Has the Haight Ashbury Street Fair fallen to our AI overlords?

The artist who won the Haight Ashbury Street Fair’s 2024 poster contest has been accused of using AI. What’s the truth, and what does it mean for art in San Francisco?

The Haight Ashbury intersection and surrounding neighborhood are quintessential SF. Hippie, counterculture, music-focused – the street fair that started in 1978 with the guidance of Harvey Milk himself comes back year after year to put on a show.

A major hallmark of the event is the poster contest, which feeds into the hype and gets people excited. The winning poster is selected a few months ahead of the September event and sold / plastered everywhere; according to event organizers, some years the poster even becomes a “collector’s item.” 

This year, artist Eyeball James, also known as Darren Nelson, won with a depiction of a flying saucer zapping a street. To be associated with HASF was an honor Nelson’s sought since childhood. It’s been soured by online accusations that he used Artificial Intelligence as a shortcut to make the poster.

Haight Ashbury Street Fair 2024 Poster, provided by Katrina Zanotto

The callout post is a collage of a Robocop helmet and lime green text superimposed on the HASF poster. The self-described “AI Cop” points a digital, wagging finger at San Francisco, calling it “sad to see an area known for talented artists hire someone that needs Ai [sic] to be creative.” 

James, who describes himself as a sensitive person, says, “It depresses me. For the amount of work I put in, and then having to defend myself to people I don’t know…I sent videos of my work.” 

He says it came down to what the account was trying to prove. “Are you trying to say that I’m AI? If so, how can I change your mind that I’m a human being with a pen in my hand?” While James’ wording has been careful not to explicitly state he didn’t use AI at any point in the process, comments from HASF defending James deny that he used AI. On August 6th, when asked to “show everyone your proof you didn’t use AI at any single point,” HASF’s official Instagram account replied, “he already did!!!”

AI is fast-becoming omnipresent, not only in art but in all things creative and beyond. While it is everywhere, it’s not all-powerful. AI’s ability to pass as human (if that’s even the goal) is largely dependent on what it is fed and how its prompts are written. It’s a tool, but it can also be a sensitive topic for some artists.

What do other artists think?

Amanda Lynn, a renowned local muralist and fine artist, was introduced to this writer by HASF to talk more about her thoughts around AI in art. “I personally look at it as a tool.” She’s dabbled outside of her art practice but found AI to be slower than hand drawing. “One of my very best friends lost her job in the animation industry because AI literally took over her entire career that she’s been building for the past 15 years,” she shares.

It’s a conversation Lynn says is long overdue in the art community, and it’s only just starting. “If you can spend the time to manipulate AI, then good for you. I would rather spend the time painting a gigantic mural.” 

As a design expert, Lynn shares that she can usually tell when something is AI and that she does not like the aesthetic. However, she says there’s a good chance someone might use an AI-generated source or reference image and not even realize it if their eye is untrained. 

Earlier in her career it was something Lynn always submitted hand-painted work to. This year’s selection, Eyeball James, is, in HASF’s words, “a classically trained artist” whose work is in the Marin style that uses more ‘organic’ colors. It is his first time submitting to the contest. Lynn has not yet seen the winning poster.

Katrina Zanotto is a board member of HASF, the all-volunteer-run and self-funded organization started to “create awareness of the cultural and political aspects of the neighborhood.” And the poster “captures the spirit of the community and the intention of the fair.” So what if the HASF poster winner was created using AI at some point in the process and the artist didn’t disclose it? 

It would be a scandal. 

Zanotto insists that the organization and artist have done all they can to disprove the accusations. She says, “It wouldn’t be as authentic to the spirit of the fair or the neighborhood to have the artist use AI.” But Zanotto’s bigger problem is the way the callouts took place. She calls it “inappropriate” and says, “I didn’t like the trolling.” 

 

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A post shared by AL Murphy (@the_aicop)

When we DM’d AL Murphy, the name behind the account @the_aicop, they responded, “Ahh, the HASF poster we pulled over for suspected AI use?” The account uses an image of a highway patrolman with screenshots of art they suspect is AI-generated, and this wording of “pulling over” is part of their bit. At first, Eyeball James interacted with the account and even sent a video of some layers on Procreate. But when the account asked the artist for a Timelapse (a feature in Procreate that shows the process from start to finish) to lay the issue to bed, they claimed, “[he] did not want to show any more proof of how [he] made it.”

We’re a small local news organization. We don’t have the Hearst resources or the Michael Moritz funding to dig into tools that purport the ability to identify AI usage with accuracy. In fact, such things are still under development and might not be any more reliable than the human eye. As a writer who pays a fair amount of attention to street trees, it is odd that on the right-hand side of the street there is a canopy with no trunk and another canopy that disappears behind a building. And as a writer who is curious about Victorian architecture, it’s also weird that on the left-hand side, there are uneven windows and a door on the third floor of a building. There ARE doors on upper stories in SF, particularly in the Richmond on Clement where single-story homes were jacked up to add businesses underneath, but it’s beyond us to say definitively if this poster contains anything AI. 

“I can admit that I’ve gone online…” James trails off. “I spend hours just gathering information. I will take photographs and twist ‘em. Mess ‘em up. Maybe overlap images and actual photos or artwork that’s been made. And try to come up with something so that it makes the juices flow so that I can make a piece.” James mentions using tools like Photoshop and Procreate to manipulate and create layers. 

The artist calls the account’s tactics a “barrage of bullshit. It’s just some kid who has nothing else to do but be the police. To me, I think wherever an artist gets their inspiration from, that’s where they get their inspiration.” 

The iconic Haight-Ashbury Street Fair (HASF) is set to celebrate its 45th anniversary on Sunday, September 15, 2024. This year’s event promises an unforgettable experience with an outstanding lineup of artists performing on the Stanyan and Masonic stages. 

2024 Lineup Highlights:

• MOONALICE: A fusion of rock and psychedelia.

• Frightwig: Pioneers of the punk rock scene.

• Keystone Revisited featuring Tony Saunders with special guest Narada Michael Walden.

• Sgt Splendor : featuring Eric McFadden & Kate Vagas, A mix of rock, funk, and blues,

• Bryan Kehoe‘s Los Cincos Borrachos: High-energy rockabilly tunes.

  Infamous Stiffs: Punk rock energy and attitude.

• Veils: Atmospheric and emotive alternative rock.

• Milk For The Angry: Powerful and dynamic rock performance.

• Matt Jaffe: Infectious pop-rock melodies.

• Jethro Jeremiah: Soulful and captivating singer-songwriter.

• The Young Barons: Surf rock with youthful exuberance.

• Swami 3: San Francisco-based pop-rock band of brothers, known for playing instruments, writing catchy songs, and spreading smiles with their infectious energy.

• The Voodoo Cabaret: Theatrical and eclectic performance.

• 2 TBA Youth Bands: Winners of the Battle of the Bands, in partnership with Rock Project SF.

HAIGHT STREET SKATE JAM – BELVEDERE ST.
Children’s Alley – with Blue Bear Music Stage, Mobile Library & Jumpy House
All generations are welcome.

More info here