(Glitch) Art Genealogies essay by Rosa Menkman

Gridfont by A Bill Miller Image and interlaced Helvetica font by Rosa Menkman

Last March the (ᴳ̐litch) Art Genealogies exhibition took place at LEAP Gallery in Berlin. The exhibition statement said; "[...] The exhibition focuses on the different threads that interconnect generations of the different communities of visual (glitch) artists and their working methods, conceptual themes and problematics.

(glitch) Genealogies fragments Glitch history into multiple (historical) categories, such as ’NES-Aesthetics’, ‘Enigmatic realities’, ‘GUI, Politics and Prose’, ‘psychedelia and the new psychedelia’ and ‘discontinuous systematicities’"
Rosa Menkman, who curated the show together with Daniel Franke and John McKiernan went deeper, analyzing and writing about (Glitch) Art Genealogies. She launched the essay yesterday as a downloadable file  In this post you can see some fragments from the different categories and some references from artists who are part of the essay. See more;

NOTE All the information and references below are courtesy Rosa Menkman from (Glitch) Art Genealogies essay. The complete essay can be downloaded here.

(Glitch) Art Genealogies essay by Rosa Menkman

«Over the last 10 years, glitch, a perceived break from a flow in a technological system, has become a more and more popular subject matter in the (new) media arts. Today, Glitch Art is indeed so popular that theorists often feel the need to categorize and historicize the genre. Dada, Futurism and de Stijl are just a couple of historical Avant-Garde movements that have been used to delineate ‘the history’ of Glitch Art. But this teleological principle defies and confines glitch’ procedural and fragmented nature.

The exhibition (ᴳ̐litch) Art Genealogies does not focus on glitch art from a historically singular point of view, nor does it attempt to give an all encompassing historical or causal overview. Instead, (ᴳ̐litch) Art Genealogies recognizes the complexities and processes of glitch arts’ many affiliated, interconnected and (geo-)fragmented discourses: it tries to shine a light on why particular glitches develop social-political momentum in a specific point in time and how this momentum changes over time. 

(ᴳ̐litch) Art Genealogies is an effort to show just five of the many threaded glitch discourses that play a role in the curators subjective understanding of glitch art at this present. In these threads, generations of different communities of (visual) glitch artists and their working methods, conceptual themes and politics are (inter)connected and/or juxtaposed.» [...]

Psychedelia and New Psychedelia

[...] Psychedelic arts’ original aesthetics such as hallucinatory patterns, recursion, fractals and bright colors are illustrative to glitch, not necessarily because glitch artists have similar convictions or esthetic vision as 1960s psychedelic artists, but rather because of glitch arts’ algorithmic nature which was often referenced in 1960s psychedelic art. However, some glitch works seem to draw direct lines of inspiration or even knowledge (in the case of Anton Marini through collaboration) from these early times of counterculture. What does it mean to re-fabricate a genre 50 years after its coming about? And what is this ‘new’ in new psychedelia? 

gridSol_altar2 by A Bill Miller

Sect 7 N-E, 2013 by Anton Marini vs Rutt Etra

AURAE, 2012 by Sabrina Ratte 

GUI Politics and Prose

The collection Graphic User Interface (GUI) Politics and Prose shows glitch works that expand and explore the meaning and materiality of the GUI. Traditionally, the GUI functions to enhance the efficiency and ease of use of a computer program - in short: to enlarge 'usability'. But in these videos the GUI is exploited to enact a battle at the boarders of system and entropy, standardization and corruption, expression and code, and meaning and non-meaning, thwarting the viewers’ expectations and conventions of the ‘usability’ of a GUI.

JODIs early work My%Desktop (2002-2010) for instance, is best understood as a rejection of what can be referred to as GUI based ‘determinism’. At first sight, this series shows a collection of OS_systems going haywire, ruined and void of meaning. But the GUIs formal fragmentation or what seems to be a remarkably well choreographed spasming, forces the spectator to consider the work more closely. It seems like there is actually something more than just GUI-chaos on display. After reflecting upon the work for a while, it becomes clear that JODI is actually performing the GUI. The conventions I am conditioned to approach a GUI with, are left behind and instead the GUI has been deconstructed into a performance tool and maybe even something close to a writerly software. [...]

OS Desktop from the My%Desktop series, 2002-2010 by JODI

Plugin Beachball Success, 2012 by Jon Satrom

Post_it_desktop_Feedback, 2012 MiYö Van Stenis

NES circuitbending esthetic

Circuitbending is the customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as children's toys, to create new musical or visual instruments generating output beyond their original capabilities. It involves a certain threshold of knowledge and expertise - ie. a basic understanding of electronics and its tools. [...]

