The hottest Visual Culture Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Art & Illustration Topics

The Seydou Keïta Edition

Why is this interesting? • 1206 implied HN points • 29 Jan 26
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Keïta ran a Bamako portrait studio where sitters picked fabrics and props and worked with him to stage poses, so each photo became a deliberate act of self-fashioning.
  2. His portraits show that style can be a form of self-determination and that cultural influence often comes from the margins, not just from major art centers.
  3. Although his negatives were nearly lost, his work was rediscovered and is now in major museums, and it has reshaped contemporary portrait and fashion photography around the world.

An Ocean of Pain and Death

Looking Through the Past • 178 implied HN points • 06 Oct 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Ernst Friedrich's book 'War Against War!' aimed to show the harsh realities of war, pushing people to rethink their views on conflict. He believed that by confronting the true impacts of war, society could work towards lasting peace.
  2. Artists throughout history, like Goya and Picasso, have used their work to express the horrors of war, presenting it not as glorious but as tragic. Their art serves as a reminder of the suffering that war brings to individuals and communities.
  3. The anti-war art movement highlights the need to see the brutal consequences of conflict, encouraging people to think critically about war and its effects on humanity. Recognizing these realities can help prevent future wars.

AI Art Turing Test

Astral Codex Ten • 10048 implied HN points • 14 Oct 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. There's an AI Art Turing Test happening, which is a fun way to see if you can tell the difference between AI-generated art and human-made art.
  2. Participants can take part by filling out a form, which takes about twenty minutes, and the results will be shared the following week.
  3. Don't peek at the comments until you're done with the test, as they might give away answers.

Meet Wound Man

Culture Study • 1577 implied HN points • 20 Aug 25
🎭️ Culture Visual Culture
  1. The Wound Man is an intriguing figure from medieval medical illustrations, representing complex ideas about medicine and healing. He might look creepy, but there's a lot of depth behind his image that can teach us about history and human experience.
  2. Wound laws in the past provided detailed compensation systems for injuries, considering not just the damage done but also the victim’s condition beforehand. This shows how seriously injuries were dealt with and how they impacted people's lives in medieval society.
  3. The journey of the Wound Man through various printed works highlights the evolution of printing technology and its impact on sharing medical knowledge. It also shows how art and science can come together in surprising ways to inform people.

Will people enjoy AI art?

The Common Reader • 1382 implied HN points • 07 Jul 25
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. AI art could become popular if it keeps getting better. People have enjoyed machine-made art before, so there's a chance they’ll like it now.
  2. Art has changed with technology many times before. Just like past mechanical art, AI art might also find a place in people's hearts.
  3. People might value AI art for different reasons, like connecting with emotions or memories. If it becomes unique to each person, it can still feel special.
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Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees

Austin Kleon • 2078 implied HN points • 07 Nov 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Robert Irwin was an artist who focused on creating experiences rather than traditional paintings. He wanted people to think about how they perceive the world.
  2. Lawrence Weschler wrote a book about Irwin called 'Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees'. It dives into Irwin's ideas and art philosophy.
  3. David Hockney and Robert Irwin had different views on art, but their conversation through Weschler's writing shows how meaningful discussions can happen even without direct contact.

Another clueless person attempts to defend generative AI "art"

Top Carbon Chauvinist • 19 implied HN points • 08 Sep 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Generative AI art lacks true artistic intent because it does not involve a person making conscious creative decisions.
  2. Many famous art movements involved randomness, but they still required an artist's direction and vision.
  3. Using AI to create art can lead to results that are very different from what the person intended, making it hard to consider those results as true art.

Letter from the field #3 - The anthropology of illustration

On Looking • 339 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. The lives of NYC creatives in the illustration field are rich and complex, often intertwining personal identity with creative work.
  2. Illustrators create images that reflect their unique styles, which are not just for commercial purposes but also a form of personal expression.
  3. Art directors play a pivotal role in matching visuals with text, acting as 'image brokers' who translate language into visual art, influencing how people interact with images in everyday life.

Spotlight: Space Artist Michael Najjar

Space Ambition • 99 implied HN points • 12 Apr 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Art can connect people to space science, making complex topics more relatable and exciting. It invites everyone to explore the wonders of the cosmos.
  2. Michael Najjar merges technology and art to visualize the future of space exploration. His works reflect both current scientific realities and imagined possibilities.
  3. Collaboration with scientists and engineers enriches his art, helping bridge the gap between public understanding and advanced technological concepts in space exploration.

Imitation Games

Counter Craft • 542 implied HN points • 22 Nov 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. AI art can imitate famous styles, but it often lacks originality and creativity. Just copying styles doesn't make it as good as the original.
  2. People unfamiliar with art may prefer simple or amateur pieces over professional ones. Knowing more about art can help us appreciate it better.
  3. The value of art comes from creativity and effort, not just the ability to copy. Real art involves developing unique styles and perspectives.

SWIM

Cybernetic Forests • 179 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. SWIM is a piece that visualizes the relationship between archives, memory, and training data. It explores the impact of training AI models on images and the implications for memory and synthetic images.
  2. The artist behind SWIM finds creating pieces as a way to think through ideas that might not work well with words. The process often clarifies thoughts or raises questions that are hard to articulate.
  3. The deduction of memory through photography or AI analysis is highlighted in SWIM, where a swimmer dissolves into training data, shifting the remembrance process to a mechanized model and potentially losing the essence of being remembered.

