Fake it vs Make it

If all you’re looking for is the appearance of online clout, we have tons of pictures of world famous landmarks; you could photoshop yourself into each of them with a motorcycle. But this misses the point, yes?

Between machine learning prompts, 3D software, and photoshop, we have a pretty good handle on simulating textures, shadows, materiality, motion, whatever you want.

But we still value the craft of practical effects in movies. We value handmade pottery. The inevitable happy accidents that pop up when you try to realize something in a world with physics and no undo-button. Walter Benjamin’s hic et nunc, the “here and now.” The immediacy of the actual.

What would you gain if you did it for real? What would you learn if you made it for real?