|
|
Glitch Studies Manifesto •
|
|
|
Rosa Menkman •
|
|
|
2009/2010 •
|
|
|
https://beyondresolution.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com •
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rmenkman@gmail.com
|
|
|
.
|
|
|
Amsterdam/Cologne, 2009/2010
|
|
|
http://rosa-menkman.blogspot.com
|
|
|
The dominant, continuing search for a
|
|
|
noiseless channel has been, and will always
|
|
|
be no more than a regrettable, ill-fated
|
|
|
dogma.
|
|
|
Even though the constant search for complete
|
|
|
transparency brings newer, ‘better’ media, every one
|
|
|
of these new and improved technologies will always
|
|
|
have their own fingerprints of imperfection. While
|
|
|
most people experience these fingerprints as
|
|
|
negative (and sometimes even as accidents) I
|
|
|
emphasize the positive consequences of these
|
|
|
imperfections by showing the new opportunities they
|
|
|
facilitate.
|
|
|
In the beginning there was noise. Then the artist moved from
|
|
|
the grain of celluloid to the magnetic distortion and scanning
|
|
|
lines of the cathode ray tube. he wandered the planes of
|
|
|
phosphor burn-in, rubbed away dead pixels and now makes
|
|
|
performances based on the cracking of LCD screens.
|
|
|
The elitist discourse of the upgrade is a dogma widely pursued
|
|
|
by the naive victims of a persistent upgrade culture. The consumer
|
|
|
only has to dial
|
|
|
#1-800
|
|
|
to stay on top of the
|
|
|
technological curve,
|
|
|
the
|
|
|
waves of both euphoria
|
|
|
and disappointment.
|
|
|
The
|
|
|
user has to realize
|
|
|
that improving is
|
|
|
nothing more
|
|
|
than a proprietary protocol, a deluded
|
|
|
consumer myth
|
|
|
about progression towards a holy grail of
|
|
|
perfection.
|
|
|
Dispute
|
|
|
the operating templates of
|
|
|
creative practice; fight
|
|
|
genres and expectations!
|
|
|
I feel stuck in the membranes of knowledge, governed
|
|
|
by social conventions and acceptances. As an artist I
|
|
|
strive to reposition these membranes; I do not feel
|
|
|
locked into one medium or between contradictions like
|
|
|
real vs. virtual or digital vs. analog. I surf the
|
|
|
waves of technology, the art of artifacts.
|
|
|
The quest for complete transparency has changed the
|
|
|
computer system into a highly complex assemblage that
|
|
|
is often hard to penetrate and sometimes even
|
|
|
completely closed off. This system consists of layers
|
|
|
of obfuscated protocols that find their origin in
|
|
|
ideologies, economies, political hierarchies and
|
|
|
social conventions, which are subsequently operated by
|
|
|
different actors.
|
|
|
Some artists set out to elucidate and deconstruct
|
|
|
the hierarchies of these systems of assemblage. They do
|
|
|
not work in (binary) opposition to what is inside the
|
|
|
flows (the normal uses of the computer) but practice
|
|
|
their art on the border of these flows. Sometimes, they
|
|
|
use the computers’ inherent maxims as a façade, to
|
|
|
trick the audience into a flow of certain expectation
|
|
|
that the artwork subsequently rapidly breaks out of. As
|
|
|
a result, the spectator is forced to acknowledge that
|
|
|
the use of the computer is based on a genealogy of
|
|
|
conventions, while in reality the computer is a machine
|
|
|
that can be bend or used in many different ways. With
|
|
|
the creation of breaks within politics and social and
|
|
|
economical conventions, the audience may become aware of
|
|
|
the preprogrammed patterns. In this way, a distributed
|
|
|
awareness of a new interaction gestalt can take form.
|
|
|
Get
|
|
|
away from the established action scripts and
|
|
|
join the avant-garde of the unknown. Become a
|
|
|
nomad of noise artifacts!
|
|
|
There are three occasions in which the static, linear notion of transmitting
|
|
|
information can be interrupted. I use these instances to exploit noise
|
|
|
artifacts, that I sub-divide as glitch, encoding / decoding (of which
|
|
|
compression is the most ordinary form) and feedback artifacts.
|
|
|
Etymologically, the term “noise” refers to states of aggression, alarm and
|
|
|
powerful sound phenomena in nature ('rauschen'), such as storm, thunder
|
|
|
and the roaring sea. But when noise is explored within a social context,
|
|
|
the term is often used as a figure of speech and as such has many more
|
|
|
meanings. Sometimes, noise stands for unaccepted sounds:
|
|
|
not
|
|
|
music,
|
|
|
not
|
|
|
valid information or what is
|
|
|
not
|
|
|
a message. Noise can also stand for a
|
|
|
(often undesirable, unwanted, other and unordered) disturbance, break
|
|
|
or addition within the signal of useful data. Here noise exists
|
|
|
within the void opposite to what (already) has a meaning. Whichever
|
|
|
way noise is defined, the negative definition also has a positive
|
|
|
consequence: it helps by (re)defining its opposite (the world of
|
|
|
meaning, the norm, regulation, goodness, beauty and so on).
