of making pictures involves combining these different parts into a coherent whole. 8/
Why a picture have different projections? In our second experiment, we had viewers look at the center of a picture, then move their eyes to its upper-right. When they did, we blanked the display and showed the picture with a different projection in the corner.
Viewers did not notice the change. 7/
Viewers did not notice the change. 7/
May 5, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Why a picture have different projections? In our second experiment, we had viewers look at the center of a picture, then move their eyes to its upper-right. When they did, we blanked the display and showed the picture with a different projection in the corner.
Viewers did not notice the change. 7/
Viewers did not notice the change. 7/
In our first two experiments, we asked viewers to compare conventional perspective to a rendering where each object has its own linear perspective. Viewers rated the local-linear perspective as more accurate. 5/
May 5, 2025 at 5:17 PM
In our first two experiments, we asked viewers to compare conventional perspective to a rendering where each object has its own linear perspective. Viewers rated the local-linear perspective as more accurate. 5/
On the other hand, many techniques in art history operate very differently from linear perspective, yet the shapes don’t look distorted—it is as if each shape has its own local projection, rather than being consistent with a single projection for the whole picture. 4/
May 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
On the other hand, many techniques in art history operate very differently from linear perspective, yet the shapes don’t look distorted—it is as if each shape has its own local projection, rather than being consistent with a single projection for the whole picture. 4/
But, as soon as they started using linear perspective in the Renassaince, artists like Leonardo da Vinci found problems with it. For one, linear perspective creates well-known distortions in the way that it is commonly-used and viewed, such as in this smartphone photo. 3/
May 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
But, as soon as they started using linear perspective in the Renassaince, artists like Leonardo da Vinci found problems with it. For one, linear perspective creates well-known distortions in the way that it is commonly-used and viewed, such as in this smartphone photo. 3/
The idea of linear perspective is that it makes a picture that should be like looking through a window. Many of us were taught perspective in art or science classes—it has often been taught as the “correct” way to make pictures. 2/
May 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The idea of linear perspective is that it makes a picture that should be like looking through a window. Many of us were taught perspective in art or science classes—it has often been taught as the “correct” way to make pictures. 2/
I’m talking about when we _perceive_ pictures as distorted. Multiperspective pictures often do not _look_ distorted. Wide-angle pictures viewed from normal viewing distances often look distorted. Viewing from COP can look distorted. The topic of my posts is human perception, not solely geometry.
March 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I’m talking about when we _perceive_ pictures as distorted. Multiperspective pictures often do not _look_ distorted. Wide-angle pictures viewed from normal viewing distances often look distorted. Viewing from COP can look distorted. The topic of my posts is human perception, not solely geometry.