Spamalot

 

“The Scream”, DALL-E. My prompt - “a humorous baroque-style scene with a man screaming in frustration among spammers”

I grew up with Monty Python’s irreverent works and although his Spamalot eats “ham and jam and Spam a lot" the name is priceless as a spoof for just about anything - including the spam a lot that I’ve been getting in response to posts of artworks from the current exhibition.

I don’t usually Postalot on social media because, folks, life’s too short. But that all changes during an ongoing exhibition as there is much beauty to share in a limited amount of time.

In addition to the heart-felt responses which are very much appreciated, I’ve been getting a slew of missives interspersed with words like “genuine” and “truly” professing a great appreciation of my talents. The main categories seem to be “I love your art, you are so talented you walk on water, can I buy an NFT?,” “I want to buy from you, you, and only you directly”, and - and this one almost got me - texts giving actual physical addresses and stringing you along until you get to the “my bank isn’t working, give me your PayPal or Venmo details” bit. Yeah, right.

As there is not much I can do about the spam - you block one, another one pops up - I thought I’d have fun with it with my new friend DALL-E. Here are the results. Feel like giving it a try too? Very therapeutic, I promise.

“Inspiration”, DALL-E. The prompt was “a cubist style painting depicting a woman looking with amusement at multitudes of spammers around her” although the result seems more like receiving inspiration.

“As God Looks On with Wonder”, DALL-E, my prompt was “in a humorous style that is a blend of surrealism and old masters, a portrait of a spammer sitting in front of a computer”.

“Creation”, DALL-E, another take on the same prompt as above

“Seriously?”, DALL-E, my prompt - “a Martian amusedly observing Earth, where multitudes of spammers are busy at their laptops”

Perhaps “How it all began”? DALL-E, my prompt was “in the manner of the Old Masters, a martian looking down on earth where he sees multitudes of spammers busy working at their laptops”. It all came out far more sinister somehow.

“Samurai Attacked by Spam”, DALLE-E, the prompt was: Ukiyo-e humorous depiction of a samurai being attacked by spam messages and junk emails