leo.h.art3647c

Dries Depoorter is an artist from Belgium, his art is intrinsically connected to the culture of the internet, modern technology and surveillance, social media and how it affects our mental state, and artificial intelligence. His works have taken shape as digital applications, performance, wearable items, purchasable lottery tickets, and many forms of installations. Having exhibited his works all over the world with MoMA, Art Basel, etc. as well as being a keynote speaker discussing his works with TEDx and SXSW.

Depoorter’s “Tinderin” series juxtaposes how people might present themselves on the internet depending on the site. Pulling from the two most different extremes, Dries finds images of people sourced from their LinkedIn and Tinder, ‘the’ site for making business connections and finding job opportunities and ‘the’ site for online dating. The artist then frames the two images side by side, some people’s images are not too distinct, just two different selfies, while other go from a professional business headshot to a beachside candid, showing enough skin to attract another.

Of course, this artwork cannot function without the use of the two social media platforms and how they are used. The artwork would not work if say Depoorter compared a person’s Instagram to their Twitter. While the series started in 2015 and could not exist in a pre-social media age, it has become pretty everlasting to today, these two sites still maintain relevancy in 2025. An interesting aspect is how originally the images were uncensored, straight rips from the profiles, that is until someone asked to be removed from the project. This added an interesting secondary element of how much people just take in the internet age, stealing images that aren’t theirs, just because they are posted publicly. Since that request Depoorter began to censor all faces in the project.

Sources:

Taking some time to consider how to render last week's drafts, I mostly kept what I made with small changes. I removed the "speech bubble" aspect from both, and made some corrections to make for what I think are stronger compositions. For these two finals, I digitally painted everything in Procreate, using the drafts as direct reference, everything in the finals is done by me. I am very happy with how they turned out, it is rare that I paint anything, digitally or otherwise, and while I think that's pretty obvious, I love the "roughness" the artworks have. I never wanted to render these perfectly, I wanted the brush strokes to be obvious so you could tell they weren't just screenshots. I think the finished product takes these drafts that looked like "baby's first Photoshop job" to a fun silly artwork. I think the direct painted versions of these random internet posts show how you can take internet culture and make it more "real", highlighting the absurdity of how people speak online.

Artwork 1 - Pony Electric Chair

For this artwork, I chose to reduce the pony count to just one, I think this just makes the entire image more clear, it was a little hard to tell what was going on with six in the original image. This of course still references Andy Warhol’s “Big Electric Chair”, the meme image, and the character from “My Little Pony”.

Artwork 2 - Bezos

Here in the second work I was able to mix Saturn with Bezos and im pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm not sure if it's super clear that it's meant to be him but I like it anyway. I chose to black out the background for a more cohesive color palette. The main reference is still “Saturn Devouring His Son” by Francisco Goya. Trying to replicate Goya's painting style was very fun, even if it isn't super accurate.

Classmate Responses

Mia Sosa – Hi Mia, I really like this artwork. I think the GIF format is the perfect choice for it, with short low resolution GIFs almost defining early internet aesthetics, it would almost be wrong to not make this artwork a gif. I think you were definitely successful in capturing that 2000s nostalgia, having imagery from all across the decade, having everything in separate windows really brings it together. I think my main issue with this artwork is the online safety aspect. I think the idea is great, contrasting these bright colorful characters with this darker, very real, issue is a really clever idea, but I think it could have been explored further. Since all we get is one small text, I think having a series of GIFs with more messages, maybe across different “screens” of a computer might have worked, this setup is a really wonderful way to explore that message, I would love to see it expanded.

Kelly Davies– Hi Kelly, I think the addition of a second artwork, making your submission a series of artworks, was a great idea. The two artworks work really well together. I like the second artwork even more than the first, but they function as a sequence perfectly. I think an aspect present in the first one that I would have liked to have seen again is the way the plants left the computer screen. I love the leaf falling onto the laptop’s keyboard, maybe having something reaching out of the screen, maybe using the visual of the computer code, to grab it might have worked, I am unsure but that could be a fun aspect to connect both artworks. Not to diminish what was made but part of me does wish to see what a third piece, maybe from the point of view of the outside world, looking in to see the laptop inside, could possibly look like.

