Glitch Art
This is the first time that I've heard of glitch art. Or, this is the first time that I've paid attention to this subject. It was interesting listening to Nick Briz and how he described Glitch art as an intentional act and not just the result of a malfunction in software. He also talked about data bending and how manipulating files causes the image viewers see to change in unexpected ways, or otherwise glitch out. Nick Briz also laid out some very specific conditional statements. He said, “definitions + delineations help to provide context & carve out space for conversation.” It’s interesting how he terms glitch; =error he went on to say “computers don’t make errors people do”. He also said “glitch = unexpected so a glitch isn't an error”. I am trying to wrap my head around this, which leaves me with questions like, “What is the importance of glitch art? And, who uses glitch art? Am I seeing glitch art and not recognizing it?”
Great questions, Gillie! From an aesthetic and production standpoint, glitch art can certainly feel inaccessible or an acquired taste. This is why I like to think of it as a practice—something we do, as opposed to something we make—in which the end products are sometimes less interesting than the means of experimentation. It can be liberating to think of these digital tools as manipulatable, fluid, not so fixed, and able to be "misused," especially as our culture begins to rely so heavily on digital space for communication, consumption of information, and entertainment. Glitch is just a way to crack open the shell a little bit and peak inside: a good step towards digital literacy.
ReplyDelete