CREATIVE FUEL 2014

GLITCH
The glitch has emerged as one of the defining
characteristics/motifs of contemporary culture,
celebrating the inconsistencies and faults created
by digital (and analogue) technology. In the last
year we have seen examples of glitch iconography
appear in almost every creative medium –
providing a shorthand for ‘now’ and offering
a useful storytelling device used by artists and
creatives. Taken literally, a glitch is a spike or
change in voltage in an electrical current.
The first recorded use of the word was in 1962 during
the American space program when John Glenn used
it to describe technical problems during the Apollo
space mission. The term ‘glitch’ has gone on to mean
an unlikely or irregular occurrence. Creatively this
“aesthetic of failure” is usually represented by the sound
or image of an audio device or digital technology
malfunctioning, skipping or generally distorting,
computer bugs, crashes or other system errors.
Interestingly, the term was later made popular by
the Matrix film and refers to the effect of a human
experiencing déjà vu caused by machines altering
the ‘simulated reality’ of the matrix.
Glitch is about challenging the perfection of digital
technology and also about trying to find or reveal
the soul in the machine.
The last few years have seen a renewed interest from
artists in capturing or recreating ‘natural’ examples
of glitches or faults created by overused or faulty
analogue or early digital equipment.
You could argue that part of the reason the style is
currently so popular and feels so ‘now’ is to do with
an implicit subliminal nostalgia for our digital past,
with its poor quality video and low download speeds.
The ‘Postcards from Google Earth’ project by
Clement Valla presents an intriguing set of images
of apparent glitches in Google Earth photos. These
photos appear to reveal unnatural faults in our
perceptions – like real life glitches in the matrix,
they hint at ghosts in the (Google) machine. The
popularity of the aesthetic has also increased due to
the appearance of apps such as ‘Glitch’ and ‘Image
Glitch’, which enable the use of digital bugs and
errors as a design feature. In photography the style
has evolved from the basic digital pixelated glitch to
a range of more painterly effects.
More recently we can see the style now infiltrating a
broad range of media, including photography, graphic
design, film and 3-D product and furniture design.
Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, the US artist and commercial
illustrator, has produced Vinyl Abstraction. This work
is inspired by the incredible opening line to William
Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer’- “The sky above the port
was the color of a television, tuned to a dead
channel”. The artist uses a digital collage technique
created from corrupted scanned imagery. What is
interesting about glitch art is that it is a rejection of
the order and perfection of digital technology and
is about breaking free from the ‘grid’.
We are even seeing ‘glitch’ infiltrating 3D project
design as in the groundbreaking “Good Vibrations’’
storage unit. This is not a distorted digital photo – it’s
a cabinet that’s been intricately carved to look like
one. Created by Italian designer Ferruccio Laviani
for furniture brand Fratelli Boffi, the Good Vibrations
storage unit was carved from oak by a CNC machine
(a computer assisted manufacturing technique).
Above: [36] Clement Valla, Postcards from Google Earth. www.postcards-from-google-earth.com.
Opposite: [37] Ingmar Spiller, NINA. www.ingmarspiller.de.
21 LOWE COUNSEL / FUTURE SIGNS 2014 / CREATIVE FUEL
22