Letters from the field #5 - Season 2 announcement + Call for participation

On Looking • 79 implied HN points • 19 Apr 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Season 2 of the research will focus on exploring the perspectives of designers, art directors, editors, and production managers in the creative industry.
  2. The research involves conducting in-person interviews as well as observations within magazines, design studios, and advertising agencies in New York to understand how creative professionals work and make decisions.
  3. The researcher is seeking New York-based creatives to participate in the study, emphasizing the importance of observations in workspaces to gather insights for the research.

December 25, 2025

Letters from an American • 22 implied HN points • 26 Dec 25
💾 History Visual Culture
  1. Thomas Nast’s Santa was created during the Civil War and used to boost Union morale and mock Confederate leaders, first appearing in 1863 as a patriotic figure visiting soldiers.
  2. German immigrants — including Nast himself — brought Bavarian Santa traditions into America, and German-born men made up a large share of Union troops, shaping the holiday image and army culture.
  3. By 1881 Nast’s Santa had become a symbol of postwar American prosperity and rising consumer family culture, showing a fat, well-dressed figure carrying toys and Union emblems as people began spending more on gifts and celebrations.

An art scandal

Random Minds by Katherine Brodsky • 117 implied HN points • 17 Jun 25
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. In the late 1800s, a painting showing a shoulder caused a huge scandal. People were shocked by what we now see as a small detail.
  2. Social norms change over time, and what was once unacceptable might seem silly later on. Today’s moral values could look outdated in the future.
  3. The way society reacts to perceived transgressions shows how power dynamics and moral standards evolve. A harmless joke today might be judged harshly in the future.

The Definitive Handbook For Spotting AI Art

The Algorithmic Bridge • 265 implied HN points • 27 Nov 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Art has two layers: a visible surface like colors and shapes, and a hidden layer that includes history and culture. AI art usually lacks this deeper meaning.
  2. People often struggle to tell AI art from human-made art because they focus only on the surface. They can learn to spot AI art by asking if it has that deeper history and consistency.
  3. Human creativity is stronger because it connects to real experiences and truths. AI can mimic but it doesn't understand the world or the meaning behind art.

And we're back...

On Looking • 279 implied HN points • 05 Nov 22
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Julien Posture is exploring the relationship between language, perception, value, and styles in the creative industry through his PhD research.
  2. Aesthetic judgments in the creative industry have social, economic, and moral impacts on individuals, shaping identities and relationships.
  3. The research aims to understand how visual styles are associated with different values and how these evaluations impact the creative industry and its stakeholders.

1 year of visual culture, and a new name !

On Looking • 139 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Julien Posture's newsletter 'The (Im)posture' is rebranding and broadening its focus to discuss visual culture matters beyond just the creative industry.
  2. The newsletter reflects Julien's transition from being an anthropologist doing illustration to an illustrator engaging with anthropology, exploring a wide range of topics from AI in illustration to language perception in VFX.
  3. The aim of the newsletter is to deepen visual literacy, encouraging readers to think profoundly about living in an image-saturated world as both creators and viewers.

Some news about The (Im)Posture

On Looking • 139 implied HN points • 25 Aug 22
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. The newsletter will continue with an anthropological focus as the author starts a PhD in anthropology at the University of Cambridge, providing insights into research and discussions.
  2. Paying subscribers will have more interactive and experimental content, while the core essays will remain free for everyone.
  3. There will be a hiatus in the newsletter from mid-September to mid-October due to the author's relocation and academic commitments.

Critical Making Reflections, 2D Packing, and Grids in R

Generative Arts Collective • 65 implied HN points • 24 Nov 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Creativity is about balancing rules and imagination. Understanding the rules helps you know when to break them and innovate.
  2. Making art is a journey that involves exploration. It's important to try new things and take steps, even if you don't know where they will lead.
  3. Looking deeper into things can reveal their true complexity. Just like knowing more about birds goes beyond their colors, understanding art involves seeing beyond the surface.

P.S. The Likeness - Gizem Vural : Edweard Muybridge

On Looking • 39 implied HN points • 02 Sep 22
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. The illustration 'The Likeness' by Gizem Vural is paired with a series of photographs by Eadweard Muybridge, showing the interconnectedness of different art forms and their exploration of perception.
  2. Both Vural's illustration and Muybridge's photographs capture moments that challenge our perception of time, demonstrating how visual art can manipulate time and space in unique ways.
  3. The juxtaposition of a static butterfly in Vural's illustration against the dynamic grid conveys the impact of human development on nature, showcasing how artists can push the limits of medium to convey powerful messages.

Artt in the Age of Artifficial Intelligence

Donkeyspace • 18 implied HN points • 09 Dec 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Art is not just pretty pictures; it's a project deeply connected to its context and history. Each piece of art tells a story influenced by the time and place it was created.
  2. Many people struggle with modern and contemporary art because they don't want to engage with the complicated ideas behind it. They just want nice visuals to enjoy without any deep thinking.
  3. The relationship between art and public taste can be messy. People may like things not because they are genuinely good, but because they want to fit in or impress others.

Everything Dall-e share all at once

escape the algorithm • 39 implied HN points • 21 Jun 22
🎨 Art & Illustration Visual Culture
  1. Text-based image generators are becoming advanced, creating unique visual outputs from simple descriptions.
  2. Creating AI-generated images can be a mesmerizing and addictive experience, channeling thoughts into visual form effortlessly.
  3. In a world where image creation is easy and abundant, the value of art and the essence of self-expression can be questioned.

Facedox Hermeticism

The Carousel • 16 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Visual Culture
  1. Prominent online figures are revealing their faces after years of anonymity
  2. Anonymity for public figures can amplify their mystique and persona
  3. The visual iconography of public figures should match or exceed the mystery of their anonymity