Ancient underwater statues // Repatriation story with happy ending! // AI-generated art banned from conventions // How to piss off Banksy

Hello everyone. Welcome back to By Amara. This is a weekly news show where I discuss contemporary events in the art and art history fields.

I'm your host and personal curator, Amara Andrew. The format for the show that we use is typically one used by Western brides, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. This week though, we're going to have two something olds, one something new, and one something borrowed.

I genuinely think I've only ever done the some like all four of them in like maybe one or two episodes. If you know which ones they are, let me know in the comments below. So, this week, we're going to be discussing ancient underwater statues, a repatriation story with a happy ending, like one of the rare ones, AI-generated art that's being banned from one of the largest anime conventions in the United States, and how to piss off Banksy.

All that coming up on this episode of By Amara. Let's get to it.

So I normally like to start the show with a series of updates. I unfortunately have nothing this week. It has been crazy hectic bicky.

Crazy hectic busy. See, I'm just trying to be as efficient as possible. I combined hectic and busy and got bicky.

So all you Gen Z out there, get bicky rolling and we'll be good.

I am having a rough little day. Anyway, so I do not have any updates, unfortunately. As soon as I do, I will let you know.

Obviously, that is how this works. That is why it's called updates. Last week, we had like updates galore.

This week, unfortunately, I don't have much. But I was sitting here thinking about it, and I would actually like to know if you're listening to this on like in podcast, please come find this YouTube video. Let me know in the comments below,

And same with you watching on YouTube, let me know in the comments below. What was the first piece of art you ever fell in love with? Like I love asking people that I've just met this question because it runs the gamut.

Typically, it's like all the old masters and things like that, which there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, like there are there are some beautiful qualities to their work. I've heard like totally out of left field things like, "Oh, this greeting card," or something, which I love. Like I think that's so cool when it's just like, "Oh no, it was actually the illustrations in this book," or something like that.

I find it so fascinating. I think it's really cool, and it helps show me new art too that maybe I never thought about, or I don't know. I just find it really cool.

It's kind of like a personality quiz, or something almost. So please let me know in the comments below, what was the first piece of art that you genuinely fell in love with, or you were like, "Wow, this is really pretty. I want to know." So let me know.

So without further ado, let's get to the show.

Okay, so our first something new, we are going to be talking about these beautiful bronze statues that were found underwater in Tuscany. Two dozen of them, that is 12 and 12, so 24 not 24 dozen. Oh my god, that would be insane.

24 bronze statues were found underwater in Tuscany. What's amazing about these statues though, not only that they were found, but they were found very well-preserved, which is really weird. So archaeologists are actually crediting the 6,000 bronze, silver, and gold coins that were covering these statues and like near them for keeping them preserved.

I have no fucking idea how that would work. I mean, everything is metal, and I would think that metal would rust, but I don't know. I am not a chemist with a I don't even know what the fuck would that be chemistry?

I don't know. So if you know, let me know. But I have no idea how, but apparently archaeologists are saying that these were preserved because of these coins, so maybe it made like a nice little blankey or something.

Okay, Amara from the future here. I just read another news article that said another reason why the bronze statues could have been conserved was because of the mud and the water that was surrounding the statues. It was actually like a ton of oxygen in it, so that actually helped preserve these even more.

So I just wanted to jump in and say that really quickly. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

So these statues were found in the town of San Casciano dei Bagni, and apologies for mispronunciation as always, which I'm pretty sure dei Bagni means bath, now that I'm looking at it, which makes sense because these were found in the ruins of an ancient bathhouse. That would make sense why they were found underwater. When I first read this story, I was like, "Underwater in Tuscany?" Like I don't know a lot about Italy, but I know like this town, cuz it's Siena, I only know that because of the Renaissance and studying art history and shit like that.

If you look at the map, this town is landlocked. It is not near any kind of major body of water. Like there's a little one, but it's not like super near it.

So I'm assuming that these were found underwater in the bathhouse, so is it like ancient bath water or something? I would totally like to know what that water would, I was going to say smell like, that sounds really weird, but like what did it taste like? I don't know, just put it in like a filter and then just try to drink it.

Maybe you'll get like superhuman powers or die, I don't know. Don't do that. Try to avoid that at all costs.

Anyway, so archaeologists have been exploring this area since 2019. They've also found a bunch of other stuff, like a shit ton more coins, so maybe it was like a really wealthy town or something in its time. And then a bunch of other bronze works and smaller statues and things like that.

So the ancient statues that we're talking about right now, most I think most or all of them depict Greco-Roman gods and goddesses, and it's believed that these were used to adorn a sanctuary before their ritual immersion into the thermal waters. So that is actually where they were supposed to be is underwater. I find it fascinating.

I've never actually heard about that being like a ritual sort of thing. So it's also believed that most of these statues date from between the second and first century BCE. And these statues are currently at the Central Institute of Restoration for study and to I assume be restored.

It wasn't laid out in the article like that, but that is what I'm guessing. That is what I'm taking from that. These will eventually be on display in the city of San Casciano, which San Casciano, which is where they were found.

