My tattoo, neural networks, and creative coding

I have had an image in my brain for years. I am so artistically indisposed that I could never dream of drawing the image myself. I've been

The elements

Prometheus - Greek God, patron of Man, gave humans the gift of fire and skills. Punished by Zeus by chaining him to a rock and an eagle eating his liver for eternity. What a fucking champ.

The Enso circle - Representing so many things. To be in the present moment. Commonly used to describe enlightenment, limitless strength, the sublime, and the void of the universe.

Phoenix bird and Death- The beautiful metaphor of death and rebirth has captured my imagination since I was learning to ride a bike. While not literal death, there are "small deaths" that can occur in a person's life. Like how a forest fire clears out litter, or how hurricanes break up bacteria concentrations, there can be benefits to destruction of the self. a small death can be quitting smoking, speaking up instead of staying quiet, letting go of your ego, ending a toxic relationship, allowing yourself to accept uncertainty. And it is through these small deaths, that we continuously grow and are reborn into a newer version of ourselves.

A Chinese proverb, a chengyu

An image of a buddhist monk burning in effigy - I decided don't need this piece. This will make

But what does all of this mean?

Well, its art. It doesnt have to have a meaning. However,

The Process of making this

I experienced a small death in making this tattoo. I had an approach, to use a neural network. Using Deep Painterly Harmonization. Awesome idea. It took me months to get it to work right. And the result was pretty sub-par. I credit Neel from Mailchimp for the advice he gave on Creative Coding. I started with a way too ambitious project, it was not the right tool for the job, and it ended up coming out not the way I wanted. I definitely learned a lot (mostly super esoteric things about Linux memory management and Python package dependencies), but it was considerably more laborious than I had anticipated.

TODO: talk more about the process with regards to John, art, and the beauty of humans over machines.