Lex DeVille's: One Thread For All My Genius, Unhinged, Mostly Really Bad Ideas

[Lex DeVille]

Every act of creation is an act of destruction. Every decision, path, and possibility comes at the expense of its alternatives. In creating this, we sacrifice that. This is the foundation of Depletionism. ~ Lex DeVille


DEPLETIONISM by Lex DeVille
An artistic philosophy centered on the progressive and irreversible loss of creative possibilities through meaningful constraints, resource depletion, or both.

How Depletionism Works
An artist begins with an established range of creative possibilities. As the work progresses, these possibilities are progressively and irreversibly reduced, forcing the artist to adapt their creative process to increasingly restrictive conditions.

Example in Practice
An artist with a full color wheel begins to paint a farmhouse on a farm. All possibilities of the palette are available to the artist.



After 1/2 of the painting is complete, a constraint is introduced and the artist may only use colors ranging from Red Purple through Yellow Green. This forces the artist to evolve his creative process, and changes the possibilities of what the art can become.



After 3/4's of the painting is finished, another constraint is introduced. Now the artist may only use a palette consisting of Blue-Purple through Blue-Green, subsets of the former palette. This further constrains the work, forcing the artist to again evolve the approach.



Based on the above parameters, I asked GPT to create a painting. This is what it created. As you can see, the image started somewhat realistically, but evolved into a more dreamlike experience as it progressed.



What's interesting is that through Depletionism, this outcome was neither predictable nor inevitable. I asked GPT to pretend that it was a famous landscape artist who paints natural, realistic looking art and to try again based on this prompt, following the same constraints.



Depletionism can have radically different outcomes. An artist can follow the same concept multiple times and produce differing works. Likewise, differing artists can attempt the same concept, but have different evolotions of creative process along the way, resulting in unique outcomes.

I came up with Depletionism as a result of a chunking up process. It started with a constraint-based idea for Lego mosaics. The idea was to use a limited, but quantified inventory of pieces to create a mosaic.

After the first mosaic is complete, I use the remaining inventory to create a second mosaic, but because there are fewer pieces, the second mosaic is very different from the style of the first. Upon completing the second mosaic, I use any remaining inventory to create a third mosaic.

Following this method, the entire body of works becomes progressively more constrained over time. In addition, each work directly influences, and is therefore connected to, every other work in the cycle. Once I run out of pieces, the cycle is complete. This is an example of Terminal Depletion Method (see below).



CORE METHODS OF DEPLETIONISM

Sequential Depletion Method (SDM)
Creative possibilities are progressively and irreversibly restricted according to a prescribed sequence of constraints. Total resource depletion is not required (e.g. the painting example above).

Terminal Depletion Method (TDM)
Quantified finite creative resources are progressively and irreversibly depleted, increasingly constraining subsequent creative decisions until the designated resources are completely exhausted (e.g. my Lego mosaic process from above).

Sequential Terminal Depletion Method (STDM)
Combines prescribed, progressively restrictive creative conditions with the irreversible depletion of finite resources, culminating in their total depletion.


CONDITIONS & REQUIREMENTS

Depletionism

• Meaningful Creative Constraint: The creative process must involve genuine restriction that influences artistic possibilities.
• Progressive Loss: Creative possibilities must diminish progressively throughout the work or artistic cycle.
• Irreversibility: Once creative possibilities are eliminated through depletion, they cannot be restored within the work or cycle.
• Artistic Consequence: The progressive loss must meaningfully influence the creative process rather than merely accompany it.

Sequential Depletion Method

• Meaningful Creative Constraint: At least one genuine restriction must influence artistic creation.
• Defined Sequence: Constraints must be introduced or intensified according to an established sequence.
• Progressive Loss: Each successive stage must further reduce available creative possibilities.
• Irreversibility: Eliminated possibilities cannot be restored during the work or cycle.
• Sequential Completion: All prescribed stages must be completed. Total resource depletion is not required.

Terminal Depletion Method

• Meaningful Creative Constraint: At least one genuine restriction must influence artistic creation.
• Predefined, Quantified Finite Resource: The artist must establish a measurable, exhaustible creative resource before beginning.
• Progressive Loss: Resource depletion must progressively eliminate creative possibilities and influence subsequent decisions.
• Irreversibility: Consumed or permanently committed resources cannot be restored to the available supply.
• Terminal Depletion: The designated finite resource must reach complete, objectively verifiable depletion.

Sequential Terminal Depletion Method

• Meaningful Creative Constraint: At least one genuine restriction must influence artistic creation.
• Predefined, Quantified Finite Resource: The artist must establish a measurable, exhaustible creative resource.
• Defined Sequence: Additional restrictions must be introduced or intensified according to an established sequence.
• Progressive Loss: Creative possibilities must progressively diminish through sequential restrictions and resource depletion.
• Irreversibility: Eliminated possibilities and depleted resources cannot be restored.
• Sequential and Terminal Completion: All prescribed stages must be completed, and the designated finite resource must be completely exhausted.

 

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