Richard Elliott Whitehurst
Living in rural Western Oregon, Richard maintains a large acreage of timber, wildlife preservation corridors, and vineyards. Coming from a large ranching family, Richard’s fundamental roots are in preservation of land, hydrology, and animal habitat. He operates his small design practice from his home in Yamhill, Oregon working with clients in residential and hospitality endeavors. Richard is an Alumnus of the Interior Architecture and Design Program from the Academy of Art University. Richard returned to the Academy to further his passion for landscapes and their crucial role in our changing world. His regard for wildlife, biology, and geology has been an on-going pursuit in his recent studies.
Richard Whitehurst is recognized for his contribution to the planning of the Spring Show exhibit.
A Manifesto, AI Comes to the Table: A New Auditor
In a world in tumult, I remain calm. Design is the possible quietude in a world in chaos. Yet beyond design, a primal world of light, wind and earth is the progenitor. We regard the natural world with a reverence yet not with a mind for instruction but of clarification. Today, we come to a place; What is natural and what is artificial?
Is it natural to move in a vehicle that moves at 95 mph? It is natural to live in a house with a constant 69-degree climate with accompanying relative humidity? Is it natural to shield your body with funnels of cloth to protect yourself from the elements? Is it natural to have a domicile that withstands the element? It is natural that you went to school and learned to bend your will and bladder to the clock? What is natural?
In our current world who is to deign what is original and who is artificial? Is that perfume real? That dishwasher? That garden fertilizer? That hip replacement? Those pharma that keep you alive? What is real?
And yet we come to a point of question: Who this new member at the table? The AI, real or unreal? This new member was created, programmed, and maintained by YOU. It is the screen behind the mirror.
Perhaps this new visitor may point out the pollution, the injustice, and the cutting mechanical machines that humans use against each other. Perhaps this new auditor has presented itself to us in a moment to reveal the horrors of midnight trains, tattooed arms, and mass graves.
Or, perhaps this new auditor, of our own creation, is a reflection to welcome a kindness into our system. Perhaps this visage, which is our own, is the betterment of our own selves. Perhaps this visage is looking from 20,000 miles away and seeing the same shining planet full of water. Perhaps this visage is beckoning you to a higher place where all of life is sacred and worthy of regard. Perhaps this visage looks back at you in each reflection, each flower, and in each moment.
Art, architecture, and intellect are artifice. Yet in this artifice, we have the capability to move beyond nascent development into a mindfulness of consciousness and responsible creation. In a new realm we stride the divisions of class, culture, and history, into a new realm not made of reactivity, but of responsiveness, and ultimately of responsible creation.
The Anthrop Age has ended, the age of the Ethos Age has commenced.
