Hello
everyone I would like to introduce you to an awesome artist whom goes by the
name of Joseph Nechvatal.
{http://www.stevens.edu/ses/images/fileadmin/images/JNphoto.jpg}
The artist
shown above is super cool. In the late 1980’s Nechvatal decided to create
computer generated paintings with the help of computer viruses that he created.
Later on this creative idea would come to be known as ‘post-human aesthetic’.
In an interview with Bradely Rubenstein from CultureCatch.com back in 2012 we
come to learn that art is seen as deeply symbolist in Nechvatal’s eyes. The
virus he created to help him create his art was actually a metaphor for the
AIDS virus. First he would create a painting on canvas and upload it into the
computer. Then he would select a basic Hypercard virus that would encrypt itself
into the painting and infect it.
{Joseph Nechvatal, vOluptas
2.0 @ 7.5 min}
Jumping through
time to 1999, Nechvatal was developing the concept of viractualism which
basically strived ‘to create an interface between the biological and the
technological’. He felt strongly that the computed and un-computed images of
our time should be emerged and that we should not conform to the norm.
The idea
of technology infecting other parts of society (in this case shown through a
canvas) is very interesting. It makes the viewers sit back and think about how
much time they spend on and in a technology based sphere. This reminds me of a
discussion that we had in class, the one about how most of us in class have grown up surrounded by technology (the internet, cell phones, media). Hate to admit but it’s hard for me to imagine a life without my phone. I’d feel isolated.
Nechvatal’s virus comes with a caution once it has firmly taken hold of
the painting and eaten every pixel. It’s a warning that if the human race is
not careful, technology could over take us and make us less human.
I do not think that the
aesthetic quality of Joseph Nechtvatal should be changed in any way, I love
this work and how it ties infectious technology into art. It seems to show the
world in a different yet interesting light.
I like the watercolor appearance of the program before it's destroyed by the virus. The white pixel movement is kind of different, but it's similar to how vinegar or alcohol will repel and destroy wet watercolors. Your interpretation of the meaning is pretty insightful, and I feel viruses/infectious programs could be a futuristic/new way of artistic presentation.
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