#malingo

So I understand why the Ghibli plagiarism machine has been The talking point the last two days

That makes sense- their works often focusing on the act of creation

BUT

PERSONALLY

I am far more obsessed (insulted and baffled) by an image reddit has shared with me

You may be familiar with Clive Barker- writer, poet, painter, playwright

Painted pieces such as this one

Reddit user has been taking paintings from Clive's YA series Abarat 'all day' and putting them through the 'new chatgpt image gen'

Now

I don't believe Clive or his team has made any official stance on the use of his works being stolen for image generation

I would hazard a guess that like most artists, he does not appreciate this

And babes.

If someone took one of my pieces and asked a.i. to make it a 'realistic photo' that looked like this?

Gazza: Several traffic violations.

Mischief: Three counts of resisting arrest.

Malingo: Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks.

At about what time period do you think travel between the Abarat and Hereafter was shut down? Klepp specifically states the picture he has of his great-grandfather was taken around 1882 by our calendar. That was before Harks Harbor was burned.

I'm feeling it would be fairly close since the great-grandfather's Almanak described the Hereafter in no pleasant terms. If the harbor burned before the 1900s, then would people have already discounted the Hereafter as myth by the early 2000s? Klepp doesn't make it sound as though trade between the two was so secretive on the Abaratian side. And Izarith recognized both the name dollars and appearance of US currency despite regular people on the street being said as not believing in the Hereafter.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I'm doing a bit of research and prep to begin working on something around Mater Motley's youth (just as a rough generalization without giving too much away of what I have planned since she wouldn't be the main character).

"But then there's another place: I gave to my editor an Abarat painting, I gave her the picture towards the end of the first book of Malingo with the skull flowers in his hands? It's a nice sort of Halloween picture because the colours are deliberately purple and orange and he's got a big smile on his face; he's very happy, this strange guy with these skull flowers in hand. I think there's a lot of off-beat choices amongst the pages that would please a kid who doesn't want something quite so sweet as is often offered up. But I would say, you know, don't be too cautious, because I think you can be too cautious."

Malingo, 1999

Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24"

I freaking LOVE Abarat!!! 😍😍😍😍 Clive Barker is a magic man with his books and I haven’t found one I haven’t loved to read yet! Though first place in my heart is Abarat.

Malingo and John Mischief are best boys, Candy is my girl for life!