Category: By Amara Podcast

  • Google hasn’t yet confirmed when the Wonder app will be released. I’m curious, though, if there’s a big enough need for it. Is this app actually something you would want?

    Transcript

    Within the last year, you may have heard about AI-generated art. Google just announced they’re launching a new app called Wonder to create AI-generated artwork.

    They have a few different key features in this app, so it’s going to be the same thing where you can type a prompt into their prompt area.

    Not only are they doing that, but they’re also, apparently, building cities with it’s City Dream feature. And then you can also create cartoon monsters with its Wobble feature.

    There isn’t a release date for the app yet. It was just announced. I’ll let you know as soon as I know!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • This is going to be a very tricky copyright case because whatever’s decided will set the precedent for how content creators get paid for their work!

    Transcript

    So, within the last year, you may have heard about AI-generated art, especially with OpenAI’s platform, DALL-E.

    AI image generators scrape publicly available pictures across the web to train their algorithm. These images that are sampled are typically copyrighted works that come from a variety of websites, most namely Getty Images.

    Getty Images actually just banned AI-generated art due to these copyright issues. So, where the issue comes from is that there is no credit or compensation for content creators who make these original images.

    Like I said, Getty is banning AI-generated artwork. They’re using the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, which is a project that was just formed in February 2021 by Adobe, Sony, BBC, Microsoft, Twitter, and a bunch of other companies, in order to filter out AI-generated content.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • And, yes, I’m talking about the *actual* United States Constitution! I honestly had no idea there were this many copies! 😱

    Transcript

    On November 13th, Sotheby’s is gong to be auctioning off the U.S. Constitution. And, yes, it’s the paper document, the Constitution.

    But before you get too up in arms or if you even care, I should tell you that this is only one copy of 13 that exist. Oh, 13, spooky!

    So, there are 13 first printings of the U.S. Constitution that exist today. Originally, there were about 500 that existed.

    Last year, in November 2021, Sotheby’s actually auctioned off a separate copy of the Constitution and this one sold for $43.2 million.

    So, the copy that’s going for sale this month was last traded 125 years ago. This copy is slated to sell for $20-30 million.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • $77 million Museum Cover-up!

    How does a museum not have knowledge or at least footage of the people who broke over $77 million worth of priceless artifacts?!

    Transcript

    Imagine breaking about $77 million worth of stuff that isn’t yours.

    This is a really strange kind of story. Over the past 18 months, a bowl, a teacup, and a plate from the Ming and Qing dynasties were broken in 3 separate incidences at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum.

    The director of the museum has been accused of instructing the staff to cover up the incidences and to treat all paper work of these as classified. They deny covering things up. They just say it’s kind of been a “process.”

    What’s also sketchy about this, though, is that even though they’ve allegedly checked all their CCTV footage, they were unable to idenitfy who was responsible for 2 out of the three accidents.

    They were able to identify who was responsible for one incident, though!

    It was apparently a senior staff member who placed an artifact on a 3-foot high desk and it fell off of it. So, there’s one mystery solved!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • Ancient Egyptian tattoos/Secret ancient tunnel/4,000-year-old petroglyph vandals/Art spending high!

    By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

    This week, we’re looking at a pair of ancient Egyptian mummies with mysterious tattoos; a secret underground ancient tunnel; 4,000-year-old petroglyphs that were vandalized; and art spending is at an all new high!

    🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

    MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

    For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

    Who is Amara Andrew?

    Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.


  • Fake Vermeer Painting: Update! 😱

    I have an update to the fake Vermeer painting that I covered a few weeks ago! 🎨🖼️

    Transcript

    So, in Episode 5, we talked about a fake Vermeer painting. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. figured out that the painting, “Girl with a Flute,” that’s in their collection wasn’t actually painted by Vermeer.

    They used formal analysis, which I’ve talked about before in some of my TikToks, where they looked at the physical, visual attributes of the artwork in question.

    That is how they were able to identify that this painting may not have been painted by Vermeer. There are some sceptics, though!

    So, even though the National Gallery of Art stated that they don’t believe this was painted by Vermeer, the Rijksmuseum stated that they believe this is inconclusive.

    The director of the Rijksmuseum stated that because Vermeer took so many different approaches in his career, we shouldn’t rule out that this was painted by Vermeer.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • Why are people protesting climate change using famous artworks? 🤔 Sure, your organization’s name ends up in headlines, but, beyond that, what good is this doing for your cause? And, more importantly, how does this help the environment?

    Transcript

    There have been a lot of activist protests in art museums lately. By the time this episode comes out, there will probably be like 10 others in this time span…

    …but why art museums?

    This is a question that a group of museum directors tried to figure out or at least have a discussion about. So, Weinberg, from the Whitney Museum responded, “It’s people putting themselves on a stage in order to bring attention to something. But you have to ask, does this really change anything? Does this really open up a question? And, also, is it an understanding of how art functions even in its time?”

    I think there are different ways to go about this. You’re making more work for the people who are not executives at these museums. People have to clean these up. These are the workers who are getting paid $15 an hour or something that have to deal with this.

    It’s worked because we’re talking about this, but, otherwise, I don’t know if it’s actually going to be successful in the long-run to get their message across.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • $77 million museum cover up // How you can buy the U.S. Constitution // Is AI-Generated art free from copyright? // A Piet Mondrian that’s been upside down for over 70 years

    By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

    This week, we’re looking at a $77 million museum cover up, how you can buy the U.S. Constitution, is AI-generated art free from copyright?, and an upside down Piet Mondrian.

    🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

    MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

    For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

    Who is Amara Andrew?

    Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.


  • Tomb of Santa Claus // Found Artemisia Gentileschi Painting! // Historic moment for Museum Workers // Why are people protesting with famous paintings?!

    By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

    This week, we’re looking at the tomb of Santa Claus, a found Artemisia Gentileschi painting, a historic moment for museum workers, and why people are protesting with famous artworks.

    🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

    MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

    For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

    Who is Amara Andrew?

    Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.


  • Rarest Image of Trojan War Found! // Is the art market fair to women? // Frank Lloyd Wright home for sale! // Missing Cubist work hidden in plain sight!

    By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

    This week, we’re discussing the rarest image of the Trojan War has just been found, is the art market actually fair to women?, a Frank Lloyd Wright home lists for a shocking price, and a missing Cubist painting hidden in plain sight!

    🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

    MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

    For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

    Who is Amara Andrew?

    Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.