With this assignment, I really struggled to come up with something that might involve internet culture and how that can influence us offline. The direction I decided to take was to visualize ridiculous scenarios through the lens of other famous artworks. I started by looking for images of text posts, written to be clearly fake, humorous scenes. My goal was to make a series of three, but I was unable to find a third image that I thought fit the criteria. The second step was to create a collage of the scene being described in the text, or at least an image referencing it, placing them next to each other to provide the much-needed context. This next step I want to do, for the final version, is to paint the images from scratch, basically I have only created reference material for a final artwork. I created these in Photoshop and plan to paint them digitally in Procreate for the final artworks, whether that takes shape as a direct recreation of the images as digital paintings or if I edit the composition, I am not yet sure. I am not entirely in love with this idea; I hope some feedback will steer me towards a better final product.

Artwork 1 - Internet Culture.Draft 1

This direction I took this first image was to use Andy Warhol’s “Big Electric Chair” series in conjunction with the meme image. I though the subject matter and the bright colors matched the characters being referenced in the caption from the TV series “My Little Pony”.

Artwork 2 - Internet Culture.Draft 1

With this second artwork, the main reference is of course, “Saturn Devouring His Son” by Francisco Goya. I really want to make more allusions to Amazon in the final piece, I might depict Saturn with some of Jeff Bezos’s features to make the message a little clearer, I don’t think the Amazon building background is interesting enough.

Classmate Responses

Sofya Mashukova – Hi Sofya, I really love this artwork, I think the idea is hyper-specific and really great. Having this mishmash of characters based off profile pictures is such a good idea. I think the artwork excels at taking a concept that could only come from the internet and viewing it through an offline lens. To me this artwork reminds me of what the lobby of an online chat game might look like, with people using all kinds of different avatars that do not match when placed together. I think the art style here is super appealing and the warm color palette makes the composition feel very friendly and communal (even if people being represented purely from a profile image might be the opposite of "friendly"). I am not sure where you could take this artwork to evolve it from a draft to a final work, it already works so well that I personally cannot see more being added to the current composition, only expanding it and adding more people makes sense to me. Maybe rendering the characters based on real images even further to make them more distinct from people’s profiles that use fictional characters? Overall, really great work!

Jessenia Restrepo – Hello Jessenia, I am excited to see your finished artwork. I thought before reading that it already looked great, but seeing it animated and with sound I think will make this work really come together. I think you can see right away how this piece references the way social medias create this chokehold on how we think and how we view ourselves, with and without the logos being present. I think I prefer them not being there, or at least not as bluntly as you currently display them. I think for your final work you should figure out a way for them to be placed in a way that they are not so in your face, although I believe that the motion you plan to add should be what I have in mind. I really like both of the color schemes you have used with this composition; I think varied colors might be a fun aspect to explore, almost creating a series from this one artwork, maybe each color representing a different website. I cannot wait to see how the finished art looks when everything comes together.

Artwork 1 - "myperfectworld.com/home/room2"

The goal with these artworks is to further explore some of the images of myself I used in the first project. As previously seen in the GIF assignment, I am interested in mixing real world images together almost like a collage to create a virtual “diorama”. The two images I submitted for this assignment serve as “concept art” for a larger idea, the second GIF serving as an animation test (with an early version of the same room I finished here being featured). With all these works I am attempting to replicate the style of early 3D PC games, games that heavily used the technique of billboarding to create 3D spaces. The title of this fictional game being “MyPerfectWorld.com". Since these feature no animation, these images were put together in Photoshop, collaging the various pieces together while adding slight shadows to add depth, then overlayed with a fake UI to make it appear more “game”-like. The logo featured in the top right was designed entirely by me, hand drawn then recreated in Adobe Illustrator. The images of myself are sourced to... myself. The only way to further develop this concept would be to make it a full short film, as opposed to still images and short GIFs. For the purpose of this assignment, I am satisfied with these images serving as “screenshots” of a game filled with a large amount of appropriated images.

Artwork 2 - "myperfectworld.com/home/bedroom"

I believe it is ethically acceptable to use the appropriated material in this case because, to me, it is extremely clear that I am not trying to pass it off as my own. By design, these images are meant to look like an incohesive hodge-podge of different sources. These are fake rooms filled with the things I like or want to own, I think people can tell I “stole” the various images but that is the point. All the images are being recontextualized as being various items filling my virtual living space.

