Woody Vasulka

Artifacts

1980

Description: “By »Artifacts« I mean that I have to share the creative process with a machine. It is responsible for too many elements in this work. These images come to you as they came to me, in a spirit of exploration.” [1] The video work »Artifacts« shows the transformation of analog into digital images. It is an experimental investigation of computer-generated images in real time based on the gray values of their pixels. By using the Digital Image Articulator, their construction and deconstruction can be demonstrated. The device, developed by Jeffrey Schier and Woody Vasulka, processes encoded images. Structures of lines and pixels become visible as a result of the digital scanning process. On the other hand, by decelerating or accelerating the image information, by compressing or expanding it, morph effects are created. Concrete forms – a sphere, a hand, or even a body in space – repeatedly emerge from a flickering, coarse-grained image surface before blurring again in the electronic noise. In his video »Artifacts«, Woody Vasulka not only reflects on the process of analog and digital image processing and its reception, but also questions the relationship between human and machine within such artistic production. [1] Off-voice by Woody Vasulka in »Artifacts«, from 00:00:43 min.