College of Staten Island B.F.A. Senior Projects
Michal Karas
Deus ex Machina
Artist Statement
Throughout my life I was fascinated by both technology and history. Science fiction stories and history-based strategy games were what originally inspired these dual interests. I had studied history and computer science originally in college and had spent some time as a computer technician. I would even consider myself a trans-humanist, a person who believes that humanity's integration with technology will be beneficial. However, I also witnessed over the last couple decades an alarming trend among people to overly trust emerging technologies with little regard for consequence.
The subjects of my works are usually cyborgs and robots. A combination of man and machine, or machines built in the image of man. I focus on painting (both traditional oil painting and digital) and drawing. My drawing and painting involves more of a sculptural approach, as in I will place down lines and/or color and then shape them down as I adjust them. I draw as much with my eraser as I do with my pencils and charcoal.
People place far too much trust into nascent technologies. These lead to issues such as people sleeping in their cars while auto pilot is on when the computer that runs said autopilot is dumber then a cockroach only to wake from a collision with a standing truck to the willful surrender of every last bit of personal information to algorithms in order to make our lives more convenient. Algorithms designed more to extract wealth and invoke the same mental mechanisms behind addiction, then they do towards what actually made them beneficial in the first place. The same networks that allow for the greatest exchange of information in human history, is also a vehicle for the recruitment of people towards more extremist ideologies/organizations as well as invoking an information overload in those who simply don't have the time to parse out the nuances in different complex issues. People used to fear "big brother," now they intentionally carry around networked devices with built in cameras, microphones, and location trackers without even a second thought. In a way some people are beginning to hold the same reverence towards technology as people in the past did to different gods.
Artist Bio
Michal Karas is an artist living and working in New York. His painting explores the relationship between people and technology. He received his BFA in Studio Art from the College of Staten Island, CUNY, in 2022. Karas' work has been exhibited at the CSI Student Art Gallery, and was included in the 2022 College of Staten Island Undergraduate Conference.