This artwork’s appropriated materials are sourced from a large list of places including various online stores, brands, copyrighted artworks, operating systems, as well as a few stock image websites. Most images were found through Pinterest. I’ll provide some specific sources but not for each individual image. (If this is needed, I can try and find the exact sources.)

Various posters from strayrats.com, PlayStation Magazine, and Hirohiko Araki & The Mars Volta artwork

Certain images sourced from image textures from the games “Façade” and “Animal Crossing”

Assorted products featuring copyrighted characters like Sonic the Hedgehog and Garfield

All sorts of stock and product images of furniture, wallpaper textures and patterns.

User interface icons sourced from Microsoft Windows XP

Classmate Responses

Valentina Diaz-Moreno - Hi Valentina, this artwork is really stunning. I think you really succeeded at creating a poster for this music video, I would not think twice about seeing this up for sale on the artist's website or as promotional material. I went and checked the source video for references and it is clear that you did not just collage a couple screenshots together. There was a very inspired idea behind which stills you chose and the line drawings you decided to add on top of them. I would love to see more poster work from you as I really like what you did here. Like you mentioned in your writing, I think it shows that you translate what the song means to you visually and are not just cheaply stealing screenshots from the video. I do not have much to critique for this specific work, I can just say that I would love to see more

Brandon Granados - Hello Brandon, great idea for an artwork, I am a big fan of Luigi's Mansion and I wish I had thought of this. I think this idea is very solid, it is a fun lighthearted parodic piece, but I would really love to see it taken a lot further. I understand it might be past the scope of this assignment, but I think it would be really cool to see the appropriated Luigi elements be melded with the original "The Scream" painting a little better. Maybe having Luigi's face be redrawn a bit closer to the style of the original artwork, having the ghosts fading into the background a bit. Alternatively, you could take it in the complete opposite direction, around the time of this game's release, Nintendo ran a series of ads that container characters literally taped onto real world images, taking your artwork and having the collaged elements appeared tape I think would be a fun way to highlight just how different the two sources are. Great work!

Artwork 1 - "a thought"

For this glitch art assignment I wanted to take a recent artwork I had made traditionally with ink and apply digital effects to it, as you can see the result of this is "a thought". I'm quite happy with the results, glitching the artwork to get the exact results took some time but I believe it was worth it. There isn't much more I would have liked to do here. I wanted the piece to be somewhat creepy, I featured some text quoted from the game "Undertale" in the artwork as I think that helps in getting that feeling across.

The piece was constructed using 1. the original inked forest landscape, 2. a figure drawn digitally in Procreate, and 3. a large amount of layers compositing these two in Photoshop, after they were ran through various glitch websites (linked below). I wanted the work to be clearly seen as "glitching" while still being somewhat readable as its original pieces.

Artwork 2 - "gone"

After finishing the original piece I then made an alternate variation, following up on the text found in the original. With the figure gone, I glitched the landscape further.

Classmates Responses

Jasynthea Villalba - Hi Jasynthea, I really like your submission, your artwork is great! I think the glitched effects you chose to composite are very successful for the idea you were going for. The character is just the right amount of indistinguishable for this work. I think the choice to try and obscure the character’s face with the distortions was very inspired, although I might be biased as I also did something similar by having my artwork feature a faceless character. I believe you succeeded in putting a slight feeling of discomfort in the viewer with the way the work looks, and the ties to your character’s story are really cool. If I could add a tiny piece of criticism, I think that the glitch effect’s colors might have worked better if they aligned closer to the palette of the original drawing. I think you could argue the colors are more jarring this way and thus tie into the feeling of discomfort , but I would love to also see if warmer tones might have complimented the drawing more.

Juan Pablo Roman - Hi Juan, I really quite like this work, I think it undeniable gives off the vibe of a glitched image, the colors really compliment this type of art. I think it is really interesting that you chose your source image for its natural subject matter and colors because when I first saw it, I could not think of anything further from that. The artwork reminded me of Alex Courtès's work on "Daft Club" which is anything but natural with its imagery of robotic men and digital screens. Still, I mention this because they both feature these really vibrant, saturated colors that trail on and on. I would love to see what the original image that you used here was, maybe I could see more of what you had in mind with that context. Regardless of my initial reaction before reading your explanation for it, the work is definitely successful at being an abstract glitched artwork.