The concept that a glitch can be designed or distributed through a standardized glitch software, seems at first maybe a-typical, but has in fact become a more and more common tendency and even important tradition in recent glitch art. More and more ‘new’ glitch art is being modeled after original glitches within older media, perpetuating a shift from destabilizing breaks within technology or information-based processes towards the generic and associative display of more and less ‘retro’ effects. [...]

The Punch-Out! Variations, 2007 by noteNdo

glitchNES, 2009 by no_carrier

Enigmatic Realities

A video card barfs misunderstood RAM, all clipping modes are off, navigation causes environments to warp into all kinds of impossible angles while traces of passed imagery seem to get stuck in the sky and color modes have chosen to celebrate the 60s psychedelia once again. In these six game engine based ‘realities’, the rules of the frameworks that the player normally uses to make sense and navigate their videogames with, are intentionally ruined. [...]

The fact that the game environments still ‘function’, while programmed to ‘glitch’, makes them critically challenging. The gaming platform is in fact redefined to not follow its genre, form or technique and force the user to reflect upon her conventional frames of reference for the particular platform. Finally it becomes clear that software is more than just a preprogrammed tool: it is a materialization of social modalities, that can endlessly be re-modified into different interpretive or social conclusions. [...] 

RANDOM SEED, 2013 by Rick Silva

Psych and Seek 2013 by Kevin Carey

Authorship // Openness

Primarily active during the 70s as both activist and video artist based in and around Chicago, Phil Morton (1945 - 2003) wrote "Distribution Religion", a manifesto based on a conviction best understood as what today is known as ‘copy it left’ (but which Morton dubbed COPY RIGHT). Distribution Religion included the first DIT ‘open sourced’ schematics for an image processor, made by Dan Sandin. Mortons legacy also includes the film and video department of the the School of the Arts Institute Chicago, which Morton instigated and which is believed to be one of the earliest institutionalized film and video departments in the world. 

Mortons convictions still resonate in current video art practices of (SAIC/Chicago based) artists such as jonCates, who initiated the Phil Morton Memorial Research Archive in 2007, and Nick Briz whose Apple Computers (2013) is a [re]mix of Phil Morton's 1976 video tape 'General Motors'. In these (dirty) new media manifestos, Briz and Cates perform their take on issues of ‘Hystories’, planned obsolescence, upgrade culture, technological self-reliance, control and copying.

General Motors, 1970 by Phil morton

!"⟲#3! ⟒Ɍ3"""⟳Ɽ̂ ồ (AKA: Broken Records: Hystories i Of Noise && Dirty New Media), 2011 by  jonCates

Apple Computers, 2013 byNick Briz

Rosa Menkman, July 2013

The exhibition and essay include works by : Kim Asendorf, Nick Briz, jonCates, Kevin Carey, Anton Marini filter inspired by Bill Etra, Emilio Gomariz, Jodi, Nick Kegeyan, Alex Myers, Phil Morton, A Bill Miller, Brenna Murphy, no_carrier, noteNdo, Julian Oliver, Bryan Peterson, Sabrina Ratté, jon.satrom, Rick Silva, Yoshi Sodeoka and miYö Van Stenis.

Visual documentation about the show at LEAP Gallery; pictures here and videos [1] & [2]

Arte made a nice short documentary about check it out here, in german though.

Joshua Hopping

This is an untitled piece made by Joshua Hopping using elements from one of my favorite GUI aesthetics, the aqua user interface from macintosh, how beautiful are those scroll bars which Lion killed!

Simon Katan

Simon Katan combines electronic music, live animation, interaction, and social gaming to make software which creates musical odysseys through exploring animated worlds. In the following works into the post you can see how interesting and playful is the interaction while composing the music and the multiple different ways Simon creates to compose it through minimalist interfaces. See more;

Cube with Magic Ribbons, 2012

"Cube with Magic Ribbons is a computer visual and synthesised sound composition for live performance. The piece takes its title from a drawing of M.C.Escher which is rich with contradictory perspectives but it is also inspired by the wrapped spaces found in the two dimensional graphics of early computer games such as Asteroids and Pac-Man. It was created using a custom visual sequencer SoundCircuit, which rather than employing a conventional DAW layout, allows multiple virtual tape-heads to travel through a two-dimensional wrapped space along tracks that can be freely inter-connected. As the tape-heads travel through the resultant network, the topological layout of the tracks comes to directly influence the macro form of the music. Furthermore, as the piece unfolds the nature of this already confusing space reveals itself to be increasingly elastic and complex, yet inexorably intertwined with the musical form." - Simon Katan

