Glitch Art: Technology as an extension of the human organism

Bluescreened, sourced by 16 MP camera, glitched in Processing and Audacity

"Video uses the eye as an ear." a phrase of Tony Schwartz in his book Responsive Chord. The image is constituted by our experience of millions resonating particles. There is no picture in technological media, no camera, nor shutter nor production studio. There is merely an outpouring of small visual bits of information that form patterns. These are active and dynamic resonating forms which can only make meaning through a human experience of them. In this sense they are cybernetic, as they are technologies built for the human organism in order to achieve their state of usage.

It was made in our image.

Eye, filmed on Panasonic AG-195, glitch by patched feedback.

Glitch is an artistic endeavor that combines the agency of the person and machine. The person does not wield the machine as a tool, instead the machine's character is imbedded into the media itself. Exploiting the design is the source of artistic expression. This creative force is summoned when the media technology is pushed outside of its normal usage. The role of the user is to maintain order over the chaotic outbursts produced by the pained machine. Glitch art in these ways can compare to "enhanced interrogation" in a limited fashion. During the creative process, the circuits scream polychromatic gestalts and we seeks to keep the technology functioning and progressing.

Thankfully our devices cannot feel pain.

Night Terrors at 25 FPS. Filmed Panasonic AG-195, 25 FPS.

Both are given the ability to express themselves in this creative, yet destructive, process. Devices are given the opportunity to act as devices of expression without the chains of commodification. We all agree reliable technology being used for its intended use is a good thing, but there an expanse of meaningful experiences that can be given by a malfunctioning system. Our cooperation lifts commodities into a position of artistic creation, and by doing so, momentarily provides a transcendent effect.

From order turns chaos. Within chaos there is an ordered pattern.

But does it glitch? Filmed Panasonic AG-195, 25 FPS. Glitch by feedback on Fluxus Synth.

Glitch artists explore the unintended possibilities of our experience of technology. They reclaim the unintended errors that are hidden by the process of commodification. The viewer makes sense of this chaotic art through lived human experience. A fleeting moment of a noisy signal is connected with every other glimpse we were given of the medium's essence.

Every night watching the same movie, distorting due to our obsession. Our personal experiences of technology rebelling from is the foundation for our nostalgia for it. We are driven to imperfection as it can make us feel our lived experience is connected to the sublime. Each aspect of technology, regardless of its desirability, is imbued into the lived experience of humanity.

One should be mindful all things, regardless if they against your perceived interests.