|
|
|
Noise thus exists as a
|
|
|
paradox; while it is often
|
|
|
negatively defined, it is
|
|
|
also a positive, generative
|
|
|
quality (that is present in
|
|
|
any communication medium). The
|
|
|
voids generated by a break
|
|
|
are not only a lack of meaning,
|
|
|
but also powers that
|
|
|
force the reader to move away
|
|
|
from the traditional
|
|
|
discourse around the technology,
|
|
|
and to open it up.
|
|
|
Through these voids, artists and
|
|
|
spectators can
|
|
|
understand the politics behind the
|
|
|
code and voice a
|
|
|
critique towards the digital media.
|
|
|
It can be a source
|
|
|
for new patterns, anti-patterns and
|
|
|
new possibilities
|
|
|
that often exist on the border or
|
|
|
membrane.
|
|
|
|||IIIII||||||IIII|||IIIII|||||||||IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|IIIII||||||IIII\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\||||||||||IIIII||||||||||||||||III|||II|IIIII||||||I|I|I|||IIIIIIII|||I|I|||IIIII||||III|||II|IIIII||||||I|
|
|
|
Use
|
|
|
the
|
|
|
glitch as
|
|
|
an exoskeleton
|
|
|
of progress.
|
|
|
The glitch is a wonderful experience of an
|
|
|
interruption that shifts an object away from its
|
|
|
ordinary form and discourse. For a moment I am
|
|
|
shocked, lost and in awe, asking myself what this
|
|
|
other utterance is, how was it created. Is it
|
|
|
perhaps ...a glitch? But once I named it, the
|
|
|
momentum -the glitch- is no more...
|
|
|
But somewhere within the destructed ruins of meaning
|
|
|
hope exists; a triumphal sensation that there is
|
|
|
something more than just devastation. A negative
|
|
|
feeling makes place for an intimate, personal experience
|
|
|
of a machine (or program), a system showing its
|
|
|
formations, inner workings and flaws. As a holistic
|
|
|
celebration rather than a particular perfection the
|
|
|
glitch can reveal a new opportunity, a spark of creative
|
|
|
energy that indicates that something new is about to be
|
|
|
created.
|
|
|
The glitch has no solid form or state through time; it is
|
|
|
often perceived as an unexpected and abnormal mode of
|
|
|
operandi, a break from (one of) the many flows (of
|
|
|
expectations) within a technological system. But as the
|
|
|
understanding of a glitch changes when it is being named, so
|
|
|
does the equilibrium of the (former) glitch itself: the
|
|
|
original experience of a rupture moved passed its momentum
|
|
|
and vanished into a realm of new conditions. The glitch is a
|
|
|
new and ephemeral, personal experience.
|
|
|
Use bends
|
|
|
and breaks as a metaphor for difference
|
|
|
As an artist, I find catharsis in disintegration, ruptures and cracks. I
|
|
|
manipulate, bend and break any medium towards the point where it becomes
|
|
|
something new. This is what I call glitch art. Even so, to me, the word
|
|
|
‘glitch’ in ‘glitch art’ means something slightly different than the
|
|
|
term ‘glitch’.
|
|
|
The glitch art genre moves like the weather; sometimes it evolves very
|
|
|
slowly while at other times it can strike like lightning. The art works
|
|
|
within this realm can be disturbing, provoking and horrifying. Beautifully
|
|
|
dangerous, they can at once take all the tensions of other possible
|
|
|
compositions away. These works stretch boundaries and generate novel modes;
|
|
|
they break open previously sealed politics and force a catharsis of
|
|
|
conventions, norms and believes.
|
|
|
Glitch art is often about relaying the membrane of the normal, to create
|
|
|
a new protocol after shattering an earlier one. The perfect glitch shows how
|
|
|
destruction can change into the creation of something original. Once the
|
|
|
glitch is understood as an alternative way of representation or a new
|
|
|
language, its tipping point has passed and the essence of its glitch-being is
|
|
|
vanished. The glitch is no longer an art of rejection, but a shape or
|
|
|
appearance that is recognized as a novel form (of art). Artists that work with
|
|
|
glitch processes are therefore often hunting for the fragile equilibrium; they
|
|
|
search for the point when a new form is born from the blazed ashes of its
|
|
|
precursor.
