Iman Moradi – Glitch Aesthetics

Glitch Aesthetics
Iman Moradi
2.1.4. Related Concepts
Layer
In my survey of known glitches, which briefly included digital video compression
artefacts found in images, “crackles, pops and hisses” in audio (Harger, 2003) and
alternative data visualisations that resembled the pure glitch, I came to the
realisation that glitches are mostly a result of miscommunication or mistranslation
when transferring data from one environment to another. They exhibit themselves
in the surface of other media perhaps as a layer of visual communication that
shows something has gone wrong. They are sub media. This layer or gloss-like
surface quality is one that perhaps makes glitches seem slightly superficial, but
careful deliberation on content and subject matter is what changes that
perception.
Content
Most of the discussion surrounding the creation of glitches, concerns the Glitchalike.
The process of consciously creating a Glitch-alike by an artist is implied. It is
a desired effect carried out on sampled or copied data, where the original stays
safe and intact, unless of course there is a reason for obliterating the original data
directly. The Glitch imagery may be unrecognisable from its source data, but the
source is usually implied or can be perceived in an obvious manner in order for
the glitch process to fulfil its objective existence, in particular when it comes to
conveying meaning.
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