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The Glitch is commonly referred to in art as an art form based entirely, or at least being produced entirely, through a digital medium. The simulation of Glitches through technological process evidently aligns the occurrence of Glitch with digital mediums, however the Glitch is also capable of existing and occurring in a physical world. The capacity for Glitch to exist in both a virtual and physical world, often times simultaneously, is what makes it so diverse as an art form, yet the physical qualities of Glitch are very rarely referred to or even acknowledge at all. Through my artwork I am attempting to blur the distinction between physical and virtual in order to understand to what extent characteristic of Glitch can be exhibited in each.

My artwork ‘Decay’ features a set of five photographically documented digital images, each with varying compositions and subject matters. The purpose of documenting my work is to blend the mediums with which the artwork is produced. Initially the artwork itself was had physical form, yet through its documentation it has become a digitally based art form. The decision to exhibit the work through digital media is intended to show the demarcation between my work as virtual and physical as it would become had it been reproduced as a print for purposes of presentation. The resulting distinction between virtual and physical worlds is ironic as the initial process of recording my works in a digital media explores the capacity for overlap between virtual and physical. Indeed if my artwork had been presented as a print or as the original composition itself, there could be no discussion regarding the relationship between the possible overlap of virtual and physical after the event of the Glitch. The original composition of my digital images was influenced entirely by the definition of Glitch as “decay”, leading me to believe that there were various methods of reproducing the Glitch in a physical sense. Decay is seen all around us. It is the product of maintenance, and additionally a lack of maintenance. Distinctly different to change, decay infers an absolute loss of original functional capacity. This is why I chose decay to represent Glitch within my artwork through the material properties of sculpting clay. By leaving the clay to dry out the function qualities of the material are rendered inert to the point of breaking under pressure. This is important to my work as it not only brings the element of Glitch into the physical, but defines Glitch as being a process through which change is brought about in order to draw attention to failed aspects of a system, in this case the prolonged exposure of clay to an unsuitable atmosphere.

The use of newspaper in my artwork was intended as an experiment with Glitch and the human perception of information, reproducing the relationship between digital technologies and information. If you were to describe the newspaper simply as a ‘folded piece of a paper with information printed across its surface’, then the resulting perception of a newspaper could potentially vary drastically from the intended. I decided to fold the newspaper multiple times and in no organised or predesigned fashion in order to reproduce the nature of a digital Glitch through a physical medium, myself. In this instance I became the medium through which the Glitch, the incorrect interpretation of information, was able to occur. Through resulting effect of the Glitch was then recorded, demonstrating the parallels between human error and computational errors.

The incorporation of found objects within my compositions reflects on the potential for the Glitch to, in the words of Nick Briz, “[call] attention to that system, and perhaps even [lead] us to notice aspects of that system that might otherwise go unnoticed”. The presence of found objects, random as they are, is to explore exactly this, the potential for the Glitch to produce or reveal an element of a “system” that was before unnoticed, concealed or non-existent.

“Decay”

Collection of five digital images. 

There are many different ways to create Glitch artwork, the majority of them being based around digital technologies. [Circuit bending, data bending, datamoshing, z-fighting (weaving together multiple competing layers)]2 are all recognised methods for producing Glitch art. Each of these methods works on the premise of exploiting the system that the artist works with, the digital system, manipulating and distorting code resulting in a collapse of function through overload or an inability to comprehend given commands. Unlike traditional material practices, virtual practices are infinitely more accessible, mainly because there exists an infinite potential for creation and formulation within a digital (virtual) medium.

[2] Mallika Roy, “Glitch it good: Understanding the glitch art movement” (theperipherymag.com) [December 2014] <http://www.theperipherymag.com/on-the-arts-glitch-it-good/>

Furthermore the occurrence of Glitch art is not limited to the act of the artist as glitches can often occur independently of an artist. Peder Norrby is a Glitch artist who, rather than instigating the occurrence of a Glitch, prefers to discover raw ‘natural’ glitches within a given medium. The project iOS Maps Glitch features the accumulation of different visual effects glitches found in iOS Maps. 

Peder Norrby’s “Houses throwing up trees, Barcelona”, May 24, 2013, digital image.