|
|
|
Even so, glitch art is not always (or by everyone) experienced as an art of
|
|
|
the momentum; many works have already passed their tipping point. This is
|
|
|
because glitch art exists within different systems; for instance the system
|
|
|
of production and the system of reception. Not only the artist who creates
|
|
|
the work of glitch art is responsible for the glitch. The 'foreign' input
|
|
|
(wrongly encoded syntaxes that lead to forbidden
|
|
|
leakages and data promiscuity), the hardware and
|
|
|
the software (the 'channel' that shows functional?
|
|
|
collisions) and the audience (who is in charge of
|
|
|
the reception, the decoding) can also be
|
|
|
responsible. All these actors are positioned
|
|
|
within different (but sometimes overlapping) flows
|
|
|
in which the final product can be described or
|
|
|
recognized as glitch art. This is why an intended
|
|
|
error can still be called glitch art and why glitch
|
|
|
art is not always just a personal experience of
|
|
|
shock, but has also become a genre; a schematic
|
|
|
metaphor for a way of expression, that depends on
|
|
|
multiple actors.
|
|
|
Realize that
|
|
|
the gospel of glitch art also tells about new
|
|
|
norms implemented by corruption.
|
|
|
Over time some of the glitches I made developed into personal archetypes; I
|
|
|
feel that they have become ideal examples or models of my work. Moreover,
|
|
|
some of the techniques I (and others) used became easily reproducible for
|
|
|
other people, either because I explained my working process, or sometimes
|
|
|
because of the development of a software or plugin that automatically
|
|
|
simulated or recreated a glitching method (that then became something
|
|
|
close to an ‘effect’). I have started to believe that the popularization
|
|
|
and cultivation of the avant-garde of mishaps has become predestined and
|
|
|
unavoidable.
|
|
|
The procedural essence of glitch art is opposed to conservation; the
|
|
|
shocking experience, perception and understanding of what a glitch is
|
|
|
at one point in time, cannot be preserved to a future time. The
|
|
|
beautiful creation of a glitch is uncanny and sublime; the artist
|
|
|
tries to catch something that is the result of an uncertain balance, a
|
|
|
shifting, un-catchable, unrealized utopia connected to randomness and
|
|
|
idyllic disintegrations. The essence of glitch art is therefore best
|
|
|
understood as a history of movement and as an attitude of destructive
|
|
|
generativity; it is the procedural art of non con-formative, ambiguous
|
|
|
reformations.
|
|
|
Nevertheless, some artists do not focus on the procedural entity
|
|
|
of the glitch. They skip the process of creation-by-destruction and
|
|
|
focus directly on the creation of a formally new design, either by
|
|
|
creating a final product or by developing a new way to re-create or
|
|
|
simulate the latest glitch-archetype. This can for instance result into
|
|
|
a plug-in, a filter or a whole new 'glitching software'.
|
|
|
T h i s f o r m o f ' c o n s e r v a t i v e g l i t c h a r t ' o f t e n f o c u s e s m o r e o n d e s i g n a n d
|
|
|
end products then on the procedural breaking of flows and politics. There
|
|
|
is an obvious critique: to design a glitch means to domesticate it. When
|
|
|
the glitch becomes domesticated, controlled by a tool, or technology (a
|
|
|
human craft) it has lost its enchantment and has become predictable. It is
|
|
|
no longer a break from a flow within a technology, or a method to open up
|
|
|
the political discourse, but instead a cultivation. For many actors it is
|
|
|
no longer a glitch, but a filter that consists of a preset and/or a
|
|
|
default: what was once understood as a glitch has now become a new
|
|
|
commodity.
|
|
|
But for some, mostly the audience on the receptive end, these designed
|
|
|
errors are still experienced as the breaks of a flow and can therefore
|
|
|
righteously be called glitches. They don’t know that these works are
|
|
|
constructed via the use of a filter. Works from the genre ‘glitch art’ thus
|
|
|
consist as an assemblage of perceptions and the understanding by multiple
|
|
|
actors. Therefore, the products of these new filters that come to existence
|
|
|
after (or without) the momentum of a glitch cannot be excluded from the
|
|
|
realm of glitch art.
|
|
|
Even so, the utopian fantasy of 'technological democracy' or 'freedom'
|
|
|
that glitch art is often connected to, has often little to do with the
|
|
|
colonialism of these glitch art designs and glitch filters. If there is such
|
|
|
a thing as technological freedom, this can only be found within the
|
|
|
procedural momentum of glitch art; when a glitch is just about to relay a
|
|
|
protocol. Not when “one disruptive click is just about to create a new
|
|
|
design”.
|
|
|
Celebrate
|
|
|
the critical trans-media
|
|
|
aesthetics of glitch artifacts
|
|
|
I use glitches to assess the inherent politics of any kind of medium by
|
|
|
bringing it into a state of hypertrophy.