Hariette Milson-Gonzale - Hello Hariette, I think this work was very successful at eliciting a creepy feeling, something I also attempted with my artwork. The way you had the glitching within the artwork cut right through the middle of the text is an aspect that I think is particularly strong with this artwork. The decision to keep the color palette mostly the same after applying the glitch effects also work well with this work. I believe that having both the original image and the edited work next to each other almost works as a sequence, with maybe the viewer being affected by the creepy figure and that is what causes the strange glitching. I think the only small criticism I can give is that I would have liked to have seen the eyes of the figure have more focus. At present the glitching almost completely covers them, I think editing the artwork further to keep them in or glitching that are differently might have led to a stronger work.

Sites Used

Phillip David Stearns is a Brooklyn based artist and designer who is heavily influenced by technological aesthetics and computer glitches and errors. His work includes fabric art, installation, video, performance and more, not limiting himself to a specific medium to make his art. His artwork has gained recognition in many different worlds including fashion where his “glitch textiles” were used to create clothing for a Christian Dior collection.

The artwork I went ahead and chose is part of a series titled Raw Data and I  chose it because I think it does a good job of showcasing  different aspects of Phillip’s artwork all in one as his body of work is quite varied. The artwork features some of the glitched textiles as present in the article but he goes ahead and places it in different ways onto a canvas, putting it into a less “useful state” than the blankets sold on his website.

I think the color choices are a really fantastic choice for representing glitched images, the strange cuts of the fabric as seen across the entire series make it seem like the canvases themselves are glitching out and are not displaying properly (which would of course be impossible in real life). Out of all the works present on his site, this one has the strongest immediate “grab” to the viewer, this is why I chose it.

Sources:

As you will see with all three of these GIFs, the subject of them is myself. Using some old green screen images/footage I had in my files, I linked the three together. I chose to use these real images contrasted with two different types of background styles for these GIFs, putting myself in bizarre looping situations.

GIF 1 - Claw Machine

For this first artwork, I chose to use the images (which I had removed from their background in Photoshop) along with a simple, sketchy, hand drawn art style (which was done in Procreate). I drew all the separate layers and then brought them into Premiere Pro where I put together the animation. Inspired by the artworks of Rebecca Mock & Brandon Tauszik, I wanted all three GIFs to have seamless loops that made it seem like these animations were endless moments in time. In this case, a person failing to pick up a prize in a claw machine. The only addition I would make to this one is adding prizes to the machines off to the side, I'm quite happy with how this one turned out overall.

GIF 2 - 5 More Minutes

In this second GIF, I attempted a different style, creating a photo-collage background from stock images to make a faux 3D room in Photoshop. The footage of myself once again was removed from their backgrounds in Photoshop and Premiere, animation done in Premiere. Using a looping clip of myself and reversing it. With this artwork, I probably should have used the same drawn art style, but I wanted to experiment.

GIF 3 - Factory Error

Unhappy with the style of the second GIF, I returned to drawing the background for this final GIF. The same exact process was used to make this one, although animating it in Premiere was a larger struggle here than before. While I think it is conceptually strong, the lines of the factory's track were difficult to get just right and the loop is not the most seamless of the three.

Classmate Responses

Mia Sosa - These three GIFs are really great, the influence from Rebecca Mock's work is clear while still being very much its own thing. The color palettes chosen for these three artworks are super appealing, not only on their own but as a set. I also really like the choice for a wider aspect ratio, I do not believe many people chose to do something like that. While she states that she would have perhaps animated the character's hair if she had more time, I think just focusing the animation on the eyes really works. I personally would have loved to see some of the really nice rendering present in GIFs 1 and 3 be applied to GIF 2, I think that is one of the two things I would have love to see be added here. The other I think is slightly more important and would have also drawn from Rebecca's artworks. I think having a seamless loop as opposed to the hard cut may have added to the artworks.

Xsaiver Horn - I really enjoy the variety in this set of three GIFs. The three clearly demonstrate the personality of the artist while being completely different from each other. I really like the first one, the idea behind it is very interesting. I would love to see a version of this that is framed a little better and with a more static camera, it is super cool but missing those little fixes. The second GIF is my absolute favorite. It almost reminds me of a collectible in a video game, the art style captures this item in a way that I can tell it is a real tangible object, yet it is simplified perfectly. The color palette is also very appealing. I also think the last one has a really great art style, it is a very cool drawing. The artist states he considered giving the gargoyle laser eyes, but I think just simply having it stare at the viewer between eyerolls would have been super creepy and fun.