It’s not hard to understand the basic components of computer vision and be absolutely astonished by it; immediately going to your computer and trying to figure out how to make something like this work. I, of course, have not taken the lesson on computer vision with Aaron, yet, but have my interests peaked nonetheless. This fascination with computer vision, I doubt, is rare. Given the range of artworks described in the post, I can imagine many artists running to their computers (and visions.. haha) to program beautiful artworks. The crux of my reaction, however, is the notion of the gimmick.
When does something highly desirable become a gimmick?
This happens in all forms of art design so frequently. Many are aware of the Great Marbling movement of the late early 2000s, or the drop shadows of the 90s. What started as innovative became both a trademark of a time period and an annoyance.
At first, this frustrates me, but I then think of this process as cyclical. This high saturation of a particular technique, art, or design in a particular time period can desensitize us to its beauty. But we quickly find balance. Drop shadows are now a classic if you will, maybe computer vision will become one too.