Into The Unknown

DESCRIPTION (150 WORDS)

In the experience of this work, we immerse ourselves in a white canvas that gradually comes to life with the appearance of black spheres, accompanied by the resonance of a song that evokes the characteristic post-punk sound, reminiscent of iconic bands such as Depeche Mode, New Order and Molchat Doma. Each sphere that materializes seems to carry with it a unique story, as if it were a musical note visualized in white space. Interaction with the work becomes even more fascinating when you right-click, revealing the piece’s title, “Into The Unknown,” as the spheres and background undergo a complete reversal, as if we were taking a leap into the unknown. This transformation process invites us to reflect on the ephemeral nature of perception and the constant redefinition of reality through the intersection between the visual and the musical.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

First of all, the work uses the p5.js programming and library to create an interactive experience in a digital environment, fusing various multimedia media. This aligns with the notion of the Fluxus phenomenon mentioned in “New Media”, discussed by Christiane Fricke, where it is highlighted

_ “Fluxus is not pigeonholed into any specific concept: neither painting, sculpture, theater, cinema or music… Fluxus is the confluence of all these media.”

The interactivity of the work, which allows the user to change the colors and activate/deactivate the text with mouse clicks, is related to César Aira’s ideas about contemporary art. Aira encourages the exploration of new forms of artistic expression, as the author comments.

_ “There has been an atomization that resembles a liberation, and a space for maneuvers of a breadth never seen before has been opened. Nothing hinders or is uncomfortable with its size; the entire debate takes place between minimums. There are no more Picassos or anguish of influences. The exceptionality of the genius was encapsulated in a single figure from the past, leaving the present free for the movements of a constellation of provisional and partial exceptionalities.”

The work in p5.js does just that by allowing the viewer to influence the look and experience of the work.

In another aspect, post-punk/dark wave aesthetics have been used, as in “Unknown Pleasures” by Joy Division. The cover, designed by artist Peter Saville, uses a graph of signal data from a radio pulsar, adopting a simple, dark style by inverting the colors of the work. The music of Joy Division inspires the name of the work and the text that is shown when intervened by the viewer, titled “Into The Unknown”, based on the band’s debut album. This reflects the concept of the unknown in the dark background of the work when it is intervened, but despite this, the rhythms of the song continue to play, and the spheres do not disappear either.

LITERATURE:

AIRA, César. ([2013], 2016). “Sobre el arte contemporáneo” en Sobre el arte contemporáneo. Buenos Aires: Literatura Random House

FRICKE, Christiane. (1999). “Nuevos Medios”. En “AAVV. Arte de siglo XX. Vol. II. München: Taschen.