What Is Life ?, 2012

"What Is Life ? is a computer visual and synthesised sound composition for live performance. The piece uses a custom visual sequencer called SoundLens which comprises an OpenFrameworks visual interface and an OSC controlled SuperCollider patch. These combine to imply an analogue between a simulated visual focal effect, reminiscent of a camera lens or microscope, and auditory depth of field. Into this world are placed multiple copies of a sound producing mechanical object.
Inspired by a coincidental similarity between certain arrangements of these objects and the double helix structure of DNA, the piece takes its title from the name of Erwin Schrödinger’s book in which he develops the concept of a complex molecule with the genetic code for living organisms. Nevertheless, there is a deeper connection between title and piece in that it progresses solely through the copying and mutation of its own material." - Simon Katan

God Over Djinn, 2011

"God Over Djinn is a piece for live animation and synthesised sound composition that draws on our intuitive understanding of the physical world, as well as playing with ambiguities between scale and perspective in two-dimensional representation to create seemingly infinitely nested worlds of colliding objects.

The work was inspired by impossible worlds of M.C.Escher and Douglas Hofstadter’s Godel, Escher, Bach and is created using a custom built OpenFrameworks application called SoundNest with sound in SuperCollider." - Simon Katan

FERÉSTEC

I like Feréstec works and how he combines painting, footage and other media with graphic user interface to compose the final layout or generate numerous patterns of details of the same piece. Here is some new work since I published his work last year. See more;

Taylor Holland

I'm fan of Taylor Holland's geometrical loop animations which are created and animated only using Illustrator and recorded through a video capture. They are animated specifically using the tools this software provides to repeat the last action. Once Taylor has the composition he usually use rotation to animate them, but getting so many different results. As he says the speed of the animation depends on his MacBook's ability to process the effect. Check out this previous post featuring more pieces. See more;

Hexagon. 2013

Wood, 2013

Swimming, 2013 

American football, 2013

Screen Recording by Evan Bech

These screen feedbacks captured by Evan Bech are so good. This is a well known technique used by digital and video artists. As Wikipedia says; Optical feedback is the optical equivalent of acoustic feedback. A simple example is the feedback that occurs when a loop exists between an optical input, e.g., a video camera, and an optical output, e.g., a television screen or monitor (more).

What I find interesting in these pieces is the volume of the three-dimensional forms Evan Bech has provided through the feedback, also the visual source he has used it is very beautiful. See more;

via | Creative Applications

JUNK JET 6: HERE AND WHERE

Yesterday 12.12.12, Junk Jet launched a new issue, the number 6 titled "Here And Where" it's the second issue published this year (see the previous one here) it runs a limited number of 999 copies. Apart from the great selection of artists, works and essays Junk Jet always publishes, this number comes also  with a sticker and a digital mixtape "Terrorismo Mexicano". As it introduces "Here And Where" — "The global is but the local on world tour. On this tour the local is not preserving identity – be that cultural, political, or social, but it is (re-)inventing itself, as art, activism, or enterprise. The local even aims at becoming a global subject, without knowing what forces – be that swarm, viral, or whatever, this depends on. 

The local is more or less ignorant about the www processes, but it is ready to get itself into anything – be that souvenirs, ruins­, folklorisms, vernaculars, clichés, promises, romanticisms, naturalisms, exotisms. 

Junk Jet N°6 is crazy about things of local time and place, in the form of objects, images, gifs, videos, sounds, architectures, or reflecting texts. Junk Jet comes  with works from your localhost­, or your local wifi kebab­ shop ..." - Junk Jet. See more;

Contributions in this sixth issue are: 0100101110101101, Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Aids-3d, Alberto Bustamante, Alejandro Crawford, Aline Otte, Andreas Angelidakis, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aude Debout, Aureliano Segundo, Blinking Girls, Caspar Stracke, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Clement Valla, Cornelia and Holger Lund, Emilio Gomariz, ET AL., ETC., Francesca Gavin, Golgotha, Hugo Scibetta, Jennifer Chan, JODI, Jon Rafman, Julien Lacroix, Kareem Lotfy, Kim Asendorf, Laimonas Zakas, Louis Doulas, m-a-u-s-e-r, Metahaven, Neil McGuire, Nicholas O’Brien, Nilgün Serbest, Olia Lialina and Dragan Espenschied, Patrick Cruz, Sophia Al-Maria, Superpool, Tomas Klassnik

Editors: Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest
Number of pages: 144
Measurements: 148 x 105 x 8 mm

You can buy it directly from here (paypal) or from junkjet's website for only 12€, including free shipping to everywhere!

n°6 there and where €12,00 EUR

Click images to enlarge_

junkjet.net

Idle Screenings

Ambient Hallway, 2012 by Stephanie Davidson

Idle Screenings is a project created by Mitch Trale and Jacob Broms Engblom, it was launched in March of this year as a one week exhibition, featuring the five most downloaded movies on the web, available in three formats: Screensaver, GIF blog, and PowerPoint, check it out here.

