the niki download

Making A Living On The Kitchen Table

#80
Niki Williams
Palo Alto, CA
3/10/2025

Ben Buchanan, former special adviser for artificial intelligence in the Biden White House, believes AGI will arrive before Trump leaves office. AGI, in essence, is an intelligence capable of performing nearly any task a human can—only better.

That’s set to happen in 2029—the same year Skynet declares war on humanity in The Terminator.

Of course, Buchanan could be wrong, but he’s not exactly just another tech hype man, propping up the market and slyly selling us on the conveniences of techno-feudalism.

I could use a drink.

The espresso martini above is made of stale coffee and dish soap. I crafted it in my kitchen for a product shoot—a little packet of weed juice needed its moment.

I shot images and video for a campaign on a mirror balanced on a Lazy Susan at my luxurious Palo Alto Kitchen Table Studio.

A lot of my favorite artists worked on their kitchen table.

William Burroughs engaged his shadow self and made his “cut up” poems where he ate breakfast.

Carrie Mae Weems staged scenes exploring family and domestic life where she ate lunch.

Iriving Penn began his photographic career cultivating his meticulous eye where he ate his supper.

As an artist trying to scrape by in today’s market, I feel compelled to take every job that comes my way if I’m going to make a living.

Whether it’s a newspaper assignment, commercial gig, event, non-profit, or portrait, I aim to meet the client’s aesthetic and needs while injecting some of my own tastes.

But increasingly, I find myself looking over my shoulder... With AGI knocking at the door, I wonder—is it all going to come crashing down?

Will people who need to sell stuff be empowered to simply take a photo of their product with a phone, type in a few prompts, and create a cool campaign?

Will consumers be inspired to buy products created, marketed and produced by an AI?

In the event that many of us lose our ability to make an income, what will we do?

Okay, digression—Do YoU uSe Ai CuRrEnTlY? Have you noticed it’s getting worse?

These images were created using the blend function on Midjourney. A few years ago, it was a lot better. I’m not sure why I’m still paying $10 a month for this.

In May 2023 I generated a series of images that imagined Detroit Police Officers at a “Design Your Own Tropical Uniform Contest” blending images from an awards event with a photo I made of dude wearing Spongebob socks.

On Instagram, I was surprised that I might have actually momentarily tricked some people into thinking it was a real event.

These days, I can’t get it to replicate the quality of those results. A few weeks after making that series I fed the AI images from St. Patricks Day in Detroit with prompts from the Old Testament.

Midjourney was newer to me then, so maybe my standards are just higher now after seeing a few years worth of bonkers AI art.

To be honest, I am less worried about what AI is going to do to me and more concerned that the humans who own the AI platforms aren’t letting us use the really good shit. Remember when they found Cocaine in the Biden white house? I spent a whole day trying to get the ol’ AI to make me a picture of Joe packing bags of Yayo. I had to ask it to show me the president playing with flour.

Last week I wanted to get a reference photo for a drawing of blind people jousting with pencils in the style of Bruegel so I could make a drawing for a commission from the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. They had an open call for alumni to submit an idea for a piece of art which would become a gift for the graduating class.

For the record, my favorite alumni from Stamps are, in no particular order: Pat Olezko, Mike Kelley, Joseph Keckler, Holly Hughes, Riley Hanson, Gisela McDaniel, Kit Parks, Josh Kochis, and honorary art student Rob Luzyinski and omg why did I add this here I am leaving out like 100 people.

I could argue that all of those artists are in some way interested in incorporating process, fragments, and re-contextualized elements that make audiences aware of the labor, hidden narratives, and psychological underpinnings of their art work. For me this comes out in podcasts, cryptic text messages to friends, my IG stories and this very newsletter.

If a piece of art, a picture, or any media is born out of the black box abyss that is AI, will we as viewers miss the “behind the scenes” content?

I will. I really miss the special feature disks that used to come with DVDs. The spoofs. The commentary. The behind the scenes. Are our careers also destined for the dusty shelves of history?

Does this picture of me drawing at my kitchen table make you like my drawings more???

Once AGI is born, I am probably going to be right at that spot, thinking of ways to connect with you and hoping you are doing the same…

Until next month,

Niki Williams

This months labor includes…

Editorial:
Why are pop-ups some of SF’s best eating?
Because they’re true labors of love

‘Are you Zuck or Cuck?’:
We went to a Mark Zuckerberg-themed rave and it was meh-ta

Commercial:

1906 Drop In Drop Off Campaign with Nice Handwriting
Summer Krinsky did the sound for the videos and Zach Vitale made the espresso martini look as good as it could be!
&
Portraits for the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association

Commission:

A drawing for the Stamps School of Art
and Design’s Graduating Class Gift.