---

• 

• 

---

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

---

This is a project in glitch art from my Digital Imaging course at Bowling Green State University.

• 

• 

This glitch image was created by implementing multiple of the techniques we learned in class. First, I edited the audio version of the image in Audacity. I utilized the compression effect numerous times until the major forms of my creative scan were outlined in vibrant strokes of neon colors. I then opened the jpeg of my image with TextEdit and altered it by using Find and Replace on a very selective group of a few hundred characters. This created the straight lines that are cutting into the image from its right side. By limiting the amount of characters replaced, I was able to prevent the entire image from being covered in lines and thus completely unrecognizable.

I used this approach to create a more subtle glitch, my creative scan maintaining many of the original colors in its background and thus its ominous tone. The process was certainly experimental, involving dozens of attempts at creating the right balance between the original scan’s elements and these new glitch features. Many of the Audacity effects that I found successful in our glitch exercises such as equalization, invert, and phaser were simply too harsh and dramatic of a change to the image. I felt that they blurred too many elements of my creative scan and thus were not a proper fit. TextEdit also posed several challenges as the image often became covered in lines and thus indistinguishable.

For these reasons, I found the seemingly spontaneous nature of forming glitches to actually require more thought and intention than the process seems to imply. As Jeff Donaldson states in his article “Glossing over Thoughts on Glitch. A Poetry of Error,” artists today pursue the provoked glitch as they deliberately exploit the errors new media inherently possesses. Although glitches do occur unprompted, their qualities can be beneficially harnessed when approached in this careful yet carefree manner. One must be both discerning as to which glitch elements will enhance their piece while also realizing that there is an unpredictable nature to the process of creating such effects.

---

Thus, I think my experimentation with glitch art was successful. I was able to engage in this art of creating unpredictable errors and leaning into imperfection in order to create new expressions that only a new media byproduct could achieve.

---

This is a project in scanography from my Digital Imaging course at Bowling Green State University.

• 

• 

• 

This series of scanography pieces was based on a Lore Podcast recounting haunted tales of the city of London, England. One such tale centered around a figure known as the woman in black. After her brother Philip Whitehead was covertly killed for crimes against the Bank of England, Sarah lived in a constant state of mourning. Dressing in all black, she returned to the bank daily only to ask the same question: “Where is my brother?” To this day, London bankers claim they feel a sense of hopelessness in certain areas of the bank, sometimes seeing her shadowy figure and yet always hearing the ominous echo of those same words.

In creating my image, I utilized a piece of parchment paper as the base upon which I layered photographs of brother and sister pairs and scattered coins to evoke the imagery of a bank. In order to create a ghostly feel to the image, I left the scanner lid open to provide a black background. I then used Vaseline and black ink to create spiderweb-esque texture and heighten the grim tone. I then pressed my hand and face against this painted piece of parchment.

• 

• 

Another story of the haunted history of London focused on the outbreak of the Black Death. This plague ravaged the continent of Europe, an estimated hundreds of thousands of people falling victim to this disease in the city of London alone. Compounding upon this tragedy, a fire broke out and instantly cremated many of these corpses that were left behind.

In creating these scanography pieces, I evoked medical imagery through the use of the face mask and sterile gloves. To create a sense of being trapped or quarantined due to contamination, I used the packaging material of bubble wrap. Wearing one glove on each hand, I created repetition by moving my hands underneath and on top of the bubble wrap as the scan was being made. These pieces feel very timely with the current epidemic of the Corona Virus in which thousands are currently being quarantined and walking around in face masks for protection.

---

Although the process was rather messy, I do feel that this experiment of translating an audio experience into a visual expression was ultimately successful. Given that these ghost stories have numerous details and vivid imagery, it is relatively easy to find objects of literal representation. The greater challenge, however, is being able to capture the essence of the audio experience in the feeling it creates and expressions it elicits in the audience.

As Lev Manovich states in his article “The Language of New Media,” working with technology to create art affects all stages of communication. This had to be taken into consideration when utilizing the scanner, understanding its benefits and limitations, depth of field, speed of scanning and impact on motion capture, the horizontal and stationary position of the equipment itself, and internal light source in order to know how to properly use it to its full potential. In order to become familiar with its qualities and capacities, I completed hundreds of scans in order to experiment and make small adjustments to achieve the desired results. By tangibly understanding how this piece of technology impacts how my work needs to be approached, created, and consumed, I believe I was able to create successful creative scans.

---

This is an exercise in creating glitch art from my Digital Imaging course at Bowling Green State University.

Through the use of the audio software Audacity, our class was tasked with creating three glitched images by altering the audio version of the images. A portion of each audio track was selected and manipulated through the use of Audacity’s effects settings to create new unique images.

• 

• 

This photo of a cockapoo on a couch experienced the greatest amount of visual distortion through the use of the equalization effect. The color palette transformed from muted earth tones to a highly saturated rainbow scheme. Although the dog’s body, especially its face, can still be deciphered, the image possesses abstract qualities with these new painterly strokes. When examined closely, the line quality of the image is now jagged with patchy sections through which the original tone of the image is revealed. As a result, this Audacity effect enhanced visual interest by transforming everyday imagery into a new media age Monet. One must zoom in and out of the image in order to both see its unique pixelated texture and comprehend the unified whole these blocky shapes create.

• 

• 

This photo of a goldendoodle underwent transformation through the use of the invert effect. Since only a section of the image’s audio track was manipulated, portions of the image were left unaffected. This appears as thin bands of earth tones across the top and bottom of the photo. Although the middle of this photo was also unaffected in terms of line quality, the colors are now highly saturated green and purple hues. This inversion is roughly split down the center of the image, green primarily on the left and purple on the right with smaller patches of each color blending into the other. This creates a sense of visual unity, despite the atypical color scheme. This new coloration also caused some details from the original image to be lost, such as the leaves in the bushes, while other details were emphasized, such as the individual blades of grass.

• 

• 

This photo of a corgi experienced the most subtle transformation through the use of the phaser effect. The majority of the dog’s body and surrounding area were the only portions of the image that were visually altered, experiencing both a change in color and texture. The new color scheme is much more muted than that of the other photos, the saturated reds and blues almost seamlessly blending into the vibrant colors already in the background. The original image also has an abstract pattern of circles from the rain, pairing nicely with the new straight and curved lines that surround the corgi and end just before the parallel lines of the railroad tracks. The texture of the fur is enhanced as the new coloration thickly outlines the major shapes within the image as well as fills in individual strands of hair.

Overall, I think this final Audacity glitch was the most successful of the three photos, heightening its visual impact through a rather seamless transformation in both its tonal and textural qualities that serve to reinforce its focal point.