"During its initial weeklong run, Idle Screenings investigated the shift in the perceptual value of mass-market content once it has become ubiquitously shared online. Today, it streams video and image art to thousands of desktops daily, through the use of custom screensaver software. The exhibition explores value within an attention economy by beaming original works into empty rooms at the expense of other resources, such as energy, bandwidth, and time."

Idle Screenings has presented three different pieces since it started to show original works last first of November 2012 featuring "Difusse" by Jasper Spicero. Two weeks later it showed the colorful "Ambient Hallway" by Stephanie Davidson, and today is featuring the work called "Solitary House" by Jonas Holmer. I was lucky to see the previous works while showing them because I haven't found those works online so far. To not miss the ongoing and upcoming exhibitions go to Idlescreenings.com download the screensaver and launch it, there you also can check the upcoming shows. See more;

Or just download it here:
Mac OSX 10.4+ - Windows

Diffuse by Jasper Spicero 

Exhibited at Idle Screenings during Nov 01, 2012 - Nov 15, 2012

Solitary House by Jonas Holmer 

Exhibited at Idle Screenings during Dec 01, 2012 → Dec 15, 2012

Masha Reva

Masha Reva is a 25-year-old fashion designer originally from Odessa, Ukraine. She graduated from the Kiev National University of Technology and Design with a MA in fashion. She is now living in London, studying Women’s Wear at Central St Martins. Her new collection in collaboration with Syndicated of Kiev is called Botanical Layers. The collection is inspired by nature and GUI from Photoshop. The prints are juxtaposing social networks and natural environment creating a metaphorical botanical garden of Photoshop layers and loading bars. See  more;

▼ Read the interview ▼

Dora Moutot (DM) interviews Masha Reva (MR) / Click imges to enlarge
Sweatshirts of the collection are available on sndct.com

DM: Hi Masha!

You explained that the visual stream of information on social network and blogs inspired your previous very opulent ” Merging 2012” last collection. Were the prints made of Internet images that you recycled? How did you work on this previous collection?

MR: The project started at was a time when my friends and I were in the need for some crazy projects without any boundaries. We created more of an art concept than a fashion lookbook. My idea began from a book I found while I was in New York. The concept came together with the help of this book and images found on the Internet. I created the textile prints and we organized the shooting in details with the help of Julie Pelipas, an amazing stylist.

(Image below is from the previous collection, see the whole MERGIN collection here)

DM: In your new collection “Botanical layers”, you seem to be inspired by the Photoshop interface. How important is the Internet and the computer in your work? How do you use both?

MR: Well, the Internet, Photoshop and I are totally inseparable! That is probably why I think in computer-ish way so much. But it also worries me: the relation to the to virtual world and the separation from the reality. I design all my textile prints in Photoshop and when I do, I try to not check my Facebook page. Big effort!

DM: The idea of using the computer interface is an emerging trend in art (http://rhizome.org/editorial/2012/ aug/3/interface-aesthetics). Is your collection an attempt to adapt this art trend into fashion or is it a coincidence?

MR: It is well known that all thoughts are in the air. In my opinion this idea of integration of computer interfaces in our everyday life and furthermore in clothes is very natural. It is all about us, our generation, it’s happening here and now.

DM: It’s the first time that I see a collection taking inspiration of the Internet and computer in such a sophisticate and beautiful way. Usually it’s always used in a very 90’s voluntary tacky kind of way. What was the inspiration for this collection? Why did you mix digital aesthetics with romantic flower prints?

MR: I imagined my own hero. My hero would be walking through beautiful botanical garden; his/her clothes would be reflecting the mood of the time. The prints look like a quick mood-boards made with help of computer. The collection emphasizes on our relation to nature today. I have a nostalgic perception of it.

DM: How do you think the Internet and new technologies are going to transform fashion?

MR: Fashion has always been reflecting the world and its mood and it will keep doing it forever. In Fashion history books in the future, our generation will be mentioned as the Internet-generation. Hard to say in which way transformations are going to be felt and seen. There is already a big influence of the virtual in the way we are now presenting and buying fashion collections.

DM: Favorite blogs?

MR: I am not so much into blogs but I like to check this one: http://psycheau.tumblr.com/

DM: What’s next for Masha Reva?

MR: To get as much as possible from my student experience in London!

Masha Reva

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Interview by Dora Moutot for Triangulation Blog - December 2012 

Dora Moutot is a young journalist specialized in fashion within the digital culture. She is the founder of La Gazette du Mauvais Gout where she writes about bad taste, eccentric and kitsch trends. www.doramauvaisgout.tumblr.com

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