While I was reading the story, I had a pop into my head, like what happens when we've found all of the ancient things?

Can that actually happen? I don't know. I was just thinking like what happens if you like run out of ancient things to find or like can you actually run out of that?

Like what would that even look like? And is everything then in museums, is some stuff in the trash, is it burned? Like I don't know.

I was just so curious. Like is there kind of a limit to how much ancient stuff we can find? I know realistically like funding is a huge issue.

It was just something I was thinking about like cuz there are more people on the planet now than there have ever been. So like there are enough of us where they will become archaeologists and then find this old shit, you know? I don't know if I'm making any sense right now, but I kind of feel like maybe we could run out of finding ancient things, cuz nothing lasts forever, like sing it.

But these things exist, but there's so few of them. Anyway, I just find it a really fascinating thing to ponder like if we will ever run out of ancient stuff to find. If you're from the future though, and you're watching this video, let me know.

Have we found all the ancient things? Comment below. I'll be dead by then.

Anyway, moving along.

I just started laughing cuz I was like, "Well, maybe I won't be dead by then. Maybe I'll just be like in a little jar or something." And then I was like, "Well, not like tiny, like shoved in the jar." I was just thinking if I was just like a floating head, kind of like Futurama. I was just a head in a jar.

Help. I think I'd be a pretty damn good head in a jar.

Anyway, our next something old, I finally have a happy like a repatriation story with a currently pleasant ending. I don't want to say happy ending because I know that like happy can signify many different things for people, but this is a pleasant ending, I will say. I just thought of happy ending, and that is not what I'm talking about at all.

Anyway, on October 22nd of this year 2022, six ancient artifacts that had been stolen from Turkey, and I'm using the Anglicized version of Turkey just to make it easier for me, so they were stolen from Turkey and were returned from the United States. That's so cool. So it's unclear exactly when these things were actually stolen from Turkey, but the six artifacts included a human-sized bronze statue of Roman emperor Lucius Verus from the 1st or 2nd century CE, sarcophagus fragments from the ancient city of Perge in Antalya, and apologies for mispronunciation as always, there will be many in this section, Attic Apollo figurines from the early Roman and Hellenic periods, a Kusura-type idol from the early Bronze period, and a terracotta slab from the Phrygian period.

These items were also from the Turkish provinces of, apologies, Balikesir, Afyonkarahisar, and Burdur.

While these items were returned as part of this joint effort by Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Antalya and Burdur Museum Directorates, the Manhattan, so the United States, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence, this initiative was actually started by one lone woman.

And this one lone woman was actually Turkey's first female archaeologist. So it was the late Professor Jale or Jale Inan. Her work though wasn't internationally recognized until it was paired with the research by writer and journalist Ozgen Acar.

Once they like combined forces, they were able to give this to Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry. So they were then able to make a file and pass it along to the to the United States, and it was successful. So to celebrate the return of these items, there was an unveiling ceremony that was at the Antalya Museum on November 13th.

So I don't have a lot more for that. I'm just very happy to actually hear a positive, I should say positive, there we go, a positive repatriation story. I hope to have many more of them in the future or at least have like the sturdy blocks for it.

Sorry, I got far from the mic. But yeah, so I hope to have many more of these stories to share with you in the future.

In Episode 9, I discussed AI-generated art in lots of detail. I also talked about, well, I talked about a variety of different things, but mostly related to copyright. And specifically, I talked about the case study with Getty Images and how they've completely banned AI-generated artwork on their platform.

This week, we are again touching on touching upon AI-generated artwork and copyright. Apparently, two of the largest anime conventions here in the United States, Anime NYC and Anime Los Angeles, have both completely banned AI-generated artwork from their Artist Alleys.

So, Anime NYC hasn't officially made like a formal announcement or anything, but Anime Los Angeles actually just released a statement about their choice to ban AI-generated art. They, quote, "determined that based on the current nature of its implementation and lack of regard toward artists, we cannot in good faith let this kind of product exist in our space.

We at Anime Los Angeles do not condone or accept any form of AI-generated art piece being used within our promotional materials, nor sold in our exhibit hall or Artist Alley." They go on to say, they say a lot more in the statement, but then they go on to say that it'll actually be considered a form of counterfeit if you are selling these in their Artist Alleys.

They then say that it will be required to be removed, which I don't know if they only mean the artwork or if they actually mean like the people who are selling it as well. Like it's just it's it's interesting. I also have to wonder, how are you going to be able to tell?

Like what if that's just the person's style? Like I don't know. I'm not a fan of AI art just personally.

I find that there are a lot of problems that we're going to have to kind of figure out to get to a better place for it, just personally, me personally. My boyfriend and I disagree on this, so I know many people disagree.

I just wonder how they're going to be able to identify it. Like I don't know. I don't know.

Thankfully, I don't have to make those decisions, but I'm just curious, how would you be able to tell if it's like printed out or something, but whatever. I also just feel like this is just going to keep getting messier and messier and messier until there's some sort of legislation that either says, you know, "Yes, this is okay," or "No, this is really not okay," and kind of go from there.