|
|
|
Within software art, the glitch is often used to deconstruct the myth
|
|
|
of linear progress and to end the search for the holy grail called
|
|
|
the perfect technology. In these works, the glitch emphasizes what is
|
|
|
normally rejected as a flaw and subsequently shows that accidents and
|
|
|
errors can also be welcomed as new forms of usability. The glitch does
|
|
|
not only invoke the death of the author, but also the death of the
|
|
|
apparatus, medium or tool (at least from the perspective of the
|
|
|
technological determinist spectator) and is often used as an anti
|
|
|
‘software-deterministic’ form.
|
|
|
This fatal manner of glitch presents a problem for media and art
|
|
|
historians, who try to describe old and new culture as a continuum of
|
|
|
different niches. To deal with these breaks, historians have repeatedly
|
|
|
coined new genres and new media forms to give these splinter practices a
|
|
|
place within this continuum. As a result, an abundance of designations like
|
|
|
databending, datamoshing and circuitbending have come to existence, which
|
|
|
in fact all refer to similar practices of breaking flows within different
|
|
|
technologies or platforms.
|
|
|
Theorists have also been confronted with this problem. For them, terms
|
|
|
like post-digital or post-media aesthetics frequently offer a solution.
|
|
|
Unfortunately, these kinds of terms are misleading because in glitch
|
|
|
art ‘post’ actually often means a reaction to a primer form. But to act
|
|
|
against something does not mean to move away from it completely - in fact a
|
|
|
reaction also prolongs a certain way or mode (at least as a reference).
|
|
|
I think that an answer to the problems of both historians and
|
|
|
theoreticians could be found when glitch art is described as a procedural
|
|
|
activity demonstrating against and within multiple technologies. Something I
|
|
|
describe as
|
|
|
critical trans-media aesthetics
|
|
|
. The role of glitch
|
|
|
artifacts as critical trans-media aesthetics is twofold. On the one hand,
|
|
|
these aesthetics media show a medium in a critical state (a ruined,
|
|
|
unwanted, not recognized, accidental and horrendous state). These aesthetics
|
|
|
transform the way the consumer perceives the normal (every accident transforms
|
|
|
the normal) and describe the passing of a tipping point after which the medium
|
|
|
(might) become something new. On the other hand, these aesthetics critique the
|
|
|
medium (genre, interface and expectations). They challenge its inherent
|
|
|
politics and the established template of creative practice while
|
|
|
producing a theory of reflection.
|
|
|
The
|
|
|
nomad of noise
|
|
|
travels the acousmatic videoscape
|
|
|
I am a voyager of videoscapes: I create conceptually
|
|
|
synesthetic artworks, that use both visual and aural glitch
|
|
|
(and other noise) artifacts at the same time. These artifacts
|
|
|
shroud the black box, as a nebula of technology and its inner
|
|
|
workings.
|
|
|
What actually happens when a glitch occurs is unknown, I stare at
|
|
|
the glitch as a void of knowledge; a strange dimension where the
|
|
|
laws of technology are suddenly very different from what I
|
|
|
expected and know. Here is the purgatory; an intermediate state
|
|
|
between the death of the old technology and a judgement for a
|
|
|
possible continuation into a new form, a new understanding, a
|
|
|
landscape, a videoscape..
|
|
|
Whenever I use a ‘normal’ transparent technology, I only see one
|
|
|
aspect of the actual machine. I have learned to ignore the
|
|
|
interface and all structural components, to be able to understand a
|
|
|
message and to use the technology as easy and fast as possible.
|
|
|
The glitches I trigger show the technology as the obfuscated box
|
|
|
that it actually is (and not absent or transparent). They shroud its
|
|
|
inner workings and the source of the output as a sublime black veil,
|
|
|
while they confront me with a message that I cannot understand. I
|
|
|
perceive the glitches and the machine without understanding where
|
|
|
they originate from. This realization gives me the opportunity to
|
|
|
concentrate better on their formal qualities - to interpret their
|
|
|
structures and to learn more from what I can actually see. These
|
|
|
glitching technologies create an acousmatic videoscape in which I can
|
|
|
perceive an output outside of my goggles of immediacy, transparency
|
|
|
speed and usability.
|
|
|
In the acousmatic videoscape, the critical trans-media aesthetics
|
|
|
reflect on the perception of technology and its messages; they create
|
|
|
an opportunity for self reflexivity, self critique and self
|
|
|
expression.
|
|
|
In the acousmatic videoscape synesthesia exists not just as a metaphor
|
|
|
for transcoding one medium upon another (with a new algorithm), but as
|
|
|
a conceptually driven meeting of the visual and the sonic within the
|
|
|
newly uncovered quadrants of technology.
|
|
|
http://videoscapes.blogspot.com
|
|
|
I curate a Vimeo video pool about conceptual synesthetic artifact
|
|
|
videos:
|
|
|
http://vimeo.com/groups/artifacts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|