Throughout my research I came across individual statement posts that consider the glitch to be something other than the electronic art phenomenon that many exclusively perceive it as. Interested in the division between the physical and virtual in Glitch art, which is almost entirely based in a virtual medium of some form, I searched for opportunities for the Glitch to manifest itself in the physical from the physical. John Glenn, the first American to circumnavigate the globe outside of its atmosphere, surmises the Glitch: [“Another term we adopted to describe some of our problems was ‘glitch,’” he explained. “Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical current,” an occurrence with extreme, unpredictable, and potentially fatal results.]1 In this way the Glitch is the product of the physical world, with implications that can be far reaching in both virtual and physical worlds. From this I have come to understand the Glitch as being an event or process which can originate from both a physical or virtual medium, with its subsequent effects being entirely dependent on the capacity of its medium of origin to access both virtual and physical worlds.

American Astronaut John Glenn. Link <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/john-glenn-five-things-that-defined-last-american-hero-1595692> 

Nick Briz further defined the Glitch prior to Glenn’s  account in 1962 stating in a personal email that the Glitch was “an unexpected moment in a system that calls attention to that system, and perhaps even leads us to notice aspects of that system that might otherwise go unnoticed.” In this sense of the term we are made to interpret the event of the Glitch as a necessary and natural component of a feedback system that, by its own occurrence, draws attention to flaws or errors within a system. This definition can further applied to both the virtual and the physical as feedback systems exist in both. The Glitch itself is then observed as an artist rather than the artwork as it is not responsible for the flaws in a system, rather it is responsible for revealing said flaws. Alternatively the Glitch is perceived as both artist and artwork simultaneously, existing prior to and developing independently of the artist. In this case the traditional role of the artist is interpreted as a catalyst to activate the artistic practice of Glitch in and of itself.

“A glitch, even when it is intentionally provoked, always maintains a level of chance, at least from a human point of view, because of the computer’s seemingly random and chaotic way of breaking down,” Briz. If we consider that the “Glitch is predicated on exploiting wrongness to catch the sublime,” Miles Klee, then it makes sense to assume that the artist itself is a Glitch as a result of their intentional causation of glitch.

The word glitch refers to an unpredictable irregularity in a system—digital and analogue alike. Explore the creative possibilities of glitch.

Throughout my design process I have engaged with notions of glitch as an error or mistake, seeking to remove the limitation of Glitch art to computer based art forms. To me the Glitch is something that can occur independently of digital systems, that is it can occur in the physical world. The production of glitches in the physical world is something that is ignored or defined as being not a glitch but instead an irregularity caused by natural forces. Through my poster I seek to align the digital with the physical by choosing elements that exist in both realms, effectively exploring the relationship between the two.

The use of envelopes in my poster draws parallels between the digital and the physical as they refer to both email and traditional mail processes. The background is covered in digitally produced text, printed onto the physical medium of print paper. The repetition of the word ‘GLITCH’ across the background further enforces the theme of the poster and is used to represent the nature of glitch through the variation in spelling, typeface, colour, and size used. The overlay of the physical over the digital juxtaposes the relationship between the two, considering how digital media has cloaked physical designs, and intros way the poster explores the capacity for glitch to be applicable to both realms.



It seems that despite the potential for the definition of Glitch to be applied in physical terms, there is little evidence or documentation of glitches that occur in real world situations. That is if you consider the physical world to be real and the virtual worlds provided by means of technological innovation to be false or hyper-real. The term Glitch has become exclusively aligned with technological error. It does not apply to human or natural error, despite the fact that it could. If we consider that a glitch is a temporary malfunction or irregularity then it seems possible that a glitch can occur in nature. For instance the term glitch could be used to define evolution, an irregularity occurring in the DNA of organisms which results in the birth of new life-forms. If the time it takes for organisms to evolve can be considered temporary then there is no reason that Glitch cannot be used to encompass a range of naturally occurring processes. 

The definition of a Glitch is a temporary malfunction or irregularity. Inspired by this definition I decided to reproduce the phrase ‘Glitch’, altering its type face and spelling at various points, until it covered an entire page. In this way the notion of Glitch helps to reveal itself through the irregularities found within the text. 

Inspired by the Japanese practice of Kintsugi, in which broken ceramics and pottery where mended with powdered fold mice into lacquer, I chose to re-appropriate this practice to highlight the value of wood as a material and as a designed object. I used a found branch which was plagued with termite runs for my study. By peeling off the exterior bark and then sanding with fine sanding paper I was able to clearly reveal the extent of the termites impact on this branch. Using a mixture of gold enamel I began to fill in the holes, ensuring that each run was full before allowing to dry. Once dry I sanded back the lacquer to reveal a perfect mould of termite runs embellished in gold.