Like it's just really messy and very complicated. Something will definitely have to be figured out on the federal level, at least here in the United States. I know content creators are going to be very agitated with it, and then I know, you know, people who want to have the AI-generated, it's it's a whole big issue, and there's a lot more coming, and just get ready.

Blah, blah, blah. So, that's basically all I have to say. I just wanted to talk about the story, though, because I found it interesting that events, like physical events, are actually banning this, which I thought was really fascinating, especially in comparison to then to the Getty Images banning AI-generated art.

But then you have Google, who's creating an AI-generated art app like to make your own. I don't know. It's fucking wild out there, so get ready, people.

If I have learned anything this past week, it is do not fuck with Banksy, because they will fuck you back so hard, like so hard. So, this is another case of copyright. I keep talking about copyright for some reason.

I love copyright lately. I don't know why. This I actually saw happening in real time.

I think I either saw it on Instagram or Twitter, either one of those. And I was like, "What the fuck?" So, this just happened like 24 hours ago or 48. So, the story is developing.

This is just what we know as of now. So, Banksy posted a photo to Instagram, and it says on the photo, it's a photo of a Guess store. It says, "Attention all shoplifters.

Please go to Guess," which is like a clothing store, "on Regent Street. They've helped themselves to my artwork without asking. How can it be wrong for you to do the same with their clothes?" Fucking mic drop.

Like Sorry, that was very loud. I do not like condoning violent or illegal activities like that could possibly harm somebody. I do not like that whatsoever, but it's just interesting to see.

Like there's a lot of passion behind that, as you can as you can tell from the image.

Okay, so a little bit of backstory. This is all I know for right now. Guess has a licensing deal apparently with a company called Brandalised.

I looked at their website, it feels sketchy as fuck. This does not feel like a legitimate company. This feels like somebody who's just like operating in the back rooms of a store or something until they get shut down.

Like it feels so fucking sketchy. They claim to have the licensing rights to this work from graffiti artists, but they don't really like say anything. It's everything is so vague on their website and just like really creepy and gross, and like I did not get good vibes.

If they actually have the licensing rights for this shit, that's great. Like good for them. They also have a Banksy quote on their home page.

I think I actually took a screenshot of it because I was like, "Just in case." On their like home page or on one of their main pages, they have a quote from Banksy that just says, "It's a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of your work are the police department." It's like, did they just put that up just because of this whole Banksy snafu sort of thing?

A few copyright lawyers have actually spoken up about this issue, and it's amazing how fast things work. Like I don't know. I was going to say "these days." I'm only 29, but I still am just like blown away that you already have people talking about this.

Like I mean, I'm talking about it right now, but like I read this in an article. It was like just made. It was so weird.

Anyway, a few copyright lawyers have stated that Guess appears to have legitimately sourced the Banksy artwork from the brand Brandalised or from the third party Brandalised. They also Brandalised claims that they have the rights to commercialize and use Banksy's artwork on goods. Kind of doesn't sound like it, unless Banksy has amnesia or something.

I don't know. I'm just I'm very curious. I don't want to take sides too quickly yet, just because we don't really know the full story of it.

So, some people have also said that this is a clever marketing ploy by Banksy where they are drawing attention to Guess to sell these clothes. If you know anything about Banksy, that feels like the complete polar opposite of who Banksy is. They are focused on human rights.

Like that doesn't even make any sense. It feels very antithetical to Banksy's MO. Also, some people have commented on social media, like, "Isn't Banksy anti-copyright?

Why do they care now?" Banksy is very thoughtful. If you're going to put your art or your brand or your image or something on physical products or just products in general, you want to know who it is, who the company is, and especially Banksy, because they pay attention to current affairs and they're they seem very thoughtful, you want to know what the company is like.

How are their inner workings? Are they doing child labor? Do they have sweatshops?

Like, what is it like? If Guess actually got it from Brandalised and they do have the rights, I don't know. I just I don't know how I feel about this.

This is so weird, but I could see Banksy being very upset about this because they don't know what Guess is doing behind the scenes. So, anyway, TLDR, I will have more updates for you because I know that this is going to be a very big story. In the meantime, though, the Guess store on Regent Street had to close down the store shortly after Banksy posted this photo.

They put security outside and they covered the window display with this little sheet that said, "Oh god, what did it say?" I wish I'd taken a screenshot to read it right now. It said something like, " please excuse us while we change our displays," or something. It just felt so silly and like everything just feels silly when you really think about it, but this especially just felt so silly and so stupid and just like, "What is going on?" I live in idiocracy.

Like, what the fuck? So, anyway, I just thought that was a very interesting, interesting news story. So, that'll do it for this episode of By Amara.

Thank you so much for watching, and if you like this video, please make sure to like it and subscribe, whether on YouTube or in podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Sorry, I ran out of breath there for a second. Yeah.

So, anyway, that has been By Amara. And I'm Amara Andrew, and never stop creating.